‘It is kind of bleak’: Proof Gen Z think they are already screwed
Generation Z might be confident, but there’s one area where they think they have no hope – exposing a huge issue sweeping Australia.
Youthful optimism seems to have died a tragic cost-of-living death, with Gen Z no longer feeling like they’ll end up as rich or comfortable as their parents.
The conversation that never seems to die out among my friend group is this growing sense that we won’t end up as well-off as our parents.
I have a friend who recently pointed out they are still renting at 28 without even half an apartment deposit saved, but when their parents were the same age, they already owned a four-bedroom house.
There’s a general sense of doom among Millennials that they’ll never replicate their middle-class childhoods.
So, if Millennials feel like they’re never going to match their parent’s wealth, where do Gen Z sit in that conversation?
Surely they are too young and smug to feel downtrodden; these are the people who brag about quiet quitting and think they look good in drop-waist outfits.
To find out, news.com.au headed to the University of New South Wales and asked young people if they think they’ll end up as rich or comfortable as their mums and dads.
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The vibe was bleak.
“I think it is pretty hard,” one university student said solemnly.
Similarly, a young guy said he didn’t even think he had a chance of ending up as comfortable as his parents.
“I don’t think so and especially with the housing crisis, I don’t think I’ll end up in the same position as them,” he said, adding that he thought he would never be able to buy in Sydney.
“Sydney is pretty tricky. I do hope to own one some day but it might not be around here.”
When another Gen Zer was asked the same question, she didn’t even need a second to think about it.
“No,” she said.
“I’m honestly living with them right now and really struggling. It is kind of bleak.”
Does she think she will ever own a home?
“I don’t think so … maybe an apartment,” she said.
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The grim vibe continued.
One young guy stopped for a chat and said, rather flatly, that he will “probably never” be as rich as his parents.
In more cheerful news, he did, however, think he would become a homeowner.
“I’m relying on my parents for that actually. My parents will help me buy a house,” he said.
What if they couldn’t help? Well then, he estimated it would feel “impossible”, but he might be able to afford a home in his 40s.
There were some more optimistic Gen Zers, but they certainly weren’t confident about their financial futures.
“Wow, I hope so,” one young guy said.
“I don’t know, it depends. You can never really predict tomorrow,” another philosophised.
One Gen Z queen, wearing an off-the-shoulder top, bucked the trend and said she believes she has a chance to replicate her parents’ financial success.
“I want to retire young so I hope so. The only way to get out of it and not be in the rat race of a corporate job is investments,” she said.
“Also with the first home buyers (scheme), trying to get a house and make that my investment property.”
The 19-year-old isn’t waiting around to finish her degree and land a job in her chosen profession before she starts making money.
She has already invested in shares and Bitcoin and has a whole financial portfolio going on because she is that keen to get ahead.
Another young woman also thought she would be just as comfortable as her parents, but added that there was a pretty big reason.
“My parents are immigrants, so I guess it is different for a white background Australian,” she said.
“I think yes, because they came from a country that wasn’t as rich and, when they came here, they didn’t have much.”
The Australian dream of owning a home is slipping away.
It used to be simple and, to a certain extent, fairly attainable. If you worked hard, you could buy at least a three-bedroom house with a backyard, drive a decent car and afford to go on an annual holiday.
That dream, though, is becoming increasingly of reach for young Aussies. The median house price nationwide is now over $900,000.
If you live in a major city that number rises drastically. In Sydney the median house price has ballooned to a staggering $1.5 million.
In Melbourne, the median house price is now at $983,000 and is edging towards $1 million. The median house price in Brisbane has just tipped over the $1 million mark.
This isn’t helped by the fact that the national vacancy rate is fairly low at 1.2 per cent. The median house rental price in Australia is now $650.
It is expensive to rent and costly to buy and, for many Aussies, it is impossible to rent while trying to save up a 20 per cent deposit.
Even a five per cent deposit can feel out of reach when a two-bedroom apartment in Sydney can easily cost $1 million.
This is compounded by the fact that, while the housing market is exploding, wage growth has remained slow.
In 2025 alone, Australian property prices in some markets grew by 6 per cent, while wage growth increased by only 3.4 per cent.
The property market is outpacing people’s earnings, and we’re in a full-blown housing crisis that is making it harder for young people to replicate the financial security they grew up with.
Finder has reported that more than 16 per cent of Gen Z don’t think they will ever be able to afford a home.
This is a substantial increase from when Gen Z were asked this question in 2020, when only 6 per cent said they believed they would never become homeowners.
Finance expert at Finder, Sarah Megginson, said the cost of living crisis has changed everything.
“There used to be this sense that each generation would most likely end up better off than the one before, but that’s not necessarily the case these days,” she said.
“With the cost of living and property prices so high, especially in our capital cities, many young Aussies are trying to simply stay afloat, not surge ahead.”
Ms Megginson pointed out that, when we have these conversations, we do have to keep in mind that our lifestyles have changed drastically.
“A generation or two ago, it was much more common to have a single-family household and a much simpler lifestyle,” she said.
“With advances in technology, we have ‘monetised’ so many areas of our lives that our parents and grandparents couldn’t even conceive. Now, we can pay for someone to trim our hedges, do our grocery shopping for us or even assemble a trampoline for the kids.”
Financial expert Julian Finch told news.com.au that there is no denying the world is getting more “expensive” every day.
“People need help, there is no question about it,” he said.
Mr Finch said you only have to look UK to know where Australia is heading, pointing out that five-bedroom terraces in swanky London suburbs can sometimes sell for $35 million.
“I think the real estate in London is just like the real estate in Australia, just with a few extra hundred years of inflation,” he said.
Mr Finch said that doesn’t mean that Gen Z should give up on the Aussie dream of homeownership, but they certainly need to be strategic.
“Everyone gets an opportunity to make money and we’ve seen different avenues for young people to make money,” he said.
“Whether it is with Bitcoin or influencing.”
The financial expert argued that young people might not own homes, but many are already doing better than their parents.
“In a lot of cases, they are better off than their parents because our standard of living has increased over the last 30 years,” he said.
Mr Finch argued that, because young people have grown up hearing about the cost of living crisis it has created a defeated attitude.
“We are conditioned in this current world to believe that getting ahead is difficult or buying a house is difficult, but people don’t know what they are capable of,” he said.
Mr Finch said that the key to financial success is to get expert help managing your money and achieving your financial goals.
“ (Gen Z) would be surprised to realise what they are capable of to make themselves better off than their parents,” he said.
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Originally published as ‘It is kind of bleak’: Proof Gen Z think they are already screwed
