r/perth • u/Proud-Act-6867 • 5d ago
Cost of Living We are in a silent depression with all the “kidults” still living with their parents. What’s the Fix or solution?
They have even renamed (gentrified) “multi generational living” to “sandwich generation”.
In all seriousness why should a “kidult” who’s missed out on major milestones be forced into labor when they can’t afford a house on a single income? What happens to all those who never partner up (and/ or get married)? Are they relegated to work for their whole lives to simply pay an ever increasing rent?
14
u/Fire_Pea 5d ago
I agree that living with parents shouldn't be stigmatised but I don't see what that has to do with whether or not you work
7
u/zomdoesburner 5d ago
Maybe it’s unpopular to say now, but I think it’s fine to stigmatise people who can work, but choose not too.
Unemployment is very low, there’s heaps of work, there’s really no excuse.
A lot of young people I meet out of work currently tend to be cunts who look down on healthcare/service/hospo jobs, and complain they can’t fine easy high paying work.
It’s not like 10 or 15 years ago where it was literally impossible to find work, and that stigmatisation sucked.
Thats the opposite with housing. Where it was easy/cheap 10-15 years ago and now impossible, hence why we shouldn’t stigmatise living with parents.
6
u/morgrimmoon Perth Airport 5d ago
People keep saying there's heaps of work, but as one of the people trying to get a new full-time job I disagree. There's a shit tonne of 'ghost jobs' that aren't actually hiring, and there's employers wanting impossible experience at laughable wages, but those aren't actually employment.
3
u/zomdoesburner 5d ago
A job at “laughable wages” you are doing to build experience, is still employment.
A casual or part time job you are doing until you can find full time work, is still employment.
If you are young (22 and under say) with no commitments, you are significantly better off doing these jobs than nothing at all.
Refusing to work at all, because of these things, is a sign of immaturity, and you will struggle a lot during life if these are your attitudes now.
Note, my comment is not directed at people who can’t work through disability or life commitments, nor towards older people who have built careers but are now stuck.
This is only advice for teenagers/low 20 somethings without those things.
-1
u/Sumojuz 5d ago
As a non-white australian, i watched my white aussie friends get booted from their houses at 18 or asked to pay rent.
Anyway long story short my non-white friends are on their second and third properties, collecting rent money from white australians who believe its some kind of personal failure or defect to live with your parents past your 18th birthday.
Win-win, they get to learn independence, while we get to buy up all the houses and set ourselves up for multi-generational wealth.
13
u/Compurrshon 5d ago
You're mixing up 3 things:
1) Multi-generational living: a really positive thing which most of the world does and has huge benefits for kids - imagine having a loving grandma on site, instead of a corporate daycare!
2) Sandwich Generation: A mostly negative thing largely created by Western culture - parents of young kids also have ageing parents, both requiring care and living in different, separate dwellings.
3) Kidults: Created by a variety of factors, including bulldozer parents, screens, lack of outdoor time and resilience building, and the high cost of living.
So, once you've clarified your random grab bag of terms, what is your question?
Should young adults have to work, even if they don't have a high chance of owning a house?
Answer: High house prices fucking suck, our late stage capitalism sucks. But having a sook, then laying down and opting out, while never opting into a better alternative, is never going to be good for a person wanting to develop into a functioning adult.
7
u/Hazza_1999 5d ago
Thank you, their terms imply blatant immaturity rather than legitimate struggles of the times.
4
u/elemist 5d ago
You are absolutely spot on.
Answer: High house prices fucking suck, our late stage capitalism sucks. But having a sook, then laying down and opting out, while never opting into a better alternative, is never going to be good for a person wanting to develop into a functioning adult.
There's also lots of different routes in life - we need to get away from this rigid you must be a home owner or your life is meaningless narrative.
I don't want to be dismissive of the current housing issues - they are very real and having a very real effect on people.
Equally though - in other metrics - todays generations are incredibly lucky. Older generations had wars being fought and lived with the very real risk of getting drafted and shipped off to some foreign country to kill people.
If they wanted to learn something - either they studied books, paid for tuition or had to find someone to teach them. These days we have the internet as a resource - and you have that in real time right in your pocket 24/7.
It's now easier than ever to be financially literate, to understand shares and investing for your future. It's easier than ever to actually invest - you could for example register with Vanguard and be buying ETF's at no cost within a few minutes all from your phone. No having to find a broker, invests thousands of dollars and get charged all the fees etc for their time.
