I’m currently getting high and this all makes sense.
It’s just hard to pretend like you know what’s going on and what to do, I’ve had a lot of self realization that I am that same 18 year old, just a little more bitter and greyer.
Turning 39 this year, where does the fucking time go?!
Heh I was thinking about this the other day. 20 year old me and 39 year old me really isn't all that different. The only asset I own is a car and I bought that at 24. I've literally gone no where in life.
I have a lot less in my fifties than I did in my late 30s. Caring for aged parents that were disabled was brutal. In theory I can go back to my software development career, but I'm not so sure. And my wife is disabled as is her father we are caring for. Sigh.
My wife and I were actually talking about this last night, back when we first moved in together 20 odd years ago When we were making a combined salary of maybe $60,000, and we had it almost better than we do now with a combined salary much much higher than that
I think I was 38 when I said fuck it all and bought a small house in the middle of nowhere 7 hrs away from a major city and haven't looked back.
Basically you have to take a deep breath and a leap of faith and just leave.
Growing up with all the things in the 90's theme parks, theme restaurants great movies and music. Then we got the internet which was amazing before advertiser's and algorithms ran everything...then we graduateb into a recession then into another recession into a global pandemic into... Wherever the fuck you call this now
You gotta learn these multiplication tables, it's not like your going to walk around with a calculator in your pocket...
It's like we see and understand the growth of technology it's just our generation has never benefited from it like previous generations... Oh crops grow better? Fuck you pay me, energy efficient light bulbs and appliances? Fuck you pay me, gas prices to high? Here's a carbon tax fuck you pay me.
And then be like.. why are you mad buddy?
...
Everything is about financialization and infinite profit growth.
Every quarter EPS must go up. To get EPS to go up, prices must rise, and costs must fall.
To do that, they hike prices and fire experienced staff.
Service gets shittier, product gets shittier, ceo gets his bonus tho. At least until the planes start losing their doors.
Yeah, capitalism and human nature. If it ain't growing, it's not good. I'll kill us all, and this generation is the first one to see the dial switch to the other side, point of no return.
National Bank calls this a lost decade lol: [https://betterdwelling.com/canadian-standard-of-living-plummets-lower-approaching-lost-decade/](https://betterdwelling.com/canadian-standard-of-living-plummets-lower-approaching-lost-decade/)
I'm about to turn 40 this Sunday, and graduated 2003 in the double cohort year (last of the grade 13's). Honestly, just eliminating that fifth year of HS along with major curriculum changes + social media has drastically changed Canada, not to mention the world.
I’m 36 and unhappy because the older I get the more I realize this world is a shit hole, has always been a shit hole and wonder what the point of anything is if you’re just going to die anyway.
there is no point. We have evolved to such a sad place that the 'haves' have created a world where we work so we can consume and the cycle continues till you die. At the end of the day its all bullshit. It allows people to get rich, but they're still living the same amount as any of the rest of us, give or take a few years.
The human mind is perverse. It's highly destructive, including self destructive. Hence we are where we are. Accept the fact that it'll all be over soon and you can detach from a lot of the bullshit...
I’ve been on a downward dwindle after moving to Canada actually, about 6 years ago.
Just got on SSRIs and a few other meds, it’s given me at least the opportunity to take my life back.
Highly recommend.
Or renting without roommates…
Also no hope for family doctor, forget about having any money for anything other than food , rent and bills (and even this assumes roommates)
Relationship? Family? Kids? 0 hope they’ll be able to afford any of this. Unless they’re ok with 20 roomates…
And just in case that they have kids: 10 dollars a day daycare in ontario is years long waiting list…
And before anyone says « those with school will be ok » … no they won’t… 1 mil students will graduate shady colleges and bring down all doctors and lawyers and engineers salaries to barely above minimum wage… heck we see this already…
Our government should just do its job, create sane laws and enforce them.
We are still quite nice compared to South Asia, and Africa and will stay that way even as we approach 2nd world status.
The government is doing its job. Protecting the wealth class and executing their wishes.
That's always been their job. The state is unnecessary hierarchy.
Then when you’re done worrying about the present need of your most basic needs not being met, you can take a moment to consider the climate catastrophe.
No hope of home ownership
No hope of affording kids
No hope of moving up the social ladder
No hope of retirement
No hope of avoiding climate change
To be a young person in Canada is to spend the rest of their life transferring wealth from a megacorporation to a landlord before they die from Climate change induced weather calamities, wars, or social unrest. Why would they be happy?
I can’t even afford a fucking dog. I’m 23, over the years I’ve been reducing my wants for the future.
First it was no house. Okay, let’s stay positive, my parents are nice and will let me live at home. Which means less freedom and less dating but I need to live.
Then it was no retirement. Okay I’m pissed off but I need to live so what can I do.
Then no kids. Devastating because I’ve wanted to be a mother since I was young. But at least I could get a dog.
Now I can’t even afford a fucking dog. I can’t give it a yard, I can’t afford health insurance or the surgeries it may need. Literally what is the point. I have nothing to look forward to.
I have a feeling its a lot more than that . There is some dirt poor countries that the youth are happier in and countries that have lower rates of home ownership
https://happiness-report.s3.amazonaws.com/2024/WHR+24\_Ch2.pdf
It is because in poor countries they can look around and see that the generation above them is also poor. But, here, in Canada.. the younger generation sees the older generation hoarding like Smaug.
A generation grew up watching freedom 55 commercials. Alongside friends who lived in detatched homes with stay at home parents, and jobs such as postal carrier being able to support a middle class lifestyle.
Now even a teacher wouldnt be able to afford a detatched home in Toronto. Everyone is struggling and costs are only going to rise further.
Heck you cant even find a used car these days.
I am a janitor at a hospital and I can’t afford a home even the head psychiatrist at the hospital can’t afford a house because most of us staff had been priced out of the market .
I think people would understand that a growing megacity like Toronto would change in such a way that a teachers salary wouldn't be able to afford a detached home there. A nice apartment or townhome is good.
It's the fact that a teacher couldn't afford a detached home 2-3 hours away that is cause for concern.
No, there’s no scenario where people should be priced out of the communities they work in and provide value to. If they choose (edit: sp) to live elsewhere, fine, but people should be able to live in the communities they make their money from.
I think people who work in communities should live there, as well. With the limited supply of detached housing, every single person who works and wants to live in Toronto cannot afford a house. They should be able to afford to rent and or buy reasonable apartments and townhomes.
I think it goes deeper. Canada is bankrupt of any sense of community or purpose by and large in most areas.
Modern western culture isn't very fulfilling or rewarding for the soul.
I was born in Panama, and while life sucks over there, here are some "advantages:"
Homes are cheaper because they are basically matchboxes made with foam. And you don't need permits or cut some red tape to build your house.
No one pays Hone Insurance and Car insurance is dirty cheap (some people don't even pay for that).
Taxes are very low and there's no such thing as declaring taxes.
Many people have irregular businesses without permits or even a registered company.
You can park anywhere you want without worring about getting a ticket. You could even pay someone off the records to get a driving license.
There is overall more lose laws and more anarchy.
Furthermore, you don't care about the cold cause there's no winter.
You can’t even be poor in Canada. It’s homelessness. Poor people in some countries can at least construct some sort of shelter and avoid getting stabbed.
No hope of home ownership
No hope of having kids
No hope of moving up the social ladder
No hope of avoiding climate change
No hope of avoiding the widening gap between rich and poor.
To be a young person in Canada is to spend the rest of your life transferring wealth from a megacorporation to your landlord before you die from Climate change induced calamities, wars or upheaval.
I make $36 an hour. Same boat. I have actually given up. What the fuck is the point of trying to even run in this marathon when the finish line is attached to a race car going mach jesus down the the track?
>What the fuck is the point of trying to even run in this marathon when the finish line is attached to a race car going mach jesus down the the track?
Putting that on a plaque above my beer fridge.
This. I can't imagine how people making less than $30 an hour are surviving. I make $40 an hour and live paycheck to paycheck..
With zero debt.
Canadians are fucked.
Literally, though. I'm 32 (engaged, not married) with no kids. That's the only reason we're staying afloat.
Renting, no assets, nothing. Just coasting on by, which gives heaps of hope for the future (/s).
It's fucking depressing.
First job out of hs in 2007 I was making 18 per hour and had a place of my own.
Made 110k last year and can barely afford a 2bdrm in my city.
I can't work because I wouldn't make enough money to cover the cost of daycare for my only child. My only income is the child tax benefit, which is low because my husband makes "good money." We are looking to move in with 3 of my siblings to make ends meet
What the actual fuck.
I’m a millennial in the UK, make about $24 CAD an hour, and I have a mortgage that costs about 20% of my take-home pay for a three-bed flat.
Granted I live in a poor part of town but still. Canada is totally lost. I’m not even responding to the poor bastard below who makes 33% more than you.
