What of the generation after that? Thanks in large part to the recent tuition fee hike, the children of the squeezed middle are being squeezed before they have even begun to pay tax. Families with teenagers are scrabbling around to afford the �9,000 a year fees: if they can?t, their children will have to take out loans, leaving them with decades of personal as well as national debts to settle.
Even those who avoided the introduction of higher fees are far from home and dry. Unprecedented numbers are unemployed ? the latest figures show that nearly 40 per cent of all those without jobs in Britain are under 25. Locked out of the workplace, many graduates have begun long months of unpaid internships, hoping that employers who see no need to pay for their labour will eventually give them a permanent post, or at least the minimum wage.
It is not hard to see why Andrew Cooper, David Cameron?s chief political strategist, informed his boss upon his arrival in Downing Street earlier this year that voters? greatest concern was that their children wouldn?t have the same opportunities they?d had.
Sadly, the Government?s response to this dilemma has been mixed at best. By raising the retirement age and negotiating a new deal with public sector workers, the Coalition has tentatively begun to fill the gap between what workers expect to receive and what the country will be able to afford ? but it still remains vast.
If we are to ensure that our children can enjoy the same levels of prosperity as their parents, we need to make some hard decisions. First, the Government must consider restricting some of the perks given to the rich retired. There is no earthly reason why we should pay for Lord Sugar to receive the winter fuel allowance. If the Coalition can means test benefits for children, why not for OAPs?
As for preparing the workers of the future, far too little has been done. The tuition fee hike may help the Exchequer today, but if Britain?s young people stay away from university ? and, as employers regularly complain, are already ill?equipped for the workplace ? we will not be able to compete in the global economy.
Next, even though there is a pressing need for more housing for young families, the National Planning Policy Framework is plainly not fit for purpose: we need a sensitive and strategic building programme, not a brickies? free-for-all. But why not extend the default rental agreement from six months (much less than the average mobile phone contract), giving young couples the security they need to start a family?
It is no surprise that the political debate in Britain avoids these problems ? because they yield uncomfortable solutions. But unless we start thinking seriously about them, the squeeze today will be nothing compared to the squeeze tomorrow.
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