"Talking About My Generation"

"Hope I die before I get Old"

Pete Townsend once said that “My Generation” was very much about trying to find a place in society. The song's lyrics comprise a distilled statement of youthful rebellion. 60 years later, are the streets filled with angry young men?

Looks like “The Lost Generation” (see previous post) have found other ways to express their frustration with the world they’ve landed in. One outlet is Reddit. The following is extracted from various Reddit groups (including r/newzealand and r/PersonalFinanceNZ) and compiled into a story to provide an insight into the issues facing Generation Z (aka “Zoomers”) .

To set the scene, imagine that you are a 25 year old unemployed graduate living in New Zealand and you’ve never had a girlfriend, and you cannot see you ever being able to afford a house, settle down or have a normal family life. You see little hope for the future and the news is laden with doom.

Man, it’s bloody tough right now. I’m sitting here in my flat, scrolling through job ads that get hundreds of applicants, house prices that even after dropping a bit still feel like a joke for someone on the dole or casual wages, and yeah, the dating scene? Forget it – apps are full of ghosts, and meeting people organically feels impossible when you’re broke and stuck inside.

If I’m being honest, I blame a mix of things, but mostly the system that’s stacked against young Kiwis like me. Previous governments – Labour and National both – let immigration explode while not building enough houses, turning property into this investor casino where boomers and foreigners snapped up everything, driving prices through the roof. Even now in 2025, with prices down from the peak and interest rates lower, it’s still “severely unaffordable” in Auckland, and saving for a deposit on grad-level pay (if you even have a job) is a pipe dream. How are you supposed to settle down, get a partner, start a family when you can’t even afford to move out properly or feel stable?

Then the job market – youth unemployment hovering around 13-15%, way higher than the overall rate. I studied hard, got my degree, but there’s bugger all entry-level roles that aren’t “3+ years experience required.” The recession hit grads hardest, public sector cuts, tech slowdown, all that. And minimum wage stuff? Employers pick older folks with experience over us. Feels like the economy’s rigged for the older generations who bought houses cheap back in the day.

On the girlfriend side, it’s brutal being a young bloke these days. Dating apps suck – everyone’s burnt out, and if you’re not flashing cash or super confident, you get nowhere. Kiwi culture’s casual anyway, lots of hooking up but not committing young, and when you’re unemployed and stressed, your confidence is in the toilet. Makes you feel like you’ll never have that normal life – partner, kids, house.

The news doesn’t help – constant doom about climate, wars, economy tanking, AI taking jobs. It all piles on and makes hope feel pointless.

Part of me knows I could hustle more – network harder, upskill, maybe move regions or even overseas (Australia looks tempting with better jobs). But right now? Yeah, I blame the politicians who promised the world but delivered a system where my generation’s getting screwed while the older ones sit pretty on their assets. It’s not just me being lazy; it’s bigger than that. Feels unfair, bro.

Heaps of us feel exactly the same way, it’s a proper generational thing hitting young Kiwis hard right now.

Like, youth unemployment’s been sitting around 12-13% this year, way higher than the overall rate of about 5%. Grads especially are getting smashed – tons of entry-level jobs want “experience” or just aren’t there after all the cuts and slowdowns. On Reddit, in there’s constant threads from people in their 20s and 30s unemployed for months or years, running out of savings, feeling hopeless. Posts about “can’t afford a house” or “no future” get hundreds of comments from others saying “same” or worse.

Housing? Even though prices have dropped a bit from the peak and affordability’s improved slightly with lower rates, it’s still brutal – most young renters reckon they’ll never own, and surveys show like 62% of renters don’t think they ever will. First-home buyers are doing better lately, but for a lot of us without family help or high-paying jobs, it’s a distant dream. Cost of living’s still biting – over half the country says they’ve gone without basics, and it’s worst for under-35s, with food and rent up.

Then the girlfriend/dating side – yeah, that’s rough too. Loneliness is massive among young blokes, apps are exhausting and full of ghosts, and when you’re stressed about money and jobs, confidence tanks. Young people are ditching apps for real-life stuff because of burnout, and post-Covid missed connections didn’t help. Mental health surveys show over half of 15-24 year olds dealing with anxiety or depression, feeling hopeless about the economy, climate, everything. It’s all tied together – no stability makes settling down feel impossible.