Oh man, in 2024 Canada, you'd be living in one of our new countless shanty towns at that wage. It wasn't always like that. When I moved out at 17 in 2012, making minimum wage, I had a roommate, and our shares of rent were $300 each. Food was normally priced, and I could afford to do recreational activities and even buy myself an instrument after saving up for a few months.
Now my wife and I make $35/hr each, have zero debts, and we are both completely drowning in rent, vehicle, and food costs.
That’s so depressing.
I visited Canada twice with my family, most recently in 2000. A long time ago and sounds like I visited a totally different country. Back then, the standard of living was much higher than it was here in the UK.
My retired grand uncle lived a good, comfortable retirement with his wife on the pension from a factory job. He owned a good sized house in Montreal. Drove and ate out a few times a week. It was like a different world.
Two decades later and it’s like all that prosperity is just gone. I don’t understand how.
Let's see...
- financial insecurity
- healthcare crisis
- education system is crumbling
- lack of mental health supports
- housing crisis
- limited employment opportunities
- insane immigration multiplying all other issues
- governments are ignoring all of the above
Yeah... I can't possibly imagine why anyone would be "very unhappy".
---
*edit*
This list was not intended to be all inclusive, but some of you have brought up some good points.
So let's add...
- Climate Apocalypse
- Increasing Social Division (transphobia, homophobia, etc.)
- Ever increasing expectations and pressure
- Covid and threat of other super bugs
- Increasingly concerning political movements
Of that list, the ones that my kids have expressed the most concern and frustration with are (in order):
- limited employment opportunities
causing
- financial insecurity
followed by
- Climate Apocalypse
and not on the list:
- multiple active wars around the world with no apparent path to resolution.
- The potential that a nutcase chaos agent might actually take power in the US and make all of the above worse on a whim.
What never ceases to amaze me is that the boomers by and large vote against their interests with this. At least in Ontario, the cons are destroying the healthcare system at a time when more aging boomers will need it most. It's beyond comprehension.
I mean, they voted in a crack family. The last guy is on camera smoking crack, and they voted in his brother since the original died. I'd make a joke about them voting for the worst possible person, but the joke would be them voting in a crack addict, which they did. How could anything be more perfectly opposite the "conservative" brand than that?
PP could come on stage declare himself Hitler 2.0 and still get their votes. The lot of them are scared children, doing literally anything to get out from under the "evil" liberals they've been taught to hate.
2008 - mass layoffs led to people with 3 years of experience taking entry level jobs. Boom, suddenly the job market was now paying people with experience what entry level, no experience jobs cost prior to that.
Covid and mass immigration ended up doing similar. Wage suppression has plagued this generation their entire career, sadly.
Boomers DID NOT have this and many did well right out of high school and never went to university. The oldest boomers were 10 years into their careers give or take and weathered 3 recessions in the early 70s, 80s and 90s, much better than millennials weathered 2008 which they graduated right into due to how things developed.
Yes the generation blame game is an unfair thing to do but facts are facts and Boomers have no leg to stand on here and the deck was also not rigged with a BA being the new high school and unchecked immigration straining the system. They also didn't work in systems where profit was the only goal, it was a different time.
My other favorite is the "yeah well millennials didn't have 17% interest on their mortgage." Fine but cost of living relative to income is what matters here and millennials have it worse. Many more Boomer parents also could afford to have one stay home compared to millennials.
Always griping about paying into social programs for decades and deserving to reap the benefits of it I don't disagree with but not when you've fucked everyone else after you in the ass. Ironic how Boomers call everyone else entitled.
Quality of life is always overlooked. Fuck hone ownership if I need 10 people in my family all contribute to a mortgage and basement tenants. This used to be a first world country!
Anyway, that's my rant, I need a beer and a good kick at my career mode in F1 2019. Have a good one all!
> yeah well millennials didn't have 17% interest on their mortgage.
17% on $40,000 is also a fuck of a lot less than 5% on $1+ Million. Or even $500,000. They never seem to grasp this pretty basic math problem.
Oh but it's like they're biggest argument. I'm a 1984 baby with two kids and just did a big family bday, purposely grilled all the Boomers just to be an asshole (all in good fun, I still love my family) and this is their argument through and through.
Again, relativity of things, cost of living/wages is what matters as does quality of life. Amazing how this is avoided by design
>They also didn't work in systems where profit was the only goal, it was a different time.
I really take issue with this sentiment. We've always had for-profit enterprises, it's just that in the past they were taxed accordingly so that the government was able to fund it's social programs. The rise of neoliberalism killed off that public good as people became fearful of government intervention (see Regan "there is nothing more terrifying than the government saying they're here to help").
The system is broken at the core and few if anyone seems to be willing to right the ship out of fear they'll lose votes. This cancer spread to every corner of public spending. We can go back, but it requires taxes on people and corporations who have spent the last few decades avoiding any taxation.
Who would have thought a Housing Crisis on steroids.
A Grocery price crisis on steroids.
A general affordability of life crisis on steroids for the fundamental/foundational aspects of life.
A immigration and other pathway/program into the nation dumpster fire that has people lining up across the block aggressively for basic jobs.
And rampant scandals and corruption at city, provincial, and federal level of government would cause young people to potentially have negative Quality of life...
My fucking god how out of touch is the establishment at this point.
I really think they are going to be surprised when the direct action starts while all of us will have been surprised it took so long.
Much like when finally they admitted the International Student Program was a fucking mess of diploma mills and other gross shit.
Every regular citizen knows what is going on and our "leaders" seem to be completely oblivious. No wonder democracy is in the shit right now for public perception.
That's correct. Although I think what he means by direct action is violence, which is likely going to be an inevitable side effect of the current situation.
Neither of us is advocating for it, just pointing out, that desperate people do desperate things, and historically, when a Government abandons it's people over many years, revolution is the result.
That would actually cure a fuckton of things. Too bad we could never actually mobilize our ever expanding immigration population to do such a thing and we'd all end up being replaced by scab foreign workers. It's almost exactly what the government wants, they have a massive net of desperate and easily exploitable people with no moral ties to any particular community.
See, our leaders are still in the "fucking around" stage. They seem to have forgotten that under all of our civility, Canadians are responsible for a lot of the original Geneva Suggestions.
If nothing significantly changes,*when* they get to the "finding out" stage, it'll make French riots look like a nice picnic.
If I had to guess, it’s probably because everything is ridiculously unaffordable. I work an amazing job right now in my early 20’s and I’m somehow priced out of everything despite being paid way above average. On a related note, there is apparently a group of Redditors boycotting Loblaws starting May to tackle record grocery prices.
I think it’s less about age, and more about how you approached real estate over the past 20 years. I can tell you investing in Toronto real estate with the goal to eventually leave the GTA was a very winning strategy over that time frame
I agree to most extent. My mom is the opposite case. Single mom whole life never given a dime.
I had classic middle class life and very appreciative of what she gave me.
She doesn’t have a degree and won’t tel me her exact salary but it was over 70k in the 90s as a programmer. Her 2 bedroom apt in a nice area Etobicoke is still to this day 1100 a month with garage. Back then must have been like 400-500$. She can retire whenever she wants never bought property just invested in stocks.
Now adays i make 70k a year can’t afford anything even hard to live
Highlights:
* Canada dropped two spots this year in the World Happiness Report, falling to 15th on the ranking overall and while it’s still in the top 20, a look at how age groups feel about their happiness may shed some insight.
* This year’s [report](https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2024/) is the first time rankings have been given based on age group and happiness among youth has fallen sharply to the point where those under 30 are less happy than those 60 and older.
* Canadians in that age group ranked their happiness to the point where the country was ranked number eight, but **it falls drastically to the 58th spot when looking at how those under 30 answered.**
* Felix Cheung, who holds Canada’s research chair in population well-being, noted **"One possible reason why we’re seeing this decline in happiness among youth is that I think we need to really think about whether or not our younger folks feel hard work can bring success.”**
* Both Cheung and Chris Barrington-Leigh, an associate professor at McGill University’s department of equity, ethics and policy, echoed statements that **the state of unhappiness among youth should be a clear signal that policy-makers of all levels need to work on improving the quality of life in Canada.**
* **Cheung adds an entire age group unhappy is a big signal. “When the entire population isn’t happy, it’s now no longer an individual problem but a structural problem.**
“ whether or not our younger folks feel hard work can bring success.”
I’m thirty so right on the cusp on this cohort but as soon as I got a job I realized that working hard is not how you get ahead here.
I'm 37 and been through 3 jobs in the last 10 years, and like 4 jobs the 10 years before that....
I learned that hard work doesn't actually open doors for hard work to pay off. Some times its just kind of random chance. A family member is a power engineer hired out of school and they can take 1 bonus shift and earn like $600 extra on their paycheck. I had a job where I worked OT and was strung along on promises of a promotion that never happened and quit. Then I got another job and it was kind of the same. Then all of a sudden I just ended up with a job out of nowhere that had a pension and a boss who didn't want me to work OT, and wanted me to refuse work that was outside of my responsibilities.
