Newshub reporter Kim Vinnell is of the Millennial generation, and says Mark Sainsbury's defence of the Baby Boomers can't go without a rebuttal.
OPINION: Sainso has got some nerve. Encouraging his fellow aging boomers to spend their kids' inheritance is proof that his generation is not only selfish, but short-sighted.
Perhaps the Boomers' collective memory is failing. Perhaps they've forgotten the measly sums they paid for their Ponsonby / Herne Bay / Kohimarama villas 30 years ago. Perhaps they can't quite grasp what happens now that they're using the equity in their million-dollar homes to buy five more properties, charging outrageous rent, driving up property prices for the generation to come.
It'd be fine if we Millennials were competing on an even playing field. But even the Boomers with their failing eyesight should be able to see that we're not.
In 1975, the mortgage on an average house cost 39.2 percent of the median income to service. Ask any millennial renter or home owner how much of their pay packet goes on accommodation every week, and I promise you the resounding response will be ALMOST ALL OF IT.
Not to mention the student loan that TEN YEARS later I've only just paid off.
And jobs are no longer a static thing - you stay in for 30 years until you retire or die. Employers want the most out of us, so they pay according to productivity - often not for hours on the clock. It means a more flexible lifestyle, but also a whole lot of hustling to make ends meet. Job security doesn't exist anymore.
We're not asking for a handout; we're asking for the same start in life the Boomers had. We don't want our parent's money so we can bathe in Moet and spend all day making memes. Most of us would rather not take our parents' money at all. But the fact is, without help, most of us will be renting 'til we die, unable to support our aging, health-care draining, boringly entitled Boomers.
(Note: The author receives no parental handout or inheritance at this time.)
Kim Vinnell is a Newshub reporter.