I’m definitely not alone in this gloom; forums are full of it, news talks about young people leaving NZ in record numbers because of the costs and lack of hope. Sucks, eh? But knowing it’s widespread might make it feel a tiny bit less personal.

Politics? Nah bro, a lot of us in that boat – young, broke, no real prospects – have pretty much zero trust in the political system anymore. Like, surveys show overall trust in government hovers around 46% with high/moderate trust, but it’s way lower among younger folks and people struggling financially. There’s a bigger trust gap here between young and old than in most OECD countries, and stuff like the housing crisis, slow progress on climate and poverty under Labour, then the current lot rolling back worker rights and renter protections – it all just screams “none of them give a shit about us.” Feels like politicians are playing games for boomers and landlords, while we’re left scraping by.

As for voting? Some still bother, especially if they’re pissed off enough to try punish one side or back something different like Greens or Te Pāti Māori. In the 2023 election, turnout for 18-24 year olds who were enrolled hit about 74%, which was actually decent – better than the 25-44 crowd and close to middle-aged groups. Overall turnout dropped to 78% though, lowest in a while, and heaps of young people aren’t even enrolled (like only 66% in some stats from back then). On Reddit and forums, there’s tons saying “why vote when nothing changes?” or “both sides are trash,” and plenty admit they sat it out because they feel disenfranchised.

Me? I dragged myself to vote last time, but barely – felt pointless. If things keep going like this, next election I’ll probably skip it unless someone actually talks real fixes for housing, jobs, and making life affordable for us. You’re not alone in feelingthat way, eh. Sucks.

Speaking as that 25-year-old unemployed grad staring at the wall in my overpriced flat, yeah, some of us do end up voting for the Greens, even if it’s not the majority. It’s not like we’re all flocking to them – heaps of young Kiwis like me are either not voting at all or sticking with Labour out of habit, and stats show the Greens pull more from higher-income folks sometimes. But for those who do? It’s because they seem like the only ones actually giving a toss about fixing the mess that’s screwing us over, without just pandering to landlords and big business.

First off, they’re banging on about youth unemployment being a bloody disaster right now – like, it’s hit 15.2% for 15-24 year olds, and they’re calling out the National govt for making it worse with their cuts and “economy for the rich” vibes. They reckon the current lot’s leaving more people on Jobseeker than even during Covid, and they’re pushing for stuff like a Greens Jobs Guarantee to create tens of thousands of decent jobs, plus guaranteeing a liveable income for everyone out of work. For someone like me, who’s sent out a hundred CVs and got nothing but crickets, that sounds way better than the ghost jobs the PM’s on about. The Greens 2025 budget ideas included bumping welfare for young unemployed by 26% to $395 a week, which isn’t a fortune but beats scraping by on the current pittance.

On housing, they’re savage about how the govt’s doing bugger all – like, only planning 300 new social houses when homelessness is raging. Greens want real fixes: more public housing, rent controls, taxing empty homes and speculators harder to bring prices down. That appeals when you’re like me, thinking you’ll never own a place and relationships feel pointless without stability. It’s about making life affordable so we can actually settle down, not just survive.

Then there’s the bigger picture – climate and inequality. The news is full of doom, right? Greens tie that to hope, saying we can build a fairer future with green jobs, better mental health support (which we need, with anxiety through the roof), and taxing the rich to fund it all. They’re not perfect, and some say their messaging doesn’t always land with lower-income folks because it comes off as too enviro-focused or elite. But for disillusioned grads like us, they’re the protest vote against the majors who’ve both failed on this stuff. Labour talked big but didn’t deliver enough, National’s making it worse – Greens feel like the ones fighting for us, not the boomers.

Not everyone’s convinced – plenty think Greens hurt the poor with their policies or are just out of touch. But if you’re fed up with the system and want real change on jobs, housing, and a shot at a normal life, yeah, that’s why you’d tick their box. It’s a punt on something different, eh?

There’s an old African Proverb, “A child that is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth”

The story above is fictional but based on posts on various Reddit groups and compiled into a story to provide an insight into the issues facing Generation Z (aka “Zoomers”). Some of them will be voting for the first time in the General Election in 2026.

Did the story above relate to you or someone you know. Please leave a comment and let me know your thought on the ‘lost generation’.