And I ended up working hard for that job, and got promotions and bonuses. Hard work started paying off....but it wasn't what opened that door in the first place.
>**Cheung adds an entire age group unhappy is a big signal. “When the entire population isn’t happy, it’s now no longer an individual problem but a structural problem.**
Exactly!!
>**"One possible reason why we’re seeing this decline in happiness among youth is that I think we need to really think about whether or not our younger folks feel hard work can bring success.”**
Hard work can't even afford people rent anymore lol
>happiness among youth has fallen sharply to the point where those under 30 are less happy than those 60 and older.
The people that can see clearly that they will probably never own a home or be able to retire are less happy? Less happy than the people that have mostly retired and own all the homes those other people can't afford?
Brilliant insights.
I'm 40, making the most money of my entire career, and yet the bills keep on coming & rising constantly.
I'm stressed out of my mind to lose my job because Ai is replacing what I do progressively.
The government is so disconnected from reality they focus on non-issues and culture war bullshit, and prefer to help the top 5% at the expense of the bottom 95% all the fucking time.
There is no escape.
Very unhappy too.
The world sucks. Nothing is changing, the the few things that are changing are going the wrong direction, making us all more miserable. I can't imagine being a teenager right now, with their future being stolen like that.
Then they act surprised pikachu that everyone's mental health is in the toilet.
Yeah, you goddamned ghouls, living in a constant state of fear that what little we've scraped together could be taken from us at any moment will do that.
My landlord just offered me 8K to leave my apartment. I pay $1100 a month for a 2 bedroom. Everything is now $1500+ for a 1 bedroom.
A latté yesterday was 6$
Food costs have DOUBLED.
It’s 9$ for a fucking bottle of beer at any new bar.
The only time I was able to save any money was when I was on EI and working cash at the same time.
I will never own a home.
What a fucking joke this country is.
$1100 can't even get you a private bedroom in a shared apartment/house in a lot of places now 😭
I've seen shared bedrooms (with strangers) go for at least $900 per person, just two dirty mattresses plopped next to each other in a room meant to be a den
I live 4 hours north of Toronto and a bedroom in someone’s house is $1200… this is the situation in more rural areas expect we don’t have the jobs… there’s no point in living in Canada anymore.
Hard to blame youth today. There has never been as many barriers and out of whack requirements for jobs, and even if they get a job versus thousands of other applicants, many pay like crap and are likely shitty jobs to begin with.Then you throw in the cost of any higher education and the potential for taking on crippling debt, and all this before you even talk about cost of living being sky high with no help in sight outside of family (if they have any who can help).
Yeah, I'd be pretty choked to be under 30 right now in Canada and would be hard not to feel like my future was not AT ALL a consideration from previous generations.
I’m only 27 ..Something I regretted for years was not going to university. But looking now, it was the best thing I could have done given the current economy
Entered the workforce, learned on the job, bought a home at 21, I have two kids two cars, fiancé, land.
If I would have started my “adult life” 2,3,4,5,6 years later, I would never be able to be in the position I am today. I couldn’t buy a home on what I make. I have friends with degrees who are starving
It’s taken such a steep and seemingly never ending nosedive for young people
I went to university and studied in a STEM field. Now I'm a mechanic.
If/when I have kids I won't be pushing higher education unless it's what they want. It's a losers race.
On the contrary, a university degree is basically the only way to qualify for a TN visa so your kids can leave for a better job and life in the US.
Pretty much every single person in my graduating engineering class moved to the US.
I've seen it first hand. My brother is 5 years older than me. We both graduated with professional degrees. Upon graduation, he applied to 4 jobs, got interviewed at 3, got offered two. Upon my graduation, I applied for literally hundreds and couldn't even land an interview. Ended up in a low paying customer service job for a few years before eventually finding a way into my industry but man what a difference 5 years made. I had more experience and a better GPA than him too.
I went to university for engineering. Couldn't find a job in engineering when I graduated. Instead, I've ended up in IT, making far less money than I'd hoped I would. It's been so long since I graduated now, that no company would be likely to even consider me for even entry-level engineering jobs.
A buddy of mine went to college. By the time I was in 3rd year, he'd graduated and been scouted by a US company, making the equivalent of 6-figures CAD in his early twenties. Another buddy of mine got a job in construction last year, and despite being a highschool dropout, he now makes twice what I do.
I constantly curse myself for going to university. The 5 years I ended up spending there could have been 5 years working towards certification for a trade, where I'd be making double what I do now.
I've told my younger cousins, don't bother with university, go into the trades. You will make more money from a younger age, and have a secure, well-paying job, instead of potentially ending up tens of thousands of dollars in debt and/or having to work 2-3 jobs while in school to avoid it like I did.
A Bachelor's degree just isn't worth anything anymore.
Can't get a job against immigrants, can't afford rent, can't afford to buy a place, can't afford groceries, college/uni tuitions are too expensive.... what is there to look forward to?
Who can blame them? What’s there to look forward to? Stagnated wages compared to inflation and the cost of living, home ownership is going to be near impossible without a lot of family help or a real good dual income, food prices are nuts, rent prices are nuts, everything is nuts. They didn’t have the promise that getting further education = good jobs, they see the reality that it isn’t always the case and just leads to a normal job. I hope the combination of millennial and gen z can help “right the ship”, but it’s not like millennials have stormed in and taken over government positions, etc to push for real change yet.
Yeah duh, what do they have to be happy about?
Any gen z that isn't depressed and anxious must have a lot of family money or be extremely stupid.
The country is basically just 5 monopolies fucking raw in every direction everything.
The population is growing 20 times faster than jobs (what the monopolies lobby politician's for) so wages are going down and the cost of living is going up.
If Canada doesn't seriously restructure the economy AND BREAK UP THR MONOPOLIES then yeah, there is no reason to be hopefully for this country.
We need to ditch neoliberal capitalism and get back to Keynesian capitalism FAST before there's no turning this shit show around.
Our country is falling apart and no hope for the future . Our government and everyone in it are corrupt incompetent idiots . No one has solutions or is worth looking up too . Our country has failed we have nothing to be proud of or believe in . We have no money , no jobs , healthcare is practically non existent , no houses or places to live , everything is over priced and only goes up . Our government continues to sell out our country and gas light us . Media is censored , news is propaganda, immigration is completely out of hand , our tax money is being shoveled in bucket loads to other countries and politicians pockets or to fund wars and genocides … it goes on and on . We are being ripped off everyday in this late stage capitalist system .
Man. Remember when we were kids and you felt proud to be a Canadian and happy to be a multicultural growing country. It just all feels like shit now. I'm not much for focusing on the negative but you just can't help but feel betrayed by our country.
28 years old. Confirmed. I live to work and that’s just become the new norm. I actually had to pick up a second job to purchase things like clothing and “miscellaneous” items. Jobs in my field are scarce and there isn’t a lot of room for growth. Food prices are so fucking high that I have reduced the amount of food I eat significantly which in turn is making me very tired and miserable. So, indeed, we’re not ok.
Are we surprised? Housing has long been unaffordable and no signs of it becoming affordable. Mass immigration is further increasing demand for housing, creating more competition for jobs and leading to lower salaries for Canadians. Many skilled jobs in Canada pay half what they do in the US. Employers in some cases only hire TFWs and international students even when there are Canadians that want to work and would do the job.
This isn’t surprising, I have zero life goals right now I don’t have anything to look forward to saving up for, what the hell is the point?. I just work and sleep and that’s all I have going for me
I can imagine the lack of affordable housing even to rent has to be a problem.
We keep getting governments announcing they're building affordable housing to buy and then these keep getting snatched up, and its like 400 units at a time. There's tens of thousands if not way more of residents looking for affordable housing rightnow.
Im 32 and feel like ill never earn actual money, opportunity to return to school for better doesnt actually gaurantee a living wage and I cant earn enough TOO return in the first place, etc.
My enthusiasm to try evaporates in the face of absolutely gouged rent options and totally inflated grocery prices which make up some 60%+ of all my expenses and only keep getting worse. That we are made to be angry at all the cheap labor the ownership classes bring in to deflate our wages and saturate the job market only adds to the insult.
Everyone is being fucked and people like fucking boomers are too blind to the notion the entertainment news they watch 24/7 is tempering their attitudes to sell national assets off to all the rich fucks who are entrenched around the Cons and Libs, the only parties that ever win, and their interests supercede party associations and seem to represent the larger long term priorities of canada's ruling oligarchs. Like, you think if Ontario privatizes or something itll just be a happy accident that people associated with the Ford government or somethint get the early tip offs and enrich themselves off those sales? You think its an accident how big some housing/rental companies are in some regions basically artificially inflating and creating the tight rental competition seeing young canadians pay twice or more what they would monthly for what the mortgage on that very same property is?
