Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/why-gen-z-financially-struggling-living-in-england-uk-2023-9

I've been working since I was barely in my teens (từ thời thiếu niên), first with a morning paper route (bán báo buổi sáng) then part-time in retail (làm bán thời gian trong ngành bán lẻ) during my studies.

I'm three years older than my parents were when they bought their first house in 1995 at the age of 21.

I make on average (trung bình) £3,000 a month as a freelance writer (nhà văn tự do), roughly £500 above the monthly median wage (mức lương trung bình hàng tháng) in my area, according to PayScale, and still, the prospect of buying a house (viễn cảnh mua nhà) with my partner feels completely unachievable (không thể đạt được).

Gen Z people living in Britain are suffering (hứng chịu) a unique set of economic challenges (một loạt thách thức kinh tế đặc biệt)

I was the first in my family to go to university and consequently racked up  (trả) almost £65,000, or around $80,000, in student-loan debt (khoản nợ vay sinh viên).

To attend university, I took out both tuition fees (học phí) and maintenance (bảo trì) loans (khoản vay) — the maintenance loan paid for my accommodation (chỗ ở) but little else (chỉ một số rất ít cho cái khác). I worked part-time in retail and as a freelance writer during my studies.

After graduating (tốt nghiệp) in 2020, I freelanced (làm việc tự do) full time while living on my own (sống một mình). England was in and out of lockdown (đang trong thời gian phong tỏa) and I managed to save £5,000 thanks to a lack of expenses aside (ngoài) from rent (tiền thuê nhà) and utilities (các tiện ích).

I started my master's degree (bằng thạc sỹ) in 2021 and took out another student loan. It covered (trang trải/ chi trả) my tuition fees but not all of my accommodation, so I had to dip into the money I'd saved (chi khoản tiền tôi đã tiết kiệm) the previous year (năm ngoái).

I owe (nợ) nearly $80,000 in student debt

Between both degrees, as of September 11, I owe £64,834.46 in student loans, with an interest rate (lãi suất) of 7.3%. Before June, the interest rate was 12%, but the government has reduced it due to (do/bởi vì) the cost-of-living crisis (khủng hoảng chi phí sinh sống).

For British students in the UK, tuition fees are currently capped (hiện được giới hạn) at £9,250 a year. In 2006, tuition at a UK university cost an average of £3,000 a year, according to the House of Commons Library. In 1998, when tuition fees were first introduced (lần đầu được áp dụng), I'd have been paying £1,000. Tuition prices have risen far beyond (vượt xa) general inflation (mức lạm phát chung).

The UK's cost-of-living crisis has a greater impact on (có tác động lớn hơn đối với) younger generations (thế hệ trẻ)

The UK has been in a cost-of-living crisis since 2021. The crisis is the fall of disposable incomes (sự sụt giảm thu nhập khả dụng) in the UK as a result of the national and global rise in inflation (sự tăng trưởng lạm phát), the COVID-19 pandemic (đại dịch toàn cầu), Brexit, and the war in Ukraine.

While everyone will be affected to some degree (bị ảnh hưởng ở một mức độ nào đó), young people — who are more likely to (nhiều khả năng) have lower incomes (thu nhập thấp) and less savings (tiền tiết kiệm) — are among the most affected.

As a freelancer, the money I make each month can fluctuate (dao động), but I always make enough to look after my rent, bills (các hóa đơn), and other expenses (các chi phí khác).

Generally, I can expect to make around £3,000 a month, before taxes (thuế). I currently pay around £1,000, or about $1,250, in rent and utilities a month.

I'm fortunate (may mắn) to be in a relatively decent financial situation (tình hình tài chính tốt), but I still find it impossible to imagine a real future for myself — one in which I own (sở hữu) a house and a car, have a comfortable standard of living (mức sống), and the thought of retiring before the age of 75 isn't a pipe dream (giấc mơ viễn vông).

My parents acknowledge (thừa nhận) my generation is worse off (tồi tệ hơn)

When my parents had me in 1999 they were able to raise a family (nuôi sống một gia đình) in a house they already owned.

My parents said they never had it easy, but they've acknowledged they wouldn't have had the same security or be able to get on the property ladder (chạy theo thang giá nhà đất) now.

They've had to work hard over the years, but it feels as though their hard work has been rewarded (được đền đáp) in a way that the hard work of my generation isn't.

In 2022, nearly half of young people in the UK surveyed by Deloitte reported spending their entire monthly salary on living costs. This makes saving money for retirement or for a home seem nearly impossible.

Rising house prices (giá nhà tăng cao) make getting on the property ladder nearly impossible

As of June 2023, the average house price in Bath and North East Somerset, where I live, was £435,313, up 2.8% from last year, according to the UK House Price Index.

Homes are only getting more expensive — and quickly. Go back a decade (thập kỷ/10 năm), to 2013, and the average house price in this area was £250,911. In 2003, the average price was £180,278.

The average house price in 1995, when my parents moved in together (chuyển về sống cùng nhau), was around £56,000. According to the Bank of England's Inflation Calculator, something that cost £10 in 1995 would cost £19.48 in July 2023, an increase of 94.8%.

However, if you compare the average house price in 1995 to the average house price in the UK in June 2023 — £287,456 — it's increased by more than 413%.

Meanwhile, median weekly earnings (thu nhập bình quân hàng tuần) are roughly £575 according to PayScale, so I'm earning (kiếm được tiền) over the average for my area.

When my girlfriend and I talk about moving in together in a couple of years, we find the thought of buying a property (ý nghĩ mua một căn nhà) almost hilarious (buồn cười).

My friends and I are resigned to (chấp nhận/ cam chịu) long-term renting (thuê nhà dài hạn), even those of us who have the degrees and qualifications our parents didn't.

Saving can't save us

I chose to go to university and rack up (trả nợ) student debt, and I could stop going out to socialize (giao lưu ngoài xã hội) to save more money — but it's not feasible (khả thi) to expect (mong đợi) all young people to stop living their lives to save.

Young people are struggling financially (gặp vấn đề tài chính) not because they get a latte (một loại cà phê) on their way to work or meet their friends for a drink on the weekend. They're struggling because it's simply more difficult to get started as an adult in life now.

It's more difficult to get onto the property ladder and to save and plan for the future (lên kế hoạch cho tương lai), whether you buy the occasional small treat to help you through (giúp bạn vượt qua) or not.