Macroscope | Why Hong Kong’s youth can no longer expect to be richer than their parents

Major news outlets, inter-governmental agencies and scholars are drawing more attention to a threatening inter-generational injustice. Baby boomers are luxuriating in business class or above, while millennials are fighting for scarce seats at the back.

Baby boomers are defined as those born between 1946 and 1964. The X Generation came into the world between 1965 and 1979, and the Y Generation – the millennials – between 1980 and the mid-nineties.

These intervals vary a little among analyses, but the core argument is that baby boomers are doing relatively well, in no small measure at the expense of the millennials.

In 1957, Prime Minister Harold McMillan famously said the British people had never had it so good. But this was a time of relative austerity. Post-war rationing had just ended. The average living standards of child baby boomers were modest compared with what they enjoy today – in the twilight of their careers or in retirement.

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Several factors have worked to their advantage, especially in industrialised economies. For many, higher education back then was free or much less costly. Today many millennials with tertiary education carry huge debts that take years to repay. The absence of inflation means that pensions are protected and debts do not erode. When taxes are cut, the wealthy, and therefore frequently older people, often benefit disproportionately.

Job markets discriminate deeply against young people. Baby boomers typically enjoy job security, health insurance and pensions. Today these are becoming privileges. Precisely because it is so difficult and costly to shed older people with job security, new or entry-level jobs are less secure and less available.