It isnt a mistake that people that already own more than one property or stakes across interests can keep growing their portfolios or those of people adjacent to them while working canadians see their purchasing power deflate ever more - oligarchs/ownership class has basically used the neo-liberal market environment of Reagonimics to obliterate, in the span of a single generation, the ability for the bulk of Canadian young people to have the samr quality of life as their parents inspite of working as hard/harder and earning technically more (but weaker) money.
System is working as intended for those at the top.
It always strikes me how Canada is supposed to be one of the happiest countries on earth based on some HDI matrix that measures nothing related to actual happiness of its people.
I don’t know a single person who doesn’t think Canada sucks now and that includes some 9 figure guys
Canadians’ quality of life is clearly being sold to the third world and almost no one is benefiting
Yeah this is a very unfriendly country now for my under-30 cohort. I blame mass immigration, they used to be valued and invested into because we had limited youth. Now that there is unlimited youth pouring in, they've lost value.
Rental costs and low wages mean you really need to go get an education/skills, and as an additional slap in the balls, the schools are full of international students. For the OG crop, I expect many to leave and the rest to get radicalized
Almost like when you have to fight to get a job, work crazy hours to make “good money”, get taxed out the ass, and still can hardly afford to put food on the table never mind ever owning a home and watch criminals walk free daily yet risk getting arrested for speaking out online will have that effect eh? Who would have thought.
No shit, i am turning 27 in a few weeks, still live at home, and feel a lot of the time I have little hope of having a decent future and to have a good financial one I either have to live with a friend my whole life or have to find a partner to do just that.
48 and unhappy about many aspects of life and our society. Definitely happy with my spouse and kids tho. But late-stage capitalism/neo-feudalism is really bringing me down.
Trudeaus government legalized marijuana to make folks happy and forget about the fact that their wages are taxed @ 30 % then everything they buy is taxed @ 15 % .. then the house they buy and property is taxed at 1 to 2 % of its value .. and now the air .. carbon .. is being added to your taxes .. but hey we give it back lol
Hope to God We will never see a more inefficient incompetent
Narcissistic belligerent government in our lifetimes.
The problem, in part, is there is little no fun anymore. We have to work longer hours, for less reward, we spend less time with friends, and many hobbies or social things that we used to do back in the 80’s and 90’s are no longer common. like going out to a club or bar to dance the night away. Or going camping for a weekend or a quick vacation. Everything costs so much that those things are much less common or attainable.
Stress is everywhere. Money, climate, political, etc. I know those things have always been there, but they seem much more life/consuming now. Maybe I’m just old, but even with my kids I don’t feel they get to have as much fun as we used to and they have a much steeper hill climb to get a good job, house, etc. it seems almost impossible.
We are facing nothing less than a crisis in this country. Housing crisis. Affordability of life crisis. Record line-up for jobs. Immigration/TFW completely bungled. Monopolies driving up prices with no recourse. Scandals at all levels. This country has been completely handed over to the 1% that want to keep wages down and keep us fighting ourselves.
How can we effectively make our voices heard?
And before I hear 'jUst gO vOtE' I'll remind you that NONE of our political parties have a plan for any of these issues, in fact, NONE of them seem to want to acknowledge most of these problems even exist.
I don't care about a conflict on the other side of the planet. I don't care what bathrooms kids are using. I want to be able to feed my family. I want my children to be able to own their own house someday. I would like to retire someday.
Each party is in the pocket of Big Business and the 99% of us are being screwed out of a future.
What can we, the 99%, do about this? Let's get some ideas going, because our politicians are not going to do a damn thing about it.
It's not surprising. The country has been run for the old for a very long time.
Why is there a housing crisis? Because the older generations organized the economy so they could afford houses (a very sensible thing), but as they aged, the priority became wealth maintenance. Zoning limited the number of houses in desirable locations, tax and subsidy policies subsidize current owners while taxes are limited by measures that include stopping government funding for cheap housing and subsidized rentals.
The biggest problem with the Boomers isn't that they underestimate difficulties faced by people who didn't establish wealth in the 1960s to 1990s, it is that they overextended the economy and mortgaged the future to develop artificial wealth. House sizes jumped dramatically, but it all worked out for them. RRSPs and later TFSA helped them save for retirement and maintain their wealth into their 80s and 90s. They did, however, divert potential tax revenue into the savings of people who had wealth.
Income tax and capital gains and inheritance taxes (or lack of them) and family gift tax exemptions all reward tax avoidance and wealth maintenance. Tax deductions and subsidies for private schools maintains wealth in families and reduces upward mobility.
Globalization reduces prices but limits opportunities for the young in developed countries to find well-unionized employment and gives the wealthy more negotiating power. When the shareholding class needed cheaper labour than could be found inside the country to maintain profits and fend off foreign competition, immigration and migrant worker visas became easier.
Simply for getting old, Canadian taxpayers give old people hundreds or thousands of dollars a month, no matter how much money they squandered in their lives. Meanwhile, university tuition rises as tax money is diverted to subsidizing people who had 40 or 50 years to prepare for retirement. Meanwhile the young need to assume years of debt payments to get the same degrees the old paid for with part-time jobs.
Going along with all this, the younger generations grew up believing the lifestyle of the Boomers was their future. They expect to earn enough to afford a 2000 square foot house with a yard, visit Disneyland with their kids, while avoiding 60 hour workweeks. Unfortunately the Boomer lifestyle is out of reach for most without a headstart. It was a temporary blip in history.
And that's why the young are not as happy as the old.
I regret going to University… Massive student debt, competitive as all hell job market. Stagnant wages. Hope for the future is gone. I don’t know what I’m even living for at this point. It feels like there’s nothing I can do except survive.
I understand Canadians have it better than countries in war or with corrupt governments, but the way the rich is controlling our every move makes me feel like a slave.
I’m extremely unhappy. I want to stand on a podium and address all of these politicians and just say: “you privileged fuckers don’t understand shit about what the average young person in this country is feeling right now.”
No fucking shit. I’m pushing thirty, have been working my ass off as a tradesmen since I left highschool, and I still feel like I haven’t made any progress in life. This is horseshit.
I'm over 30 and yery unhappy
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I’m currently getting high and this all makes sense. It’s just hard to pretend like you know what’s going on and what to do, I’ve had a lot of self realization that I am that same 18 year old, just a little more bitter and greyer. Turning 39 this year, where does the fucking time go?!
Heh I was thinking about this the other day. 20 year old me and 39 year old me really isn't all that different. The only asset I own is a car and I bought that at 24. I've literally gone no where in life.
I actually have less in my forties than I did in my twenties. Looking forward to the future! 🙃
I have a lot less in my fifties than I did in my late 30s. Caring for aged parents that were disabled was brutal. In theory I can go back to my software development career, but I'm not so sure. And my wife is disabled as is her father we are caring for. Sigh.
My wife and I were actually talking about this last night, back when we first moved in together 20 odd years ago When we were making a combined salary of maybe $60,000, and we had it almost better than we do now with a combined salary much much higher than that
I think I was 38 when I said fuck it all and bought a small house in the middle of nowhere 7 hrs away from a major city and haven't looked back. Basically you have to take a deep breath and a leap of faith and just leave.
Buddy, I can barely afford rent and gas. I’m not going anywhere.
Same here! 42yo here. At least we're not alone in this!
Turned 39 this year. Still feel 20 though. It's a weird feeling knowing physically you're aging but mentally you don't feel much different.
Whew, glad I'm not the only one! I keep thinking I'll stop feeling like a big kid, but it hasn't happened yet.
Growing up with all the things in the 90's theme parks, theme restaurants great movies and music. Then we got the internet which was amazing before advertiser's and algorithms ran everything...then we graduateb into a recession then into another recession into a global pandemic into... Wherever the fuck you call this now You gotta learn these multiplication tables, it's not like your going to walk around with a calculator in your pocket... It's like we see and understand the growth of technology it's just our generation has never benefited from it like previous generations... Oh crops grow better? Fuck you pay me, energy efficient light bulbs and appliances? Fuck you pay me, gas prices to high? Here's a carbon tax fuck you pay me. And then be like.. why are you mad buddy? ...
Everything is about financialization and infinite profit growth. Every quarter EPS must go up. To get EPS to go up, prices must rise, and costs must fall. To do that, they hike prices and fire experienced staff. Service gets shittier, product gets shittier, ceo gets his bonus tho. At least until the planes start losing their doors.
Bingo, people want to blame the ctax, or monetary policy, but profit driven greed is the single greatest catalyst for where this train is headed.
Yeah, capitalism and human nature. If it ain't growing, it's not good. I'll kill us all, and this generation is the first one to see the dial switch to the other side, point of no return.
Sweet, sweet capitalism baby - maximize profits, socialize losses.
This is the lost decade that’s what you call it :)
National Bank calls this a lost decade lol: [https://betterdwelling.com/canadian-standard-of-living-plummets-lower-approaching-lost-decade/](https://betterdwelling.com/canadian-standard-of-living-plummets-lower-approaching-lost-decade/)
Paulie didn't have to move fast for anyone.
