A Place Of Our Own
Good morning, and what a joyous one (I'm hoping)! As promised on Friday, here is my *highly interesting* post about...
Generation Rent.
Basically, I am part of a Folk Group at my school (playing mandolin) and we are currently playing some music by a husband and wife duo by the name of 'Megson'. One of the songs is called 'Generation Rent' and, like all good folk songs, it talks about important issues of the day.
Have a listen here. (I'd suggest listening to the song before reading the rest of this post though).
Anyway, having this song stuck in my head for a whole week (sorry in advance) made me wonder: what actually is Generation Rent?
You may have heard of Millenials- Generation Rent is just another name for this demographic.
Demographics interest me greatly (and I guess all social science interests me), although I'd never become a demographer because I'd have to do a maths degree. *shudders* But, here's a nice little table so that you can see which generation you are considered to be (this is not an exact science, however, so you might end up belonging to two generations), copied from this webpage:
But Generation Rent are the Millenials, the ones who are of the age that they want to move out of parents homes and into their own ones, but, surprise surprise, they can't.
It's simply too expensive.
In one article that I read (from The Guardian), landlords were described as being the 'new aristocrats'. This phrase jumped out at me- especially as landlords were being compared to those who owned a butler in the 1920s.
New aristocrats.
And, of course, all this leads to negative effects on health and mental wellbeing, as outlined in many articles (if you, for some reason, fancied researching it).
All this research lead to this (my closing statement, if you will): While in the song, 'a place of our own' refers to an actual house, I believe that everyone, regardless of generation, is searching for their own place in their world. For example, for my generation, Gen Z, I feel that we are searching for our own voice, so that we can fight for what we perceive to be right and moral.
This is why I named this post 'A Place of Our Own'. Because everyone wants their own 'place' in society- that is what ends up binding us together.
And if Generation Rent wants a house of their own, why are we closing doors on their dreams?
Generation Rent.
Basically, I am part of a Folk Group at my school (playing mandolin) and we are currently playing some music by a husband and wife duo by the name of 'Megson'. One of the songs is called 'Generation Rent' and, like all good folk songs, it talks about important issues of the day.
Have a listen here. (I'd suggest listening to the song before reading the rest of this post though).
Anyway, having this song stuck in my head for a whole week (sorry in advance) made me wonder: what actually is Generation Rent?
You may have heard of Millenials- Generation Rent is just another name for this demographic.
Demographics interest me greatly (and I guess all social science interests me), although I'd never become a demographer because I'd have to do a maths degree. *shudders* But, here's a nice little table so that you can see which generation you are considered to be (this is not an exact science, however, so you might end up belonging to two generations), copied from this webpage:
| Generation Name | Births Start | Births End | Youngest Age Today* | Oldest Age Today* |
| The Lost Generation The Generation of 1914 | 1890 | 1915 | 104 | 129 |
| The Interbellum Generation | 1901 | 1913 | 106 | 118 |
| The Greatest Generation | 1910 | 1924 | 95 | 109 |
| The Silent Generation | 1925 | 1945 | 74 | 94 |
| Baby Boomer Generation | 1946 | 1964 | 55 | 73 |
| Generation X (Baby Bust) | 1965 | 1979 | 40 | 54 |
| Xennials | 1975 | 1985 | 34 | 44 |
| Millennials Generation Y, Gen Next | 1980 | 1994 | 25 | 39 |
| iGen / Gen Z | 1995 | 2012 | 7 | 24 |
| Gen Alpha | 2013 | 2025 | 1 | 6 |
(*age if still alive today)
I, for one, am a part of Gen Z, and my parents are part of Generation X. Gen Z may have to worry about rent in the future, but the majority of us are still in school, and so we hope that the country is sorted out before we are released into the world. Gen Z's are generally less optimistic and more cautious because we have grown up with social media, therefore being able to see news and world events, for example.But Generation Rent are the Millenials, the ones who are of the age that they want to move out of parents homes and into their own ones, but, surprise surprise, they can't.
It's simply too expensive.
In one article that I read (from The Guardian), landlords were described as being the 'new aristocrats'. This phrase jumped out at me- especially as landlords were being compared to those who owned a butler in the 1920s.
New aristocrats.
And, of course, all this leads to negative effects on health and mental wellbeing, as outlined in many articles (if you, for some reason, fancied researching it).
All this research lead to this (my closing statement, if you will): While in the song, 'a place of our own' refers to an actual house, I believe that everyone, regardless of generation, is searching for their own place in their world. For example, for my generation, Gen Z, I feel that we are searching for our own voice, so that we can fight for what we perceive to be right and moral.
This is why I named this post 'A Place of Our Own'. Because everyone wants their own 'place' in society- that is what ends up binding us together.
And if Generation Rent wants a house of their own, why are we closing doors on their dreams?
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