It cannot be said that young people are doing very well. From survey to survey, the figures show a certain depression concerning their financial future and an increasingly fragile mental health.
Published at 1:16 a.m.
Updated at 6:00 a.m.
To give you an idea of how overwhelmed they are, the vast majority of young Canadians (72%) believe that previous generations had better chances of financial success. At a time when social media is full of messages like “all you need is a good idea and an internet connection to become a millionaire in no time,” this pessimism is not insignificant. It sends a powerful message.
Small consolation, Quebecers look to the future with more hope, reveals the annual youth survey carried out by Léger which will be unveiled this Wednesday.
In fact, in Quebec, 59% of 18-44 year-olds believe that their parents and grandparents were in a better position than they were to “succeed financially.” The expression can mean many things, but it necessarily implies a dose of confidence that seems to be waning over the years. Clearly, the inflation of the last three years and the spectacular increase in house prices and interest rates are weighing on morale and darkening the outlook.
We also see a concrete effect in personal finances. In 2022, 44% of young people surveyed said they were living paycheck to paycheck, which is far from optimal. This year, the proportion jumped to 49%, even though the inflation rate has stabilized.
This perhaps explains why the marriage-home-child trio is a dream for less than one in two Zs, among those who are not yet married, homeowners and parents. The oldest of this generation are now 28 years old.
This isn’t the first time the link between parenthood and personal finances has been mentioned in a study. Desjardins stated last year that young people are delaying their plans to start a family and that women are deciding to have fewer children for financial reasons. How did it come to this in a rich country like Canada?
It’s not for lack of financial discipline, if we are to believe the Léger survey. Because nearly 90% of young people monitor their spending and 18% follow their budget to the letter. We are far from being able to say that these are frivolous generations who spend without counting.
One of the most puzzling findings from the survey concerns the DEI – diversity, equity, inclusion – policies that companies have developed.
Contrary to what one might think, 40% of young people consider them useless in choosing an employer. Not to mention that 21% prefer not to comment on the issue, not knowing what it is about. I had the impression that employers were going to great lengths to develop these policies precisely for the happiness, recruitment and retention of workers from generations Y and Z. However, only 15% of them consider them essential.
Here, once again, the gap between Quebec and the rest of the country is significant since 31% of Quebecers have never heard of the concept of DEI, which compares to 18% elsewhere in Canada.
It makes you wonder whether companies are putting their resources and efforts in the right direction. But maybe there’s something positive about it. What if diversity, equity and inclusion are so self-evident to young people that they don’t see the need to write these concepts down in policy?
One thing is clear, companies cannot ignore the mental health issues that afflict younger workers, with all that this implies in terms of absenteeism and health costs. The statistics are almost hard to believe.
Three-quarters of Y and Z (75%) say they have already experienced moments of anxiety. In 2020, the proportion was 47%. Such an increase of almost 30 points cannot leave us indifferent.
The same worrying trajectory is observed for depression. Nearly half of young people (48%) have experienced an episode of depression. Four years ago, the proportion was 38%.
Over the summer, I wrote a column about fragile generations1and the threat it posed to our collective future according to a Toronto university professor. I shared her fears, and this new data collected by Léger unfortunately confirms my fears even more.
The challenges of our society are increasingly complex and our youth seem less able to overcome their difficulties to make decisions and find solutions. “We will need them to be able to remain calm and focused, to negotiate all the changes that are planned for the next 20 years,” the professor wrote in the Globe & Mailciting climate change, possible pandemics, migration movements and growing income inequality.
If the portrait of 18-44 year-olds worries or depresses you a little, wait until you see the two figures that are coming. In its survey, Léger asked questions related to gender equality within society.
This is how we learn that 21% of young men believe that women “should aspire to be housewives.” And no less than 15% of female respondents agree with them. Enough to shake the generations that fought so that women could take their place in the labor market.
Read the column “Warning: fragile humans”
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