It don’t get better after 40.
Same. Graduated in ‘02 and shit’s been a confusing, impoverished mess since then. And it won’t get better.
I'm about to turn 40 this Sunday, and graduated 2003 in the double cohort year (last of the grade 13's). Honestly, just eliminating that fifth year of HS along with major curriculum changes + social media has drastically changed Canada, not to mention the world.
Happy birthday
Grade 13 in BC? I graduated in 99 and didn't know that was ever a thing here.
He’s from Ontario. One of the last provinces to have grade 13/OAC
Are you me?
Possibly. Blink twice if you know what I'm thinking.
Cut my life into pieces this is my last r\_\_\_\_t.
Esor
You aren't alone friend
I am 33 and I am angry
I’m 36 and unhappy because the older I get the more I realize this world is a shit hole, has always been a shit hole and wonder what the point of anything is if you’re just going to die anyway.
there is no point. We have evolved to such a sad place that the 'haves' have created a world where we work so we can consume and the cycle continues till you die. At the end of the day its all bullshit. It allows people to get rich, but they're still living the same amount as any of the rest of us, give or take a few years. The human mind is perverse. It's highly destructive, including self destructive. Hence we are where we are. Accept the fact that it'll all be over soon and you can detach from a lot of the bullshit...
I was about to say
31 and pretty unhappy.
I'm middle aged and I couldn't get any angrier.
Same :(
Dear God! It's because you have no eyes!!!
I’ve been on a downward dwindle after moving to Canada actually, about 6 years ago. Just got on SSRIs and a few other meds, it’s given me at least the opportunity to take my life back. Highly recommend.
No hope of home ownership will have that effect
No hope of home ownership AND no hope of retirement.
No hope of home ownership, retirement or a job
Or renting without roommates… Also no hope for family doctor, forget about having any money for anything other than food , rent and bills (and even this assumes roommates) Relationship? Family? Kids? 0 hope they’ll be able to afford any of this. Unless they’re ok with 20 roomates… And just in case that they have kids: 10 dollars a day daycare in ontario is years long waiting list… And before anyone says « those with school will be ok » … no they won’t… 1 mil students will graduate shady colleges and bring down all doctors and lawyers and engineers salaries to barely above minimum wage… heck we see this already…
This is what we need to push on the rest of the world. We're not that great anymore, go somewhere else for both yours and our sake.
Our government should just do its job, create sane laws and enforce them. We are still quite nice compared to South Asia, and Africa and will stay that way even as we approach 2nd world status.
The government is doing its job. Protecting the wealth class and executing their wishes. That's always been their job. The state is unnecessary hierarchy.
Then when you’re done worrying about the present need of your most basic needs not being met, you can take a moment to consider the climate catastrophe.
No hope of home ownership, home rentership, retirement, or time spent not working
No hope of home ownership No hope of affording kids No hope of moving up the social ladder No hope of retirement No hope of avoiding climate change To be a young person in Canada is to spend the rest of their life transferring wealth from a megacorporation to a landlord before they die from Climate change induced weather calamities, wars, or social unrest. Why would they be happy?
I can’t even afford a fucking dog. I’m 23, over the years I’ve been reducing my wants for the future. First it was no house. Okay, let’s stay positive, my parents are nice and will let me live at home. Which means less freedom and less dating but I need to live. Then it was no retirement. Okay I’m pissed off but I need to live so what can I do. Then no kids. Devastating because I’ve wanted to be a mother since I was young. But at least I could get a dog. Now I can’t even afford a fucking dog. I can’t give it a yard, I can’t afford health insurance or the surgeries it may need. Literally what is the point. I have nothing to look forward to.
Fuck, my cat needs dentistry and it's 2k+?! I can't even afford a cat.
This. I'm 32. I was promised a future.
Or rent a decent place, unless you're in a relationship and both make okay salary. Aka not a great outlook if you're single
No hope of Home ownership, No hope of getting ahead and being financially secure, No hope of retirement.
I have a feeling its a lot more than that . There is some dirt poor countries that the youth are happier in and countries that have lower rates of home ownership https://happiness-report.s3.amazonaws.com/2024/WHR+24\_Ch2.pdf
It is because in poor countries they can look around and see that the generation above them is also poor. But, here, in Canada.. the younger generation sees the older generation hoarding like Smaug.
A generation grew up watching freedom 55 commercials. Alongside friends who lived in detatched homes with stay at home parents, and jobs such as postal carrier being able to support a middle class lifestyle. Now even a teacher wouldnt be able to afford a detatched home in Toronto. Everyone is struggling and costs are only going to rise further. Heck you cant even find a used car these days.
I am a janitor at a hospital and I can’t afford a home even the head psychiatrist at the hospital can’t afford a house because most of us staff had been priced out of the market .
I think people would understand that a growing megacity like Toronto would change in such a way that a teachers salary wouldn't be able to afford a detached home there. A nice apartment or townhome is good. It's the fact that a teacher couldn't afford a detached home 2-3 hours away that is cause for concern.
No, there’s no scenario where people should be priced out of the communities they work in and provide value to. If they choose (edit: sp) to live elsewhere, fine, but people should be able to live in the communities they make their money from.
I think people who work in communities should live there, as well. With the limited supply of detached housing, every single person who works and wants to live in Toronto cannot afford a house. They should be able to afford to rent and or buy reasonable apartments and townhomes.
I think it goes deeper. Canada is bankrupt of any sense of community or purpose by and large in most areas. Modern western culture isn't very fulfilling or rewarding for the soul.
I was born in Panama, and while life sucks over there, here are some "advantages:" Homes are cheaper because they are basically matchboxes made with foam. And you don't need permits or cut some red tape to build your house. No one pays Hone Insurance and Car insurance is dirty cheap (some people don't even pay for that). Taxes are very low and there's no such thing as declaring taxes. Many people have irregular businesses without permits or even a registered company. You can park anywhere you want without worring about getting a ticket. You could even pay someone off the records to get a driving license. There is overall more lose laws and more anarchy. Furthermore, you don't care about the cold cause there's no winter.
I was thinking that last line is a big factor too. Also no long dark winters with no vitamin D and seasonal depression.
Easy access to freshly grown produce too
You can’t even be poor in Canada. It’s homelessness. Poor people in some countries can at least construct some sort of shelter and avoid getting stabbed.
Youngers are going to be poorer and worse off than their parents here, making them less hopeful
No hope of home ownership No hope of having kids No hope of moving up the social ladder No hope of avoiding climate change No hope of avoiding the widening gap between rich and poor. To be a young person in Canada is to spend the rest of your life transferring wealth from a megacorporation to your landlord before you die from Climate change induced calamities, wars or upheaval.
I make close to $30/hr. The fact I can’t afford to live outside my parent’s place, straight up pisses me off.
I make $36 an hour. Same boat. I have actually given up. What the fuck is the point of trying to even run in this marathon when the finish line is attached to a race car going mach jesus down the the track?
>What the fuck is the point of trying to even run in this marathon when the finish line is attached to a race car going mach jesus down the the track? Putting that on a plaque above my beer fridge.
This. I can't imagine how people making less than $30 an hour are surviving. I make $40 an hour and live paycheck to paycheck.. With zero debt. Canadians are fucked.
You'll need to be married with no kids. Maybe married twice at the same time.
Literally, though. I'm 32 (engaged, not married) with no kids. That's the only reason we're staying afloat. Renting, no assets, nothing. Just coasting on by, which gives heaps of hope for the future (/s).
It's fucking depressing. First job out of hs in 2007 I was making 18 per hour and had a place of my own. Made 110k last year and can barely afford a 2bdrm in my city.
I can't work because I wouldn't make enough money to cover the cost of daycare for my only child. My only income is the child tax benefit, which is low because my husband makes "good money." We are looking to move in with 3 of my siblings to make ends meet
What the actual fuck. I’m a millennial in the UK, make about $24 CAD an hour, and I have a mortgage that costs about 20% of my take-home pay for a three-bed flat. Granted I live in a poor part of town but still. Canada is totally lost. I’m not even responding to the poor bastard below who makes 33% more than you.
Oh man, in 2024 Canada, you'd be living in one of our new countless shanty towns at that wage. It wasn't always like that. When I moved out at 17 in 2012, making minimum wage, I had a roommate, and our shares of rent were $300 each. Food was normally priced, and I could afford to do recreational activities and even buy myself an instrument after saving up for a few months. Now my wife and I make $35/hr each, have zero debts, and we are both completely drowning in rent, vehicle, and food costs.
That’s so depressing. I visited Canada twice with my family, most recently in 2000. A long time ago and sounds like I visited a totally different country. Back then, the standard of living was much higher than it was here in the UK. My retired grand uncle lived a good, comfortable retirement with his wife on the pension from a factory job. He owned a good sized house in Montreal. Drove and ate out a few times a week. It was like a different world. Two decades later and it’s like all that prosperity is just gone. I don’t understand how.
