Around the turn of the 21st century, the U.K. witnessed a dramatic surge in housing prices: the costs rose from four times peoples' annual earnings in 1995, to eight times by 2010. Homeowners subsequently enjoyed a wealth windfall, and it resulted in their kids receiving more housing wealth and higher-paying jobs, according to recent research from the Institute for Fiscal Studies. Lower-income renters, on the other hand, were faced with new affordability challenges.
Is our system too generous to older people? The generational debate in Spain has intensified, mixing reasonable arguments with false claims and misunderstandings. My position: the concern is valid, even though the problem has no simple solution. First, let's put one point aside: it doesn't matter if young people have lived better than their parents. My generation (1981), lives better than the one before it (1950), and I hope my daughter, born in 2023, will have an even better life.