Tech generation students unable to change a light bulb or boil an egg

THEY’RE the tech savvy generation and most academically qualified ever but today’s university students struggle to boil an egg or change a light bulb, researchers have found.

• Students with mortgage-sized uni loans
• Students want schools to teach real life skills

TODAY’S university students are the most tech-savvy, academically­ qualified generation ever but most of them struggle to boil an egg or change a light bulb.

Two-thirds of students admit to never having paid a bill, 38 per cent have never sewn on a button and more than a quarter have never washed their own clothes, stunning new research results show.

Despite being masters of the digital world, polls have found that many university students have lost the skills that older generations took for granted.

Even managing cash, making friends and staying healthy are among their biggest challenges.

Emma Kocbek says the focus for young people is on study and learning rather than life skills. Picture: Brett Costello

Half of those polled have never changed a light bulb. Even fewer can repair a bicycle tyre puncture. Hanging a picture, putting a new washer in a dripping­ tap, decorating a room and even ironing a shirt or blouse are beyond many of the digital generation.

Sydney youth researchers yesterday said the survey of 1500 students by Student Room and the University of East Anglia­ in the UK has strong parallels­ with issues facing Australian students.

Sydney-based Year13 group, which helps school-leavers find employment and further education, said many young people were under intense pressure to perform academically and had never been taught basic skills.

Don’t expect to see university students doing this.

Spokesman Will Stubley said young people were so geared to study they had no time to spend on basic activities such as cooking, home maintenance or personal finances — and they were not encouraged to.

“They are not prepared for when they leave the nest,” Mr Stubley said. “It’s all about academic success­ and it is stressing them out. It is all very well for older people to blame young people for not having these skills but that is not taking account of the fact no one is teaching them the skills.”

After leaving university, Emma Kocbek, 20, secured a job managing clients and writing. But she freely admits that tasks which young people routinely­ learned in the past, such as changing a car tyre, are beyond her.

“I had a flat tyre the other day and I didn’t know what to do for the life of me,” Ms Kocbek­ said yesterday.

“I don’t know how to cook and I don’t know what I will do when I leave home.”

Ms Kocbek, like thousands of other Millennials, said she did not have time to spend on basic domestic tasks and usually called someone else.

ANNA TAYLOR: Can’t cook, can’t clean - a new generation with no basic life skills

“The focus for young people now is on study and learning rather than life skills,” she said.

“A lot of parents are stressed and have to do their own things in their working life — it is hard to teach basic skills when you are providing for your family and yourself.

“A lot falls back on schools but teachers are not equipped to teach these skills because they are under the pump delivering the syllabus.”

Polls show many under 35s still turn to their parents for help with household chores. They are at a loss when it comes to basic do-it-yourself tasks.

Among women it is even worse, with eight in 10 admitting they rely on their partners to fix things in their home.

But when a computer or phone crashes, it is parents who are more likely to turn to their Millennial children and their digital skills for help.