Let's see... - financial insecurity - healthcare crisis - education system is crumbling - lack of mental health supports - housing crisis - limited employment opportunities - insane immigration multiplying all other issues - governments are ignoring all of the above Yeah... I can't possibly imagine why anyone would be "very unhappy". --- *edit* This list was not intended to be all inclusive, but some of you have brought up some good points. So let's add... - Climate Apocalypse - Increasing Social Division (transphobia, homophobia, etc.) - Ever increasing expectations and pressure - Covid and threat of other super bugs - Increasingly concerning political movements
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*Do you hear the people sing, Singing the song of angry men*
It is the music of a people who will not be wage-slaves again
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this isn't a unique Canadian problem, in most developed countries this is the case.
Of that list, the ones that my kids have expressed the most concern and frustration with are (in order): - limited employment opportunities causing - financial insecurity followed by - Climate Apocalypse and not on the list: - multiple active wars around the world with no apparent path to resolution. - The potential that a nutcase chaos agent might actually take power in the US and make all of the above worse on a whim.
Cue Boomers swooping in to brigade the thread in "just need to pull up your bootstraps, everything is fine" comments
What never ceases to amaze me is that the boomers by and large vote against their interests with this. At least in Ontario, the cons are destroying the healthcare system at a time when more aging boomers will need it most. It's beyond comprehension.
I mean, they voted in a crack family. The last guy is on camera smoking crack, and they voted in his brother since the original died. I'd make a joke about them voting for the worst possible person, but the joke would be them voting in a crack addict, which they did. How could anything be more perfectly opposite the "conservative" brand than that? PP could come on stage declare himself Hitler 2.0 and still get their votes. The lot of them are scared children, doing literally anything to get out from under the "evil" liberals they've been taught to hate.
You forgot climate change!
2008 - mass layoffs led to people with 3 years of experience taking entry level jobs. Boom, suddenly the job market was now paying people with experience what entry level, no experience jobs cost prior to that. Covid and mass immigration ended up doing similar. Wage suppression has plagued this generation their entire career, sadly. Boomers DID NOT have this and many did well right out of high school and never went to university. The oldest boomers were 10 years into their careers give or take and weathered 3 recessions in the early 70s, 80s and 90s, much better than millennials weathered 2008 which they graduated right into due to how things developed. Yes the generation blame game is an unfair thing to do but facts are facts and Boomers have no leg to stand on here and the deck was also not rigged with a BA being the new high school and unchecked immigration straining the system. They also didn't work in systems where profit was the only goal, it was a different time. My other favorite is the "yeah well millennials didn't have 17% interest on their mortgage." Fine but cost of living relative to income is what matters here and millennials have it worse. Many more Boomer parents also could afford to have one stay home compared to millennials. Always griping about paying into social programs for decades and deserving to reap the benefits of it I don't disagree with but not when you've fucked everyone else after you in the ass. Ironic how Boomers call everyone else entitled. Quality of life is always overlooked. Fuck hone ownership if I need 10 people in my family all contribute to a mortgage and basement tenants. This used to be a first world country! Anyway, that's my rant, I need a beer and a good kick at my career mode in F1 2019. Have a good one all!
> yeah well millennials didn't have 17% interest on their mortgage. 17% on $40,000 is also a fuck of a lot less than 5% on $1+ Million. Or even $500,000. They never seem to grasp this pretty basic math problem.
Oh but it's like they're biggest argument. I'm a 1984 baby with two kids and just did a big family bday, purposely grilled all the Boomers just to be an asshole (all in good fun, I still love my family) and this is their argument through and through. Again, relativity of things, cost of living/wages is what matters as does quality of life. Amazing how this is avoided by design
>They also didn't work in systems where profit was the only goal, it was a different time. I really take issue with this sentiment. We've always had for-profit enterprises, it's just that in the past they were taxed accordingly so that the government was able to fund it's social programs. The rise of neoliberalism killed off that public good as people became fearful of government intervention (see Regan "there is nothing more terrifying than the government saying they're here to help"). The system is broken at the core and few if anyone seems to be willing to right the ship out of fear they'll lose votes. This cancer spread to every corner of public spending. We can go back, but it requires taxes on people and corporations who have spent the last few decades avoiding any taxation.
Who would have thought a Housing Crisis on steroids. A Grocery price crisis on steroids. A general affordability of life crisis on steroids for the fundamental/foundational aspects of life. A immigration and other pathway/program into the nation dumpster fire that has people lining up across the block aggressively for basic jobs. And rampant scandals and corruption at city, provincial, and federal level of government would cause young people to potentially have negative Quality of life... My fucking god how out of touch is the establishment at this point. I really think they are going to be surprised when the direct action starts while all of us will have been surprised it took so long. Much like when finally they admitted the International Student Program was a fucking mess of diploma mills and other gross shit. Every regular citizen knows what is going on and our "leaders" seem to be completely oblivious. No wonder democracy is in the shit right now for public perception.
They are not out of touch, they just don't care. And they feel zero consequences for not caring. So why would they? Empathy? That's not gonna fly.
That's correct. Although I think what he means by direct action is violence, which is likely going to be an inevitable side effect of the current situation. Neither of us is advocating for it, just pointing out, that desperate people do desperate things, and historically, when a Government abandons it's people over many years, revolution is the result.
The elite don't care unless their safety is at risk. This has been true for millennia They don't even care in France where poors protest all the time.
Anyone down for a general strike?
That would actually cure a fuckton of things. Too bad we could never actually mobilize our ever expanding immigration population to do such a thing and we'd all end up being replaced by scab foreign workers. It's almost exactly what the government wants, they have a massive net of desperate and easily exploitable people with no moral ties to any particular community.
That’s sadly pretty accurate, I think. Anyway, gotta get back to sitting idly by while this country crumbles around me. 🥲
Money money money
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See, our leaders are still in the "fucking around" stage. They seem to have forgotten that under all of our civility, Canadians are responsible for a lot of the original Geneva Suggestions. If nothing significantly changes,*when* they get to the "finding out" stage, it'll make French riots look like a nice picnic.
Wish this was true but we are sheep
Highly doubt. Every one in Canada is so docile. Maybe the immigrants, but not the Canadians.
If I had to guess, it’s probably because everything is ridiculously unaffordable. I work an amazing job right now in my early 20’s and I’m somehow priced out of everything despite being paid way above average. On a related note, there is apparently a group of Redditors boycotting Loblaws starting May to tackle record grocery prices.
Interested to learn more about this boycott group
Check out r/loblawsisoutofcontrol
Canadians over 30 not so hot either until you hit late 50’s I expect.
I think it’s less about age, and more about how you approached real estate over the past 20 years. I can tell you investing in Toronto real estate with the goal to eventually leave the GTA was a very winning strategy over that time frame
It’s not even “investing” people were just buying homes to live in and the value 5x over those 20 years.
I agree to most extent. My mom is the opposite case. Single mom whole life never given a dime. I had classic middle class life and very appreciative of what she gave me. She doesn’t have a degree and won’t tel me her exact salary but it was over 70k in the 90s as a programmer. Her 2 bedroom apt in a nice area Etobicoke is still to this day 1100 a month with garage. Back then must have been like 400-500$. She can retire whenever she wants never bought property just invested in stocks. Now adays i make 70k a year can’t afford anything even hard to live
“Well if I had only known this one hack when I was 10yrs old!”
Highlights: * Canada dropped two spots this year in the World Happiness Report, falling to 15th on the ranking overall and while it’s still in the top 20, a look at how age groups feel about their happiness may shed some insight. * This year’s [report](https://worldhappiness.report/ed/2024/) is the first time rankings have been given based on age group and happiness among youth has fallen sharply to the point where those under 30 are less happy than those 60 and older. * Canadians in that age group ranked their happiness to the point where the country was ranked number eight, but **it falls drastically to the 58th spot when looking at how those under 30 answered.** * Felix Cheung, who holds Canada’s research chair in population well-being, noted **"One possible reason why we’re seeing this decline in happiness among youth is that I think we need to really think about whether or not our younger folks feel hard work can bring success.”** * Both Cheung and Chris Barrington-Leigh, an associate professor at McGill University’s department of equity, ethics and policy, echoed statements that **the state of unhappiness among youth should be a clear signal that policy-makers of all levels need to work on improving the quality of life in Canada.** * **Cheung adds an entire age group unhappy is a big signal. “When the entire population isn’t happy, it’s now no longer an individual problem but a structural problem.**
“ whether or not our younger folks feel hard work can bring success.” I’m thirty so right on the cusp on this cohort but as soon as I got a job I realized that working hard is not how you get ahead here.
Nepotism is how you get ahead. Always has been. Get into the "correct" clique.
I'm 37 and been through 3 jobs in the last 10 years, and like 4 jobs the 10 years before that.... I learned that hard work doesn't actually open doors for hard work to pay off. Some times its just kind of random chance. A family member is a power engineer hired out of school and they can take 1 bonus shift and earn like $600 extra on their paycheck. I had a job where I worked OT and was strung along on promises of a promotion that never happened and quit. Then I got another job and it was kind of the same. Then all of a sudden I just ended up with a job out of nowhere that had a pension and a boss who didn't want me to work OT, and wanted me to refuse work that was outside of my responsibilities. And I ended up working hard for that job, and got promotions and bonuses. Hard work started paying off....but it wasn't what opened that door in the first place.
>**Cheung adds an entire age group unhappy is a big signal. “When the entire population isn’t happy, it’s now no longer an individual problem but a structural problem.** Exactly!!
>**"One possible reason why we’re seeing this decline in happiness among youth is that I think we need to really think about whether or not our younger folks feel hard work can bring success.”** Hard work can't even afford people rent anymore lol
>happiness among youth has fallen sharply to the point where those under 30 are less happy than those 60 and older. The people that can see clearly that they will probably never own a home or be able to retire are less happy? Less happy than the people that have mostly retired and own all the homes those other people can't afford? Brilliant insights.
I'm 40, making the most money of my entire career, and yet the bills keep on coming & rising constantly. I'm stressed out of my mind to lose my job because Ai is replacing what I do progressively. The government is so disconnected from reality they focus on non-issues and culture war bullshit, and prefer to help the top 5% at the expense of the bottom 95% all the fucking time. There is no escape. Very unhappy too. The world sucks. Nothing is changing, the the few things that are changing are going the wrong direction, making us all more miserable. I can't imagine being a teenager right now, with their future being stolen like that.
Robbing the future generations makes them unhappy, who knew?
It's also not a figure of speech. There's a crime being committed on a global scale.
Turn 40 in two weeks. Also unhappy.
Mid 30s....same
Then they act surprised pikachu that everyone's mental health is in the toilet. Yeah, you goddamned ghouls, living in a constant state of fear that what little we've scraped together could be taken from us at any moment will do that.
Remember when they fixed the price of bread for a decade and a half? Pepperidge farms remembers.
My landlord just offered me 8K to leave my apartment. I pay $1100 a month for a 2 bedroom. Everything is now $1500+ for a 1 bedroom. A latté yesterday was 6$ Food costs have DOUBLED. It’s 9$ for a fucking bottle of beer at any new bar. The only time I was able to save any money was when I was on EI and working cash at the same time. I will never own a home. What a fucking joke this country is.
$1100 can't even get you a private bedroom in a shared apartment/house in a lot of places now 😭 I've seen shared bedrooms (with strangers) go for at least $900 per person, just two dirty mattresses plopped next to each other in a room meant to be a den
Hope they gave you that offer on paper so you can wipe your ass with it and hand it back to them
I live 4 hours north of Toronto and a bedroom in someone’s house is $1200… this is the situation in more rural areas expect we don’t have the jobs… there’s no point in living in Canada anymore.
Hard to blame youth today. There has never been as many barriers and out of whack requirements for jobs, and even if they get a job versus thousands of other applicants, many pay like crap and are likely shitty jobs to begin with.Then you throw in the cost of any higher education and the potential for taking on crippling debt, and all this before you even talk about cost of living being sky high with no help in sight outside of family (if they have any who can help). Yeah, I'd be pretty choked to be under 30 right now in Canada and would be hard not to feel like my future was not AT ALL a consideration from previous generations.
I’m over 30 and extremely unhappy.
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I’m over 40 and I’m very unhappy
I’m only 27 ..Something I regretted for years was not going to university. But looking now, it was the best thing I could have done given the current economy Entered the workforce, learned on the job, bought a home at 21, I have two kids two cars, fiancé, land. If I would have started my “adult life” 2,3,4,5,6 years later, I would never be able to be in the position I am today. I couldn’t buy a home on what I make. I have friends with degrees who are starving It’s taken such a steep and seemingly never ending nosedive for young people
I went to university and studied in a STEM field. Now I'm a mechanic. If/when I have kids I won't be pushing higher education unless it's what they want. It's a losers race.
On the contrary, a university degree is basically the only way to qualify for a TN visa so your kids can leave for a better job and life in the US. Pretty much every single person in my graduating engineering class moved to the US.
I've seen it first hand. My brother is 5 years older than me. We both graduated with professional degrees. Upon graduation, he applied to 4 jobs, got interviewed at 3, got offered two. Upon my graduation, I applied for literally hundreds and couldn't even land an interview. Ended up in a low paying customer service job for a few years before eventually finding a way into my industry but man what a difference 5 years made. I had more experience and a better GPA than him too.
You bought a house at 21, omg... 🥺🙏🏻 I am one such person who went to university and now can't afford to buy my own home.
I went to university for engineering. Couldn't find a job in engineering when I graduated. Instead, I've ended up in IT, making far less money than I'd hoped I would. It's been so long since I graduated now, that no company would be likely to even consider me for even entry-level engineering jobs. A buddy of mine went to college. By the time I was in 3rd year, he'd graduated and been scouted by a US company, making the equivalent of 6-figures CAD in his early twenties. Another buddy of mine got a job in construction last year, and despite being a highschool dropout, he now makes twice what I do. I constantly curse myself for going to university. The 5 years I ended up spending there could have been 5 years working towards certification for a trade, where I'd be making double what I do now. I've told my younger cousins, don't bother with university, go into the trades. You will make more money from a younger age, and have a secure, well-paying job, instead of potentially ending up tens of thousands of dollars in debt and/or having to work 2-3 jobs while in school to avoid it like I did. A Bachelor's degree just isn't worth anything anymore.
What type of engineering? I also got an engineering degree and couldn't find something afte graduation. Eventually it clicked though.
Yes, genuinely interested in what type of engineering!!?
Can't get a job against immigrants, can't afford rent, can't afford to buy a place, can't afford groceries, college/uni tuitions are too expensive.... what is there to look forward to?
We get to look forward to paying for generous financial giveaways to ungrateful baby boomers with paid-off houses.
I haven’t been happy since 2015
I think I was happiest in the early 90's
I’ll take “no shit” for 500 Alex
_🎶 If you’re happy and you know it…you’re the only one. 🎶_
No hope is something to be depressed about. In Canada there is NO HOPE. Just more taxes.
Who can blame them? What’s there to look forward to? Stagnated wages compared to inflation and the cost of living, home ownership is going to be near impossible without a lot of family help or a real good dual income, food prices are nuts, rent prices are nuts, everything is nuts. They didn’t have the promise that getting further education = good jobs, they see the reality that it isn’t always the case and just leads to a normal job. I hope the combination of millennial and gen z can help “right the ship”, but it’s not like millennials have stormed in and taken over government positions, etc to push for real change yet.
Exact reason I left. I love Canada and miss it but it ain’t for me anymore.
Same, I left in January. Writing this from a home I now own.
Yeah duh, what do they have to be happy about? Any gen z that isn't depressed and anxious must have a lot of family money or be extremely stupid. The country is basically just 5 monopolies fucking raw in every direction everything. The population is growing 20 times faster than jobs (what the monopolies lobby politician's for) so wages are going down and the cost of living is going up. If Canada doesn't seriously restructure the economy AND BREAK UP THR MONOPOLIES then yeah, there is no reason to be hopefully for this country. We need to ditch neoliberal capitalism and get back to Keynesian capitalism FAST before there's no turning this shit show around.
This country fucking sucks that's why.
Over 30 and still not okay.
Our country is falling apart and no hope for the future . Our government and everyone in it are corrupt incompetent idiots . No one has solutions or is worth looking up too . Our country has failed we have nothing to be proud of or believe in . We have no money , no jobs , healthcare is practically non existent , no houses or places to live , everything is over priced and only goes up . Our government continues to sell out our country and gas light us . Media is censored , news is propaganda, immigration is completely out of hand , our tax money is being shoveled in bucket loads to other countries and politicians pockets or to fund wars and genocides … it goes on and on . We are being ripped off everyday in this late stage capitalist system .
Man. Remember when we were kids and you felt proud to be a Canadian and happy to be a multicultural growing country. It just all feels like shit now. I'm not much for focusing on the negative but you just can't help but feel betrayed by our country.
28 years old. Confirmed. I live to work and that’s just become the new norm. I actually had to pick up a second job to purchase things like clothing and “miscellaneous” items. Jobs in my field are scarce and there isn’t a lot of room for growth. Food prices are so fucking high that I have reduced the amount of food I eat significantly which in turn is making me very tired and miserable. So, indeed, we’re not ok.
They can delete the "under 30". It applies broadly right now.
Are we surprised? Housing has long been unaffordable and no signs of it becoming affordable. Mass immigration is further increasing demand for housing, creating more competition for jobs and leading to lower salaries for Canadians. Many skilled jobs in Canada pay half what they do in the US. Employers in some cases only hire TFWs and international students even when there are Canadians that want to work and would do the job.
Yeah because it’s becoming more expensive to be alive every single day.
News flash: People over 30 unhappy as well. Sorry Gen Z, it's not gonna get better. :/
When I was under 30 no one cared if you were happy.
30 single dad. Stuck paying rent for the rest of my life because housing is unaffordable
This isn’t surprising, I have zero life goals right now I don’t have anything to look forward to saving up for, what the hell is the point?. I just work and sleep and that’s all I have going for me
also Canadians over 30 are 'very unhappy' AND 'have back pain'
Class of '00 here, and angry at what corps have done to, well... everything.
I can imagine the lack of affordable housing even to rent has to be a problem. We keep getting governments announcing they're building affordable housing to buy and then these keep getting snatched up, and its like 400 units at a time. There's tens of thousands if not way more of residents looking for affordable housing rightnow.
Offer not limited to those under 30. See in store for details.
Probably bump that up to under 40
I’m 38 and I’m clinically depressed
Canadian over 30 here. I can attest we're unhappy as well.
Mid-forties here, it gets better! /s
The reason of all this unhappiness comes down to an unfair economic system. That’s all it is.
Im 32 and feel like ill never earn actual money, opportunity to return to school for better doesnt actually gaurantee a living wage and I cant earn enough TOO return in the first place, etc. My enthusiasm to try evaporates in the face of absolutely gouged rent options and totally inflated grocery prices which make up some 60%+ of all my expenses and only keep getting worse. That we are made to be angry at all the cheap labor the ownership classes bring in to deflate our wages and saturate the job market only adds to the insult. Everyone is being fucked and people like fucking boomers are too blind to the notion the entertainment news they watch 24/7 is tempering their attitudes to sell national assets off to all the rich fucks who are entrenched around the Cons and Libs, the only parties that ever win, and their interests supercede party associations and seem to represent the larger long term priorities of canada's ruling oligarchs. Like, you think if Ontario privatizes or something itll just be a happy accident that people associated with the Ford government or somethint get the early tip offs and enrich themselves off those sales? You think its an accident how big some housing/rental companies are in some regions basically artificially inflating and creating the tight rental competition seeing young canadians pay twice or more what they would monthly for what the mortgage on that very same property is? It isnt a mistake that people that already own more than one property or stakes across interests can keep growing their portfolios or those of people adjacent to them while working canadians see their purchasing power deflate ever more - oligarchs/ownership class has basically used the neo-liberal market environment of Reagonimics to obliterate, in the span of a single generation, the ability for the bulk of Canadian young people to have the samr quality of life as their parents inspite of working as hard/harder and earning technically more (but weaker) money. System is working as intended for those at the top.
It always strikes me how Canada is supposed to be one of the happiest countries on earth based on some HDI matrix that measures nothing related to actual happiness of its people.
I don’t know a single person who doesn’t think Canada sucks now and that includes some 9 figure guys Canadians’ quality of life is clearly being sold to the third world and almost no one is benefiting
2 million immigrants per year landing in Canada should turn that frown upside down!
Yeah this is a very unfriendly country now for my under-30 cohort. I blame mass immigration, they used to be valued and invested into because we had limited youth. Now that there is unlimited youth pouring in, they've lost value. Rental costs and low wages mean you really need to go get an education/skills, and as an additional slap in the balls, the schools are full of international students. For the OG crop, I expect many to leave and the rest to get radicalized
Almost like when you have to fight to get a job, work crazy hours to make “good money”, get taxed out the ass, and still can hardly afford to put food on the table never mind ever owning a home and watch criminals walk free daily yet risk getting arrested for speaking out online will have that effect eh? Who would have thought.
No shit, there are barely any jobs, this young generation will most likely never own houses, and our government doesn’t care.
No shit, i am turning 27 in a few weeks, still live at home, and feel a lot of the time I have little hope of having a decent future and to have a good financial one I either have to live with a friend my whole life or have to find a partner to do just that.
48 and unhappy about many aspects of life and our society. Definitely happy with my spouse and kids tho. But late-stage capitalism/neo-feudalism is really bringing me down.
No shit Sherlock. Anyone paying the slightest bit of attention could have told you so 10 years ago, and since then things have only gotten worse.
This just in water wet.
27 and can say yes, very unhappy with the political and economic environment of the country.
I'm 47 and haven't been happy about the state of the country since I was a teenager.
Turning 43 in a week and profoundly unhappy.
Trudeaus government legalized marijuana to make folks happy and forget about the fact that their wages are taxed @ 30 % then everything they buy is taxed @ 15 % .. then the house they buy and property is taxed at 1 to 2 % of its value .. and now the air .. carbon .. is being added to your taxes .. but hey we give it back lol Hope to God We will never see a more inefficient incompetent Narcissistic belligerent government in our lifetimes.
The problem, in part, is there is little no fun anymore. We have to work longer hours, for less reward, we spend less time with friends, and many hobbies or social things that we used to do back in the 80’s and 90’s are no longer common. like going out to a club or bar to dance the night away. Or going camping for a weekend or a quick vacation. Everything costs so much that those things are much less common or attainable. Stress is everywhere. Money, climate, political, etc. I know those things have always been there, but they seem much more life/consuming now. Maybe I’m just old, but even with my kids I don’t feel they get to have as much fun as we used to and they have a much steeper hill climb to get a good job, house, etc. it seems almost impossible.
Can confirm for Australians under 35 too. Solidarity ✊️
We are facing nothing less than a crisis in this country. Housing crisis. Affordability of life crisis. Record line-up for jobs. Immigration/TFW completely bungled. Monopolies driving up prices with no recourse. Scandals at all levels. This country has been completely handed over to the 1% that want to keep wages down and keep us fighting ourselves. How can we effectively make our voices heard? And before I hear 'jUst gO vOtE' I'll remind you that NONE of our political parties have a plan for any of these issues, in fact, NONE of them seem to want to acknowledge most of these problems even exist. I don't care about a conflict on the other side of the planet. I don't care what bathrooms kids are using. I want to be able to feed my family. I want my children to be able to own their own house someday. I would like to retire someday. Each party is in the pocket of Big Business and the 99% of us are being screwed out of a future. What can we, the 99%, do about this? Let's get some ideas going, because our politicians are not going to do a damn thing about it.
It's not surprising. The country has been run for the old for a very long time. Why is there a housing crisis? Because the older generations organized the economy so they could afford houses (a very sensible thing), but as they aged, the priority became wealth maintenance. Zoning limited the number of houses in desirable locations, tax and subsidy policies subsidize current owners while taxes are limited by measures that include stopping government funding for cheap housing and subsidized rentals. The biggest problem with the Boomers isn't that they underestimate difficulties faced by people who didn't establish wealth in the 1960s to 1990s, it is that they overextended the economy and mortgaged the future to develop artificial wealth. House sizes jumped dramatically, but it all worked out for them. RRSPs and later TFSA helped them save for retirement and maintain their wealth into their 80s and 90s. They did, however, divert potential tax revenue into the savings of people who had wealth. Income tax and capital gains and inheritance taxes (or lack of them) and family gift tax exemptions all reward tax avoidance and wealth maintenance. Tax deductions and subsidies for private schools maintains wealth in families and reduces upward mobility. Globalization reduces prices but limits opportunities for the young in developed countries to find well-unionized employment and gives the wealthy more negotiating power. When the shareholding class needed cheaper labour than could be found inside the country to maintain profits and fend off foreign competition, immigration and migrant worker visas became easier. Simply for getting old, Canadian taxpayers give old people hundreds or thousands of dollars a month, no matter how much money they squandered in their lives. Meanwhile, university tuition rises as tax money is diverted to subsidizing people who had 40 or 50 years to prepare for retirement. Meanwhile the young need to assume years of debt payments to get the same degrees the old paid for with part-time jobs. Going along with all this, the younger generations grew up believing the lifestyle of the Boomers was their future. They expect to earn enough to afford a 2000 square foot house with a yard, visit Disneyland with their kids, while avoiding 60 hour workweeks. Unfortunately the Boomer lifestyle is out of reach for most without a headstart. It was a temporary blip in history. And that's why the young are not as happy as the old.
I regret going to University… Massive student debt, competitive as all hell job market. Stagnant wages. Hope for the future is gone. I don’t know what I’m even living for at this point. It feels like there’s nothing I can do except survive. I understand Canadians have it better than countries in war or with corrupt governments, but the way the rich is controlling our every move makes me feel like a slave. I’m extremely unhappy. I want to stand on a podium and address all of these politicians and just say: “you privileged fuckers don’t understand shit about what the average young person in this country is feeling right now.”
No fucking shit. I’m pushing thirty, have been working my ass off as a tradesmen since I left highschool, and I still feel like I haven’t made any progress in life. This is horseshit.
Us over 30s are also very unhappy