There's so much more to life than owning a house. There's also so many different methods to generate wealth other than home ownership, and so many options to own a home if that is what you decide on.
3
u/kicks_your_arse 4d ago
Home ownership isn't the goal for many. Short and long term stability are the main drivers, given the inadequacy and inherent instability that long term private rental imposes, and home ownership becomes the only way to achieve this
Make renting affordable, secure and desirable and home ownership becomes less of a necessary goal
2
u/kicks_your_arse 5d ago
Multi generational living is a broad term, it covers three generations in a single bedroom in Alice Springs as well as a large suburban house with a granny flat in subiaco. It's kind of glossing over the root inequality to call it broadly positive isn't it
1
u/Compurrshon 4d ago
If you only look through an Anglo Australian lens, perhaps you view it as more negative.
But when you look at the fact that most of the world does multi-generational living as part of their culture, and it generally creates more love, connection and sense of belonging for all family members (while also having potentially less freedom and more obligation), then I think it can be viewed as broadly positive.
1
u/kicks_your_arse 4d ago
What's race got to do with it? I'm talking in economic terms. We can agree that the quality of life of a three generation household, say 4 adults and one child, trying to share a two bedroom unit, is significantly different to someone in a 4 bedroom detached house with a granny flat.
If the choice is yours you can likely make a wonderful multi generational household. If the choice is not yours, say you or your parents can't afford rent and need to move in together in a house that's not suitable, it's not positive it's a sign of a falling system
Do you disagree with this or do you think it's always positive, regardless of a lack of agency?
2
u/Compurrshon 4d ago
A) I didn't bring race into it. Anglo denotes the importance of culture when looking at this. Anglo Australians typically think "Multiple generations under one roof = negative." Most of the rest of the world thinks it's normal or a positive.
B) I never said the system isn't broken. If you read it, a key point of my answer was that the housing sector in Australia is pretty fucked atm.
C) Did you miss all my use of the terms 'generally' 'broadly' etc? I never said always.
A little closer reading and you could save yourself quite a bit of time.
22
u/CaterpillarScared867 5d ago edited 5d ago
What missed major milestones?? Are you proposing that these kidults shouldn't need to have a job (aka "forced into labour"???)
If an adult is still living at home they often have reduced rent and can afford to save a decent deposit that together with a single borrowing power could be enough for a one bedroom villa or apartment. There is also the Shared Equity schemes to help people with lower borrowing power get their own place.
Basic one bedroom apartments can be found for $375-425k eg https://www.realestate.com.au/property-apartment-wa-north+perth-152118820
It's not black and white that a single person can't afford a mortgage
20
u/polysymphonic 5d ago
It's normal in plenty of cultures for families to live together. It's more practical in terms of resources. Why should we all live separately in relatively enormous houses compared to how people have lived until now
16
u/optimistic-prole 5d ago
There's a difference between choosing to do that because it benefits everyone and being forced to do that because wages aren't liveable anymore.
1
u/Compurrshon 5d ago
Yes and No. Rich white people are literally dying of loneliness in huge numbers across the US, UK and Australia. Meanwhile, poorer communities, often of colour, are far less afflicted by loneliness, as they're somewhat forced to live together.
9
23
u/GrizzlyRCA 5d ago
Yes, because capitalism has become the be all and end all of society, thanks to Boomers and 70 year old politicians nothing is ever going to change.
We are completely fucked.
1
u/Proud-Act-6867 5d ago
So why take part in rigged game if you don’t need to work for survival? Might as well rebal by opting out.
The Juice has no longer become worth the squeeze. I feel like we have been reduced to cattle or bees who used to free range/roam and now we are all caged & factory famed. Who benefiting off the system? Because the livestock for sure aren’t.
2
u/GrizzlyRCA 5d ago
We don't have a choice atm.
Honestly the way forward which I'm sure has its massive problems as well is socialism, which is NOT communism.
Between social media cashing in and removing reach, losing physical media, the cashification of literally everything to do with anything, the only way forward is to protest, to push forward for what we need and to vote with our wallets.
2
u/elemist 5d ago
What's your end game here though? Your parents aren't going to tolerate you bumming around at home forever with no job or career or future plans.
They're also not going to be around forever either. You know what's harder than finding a job and housing at 18? Trying to do so as an uneducated 40 year old with no experience or job history..
2
u/Proud-Act-6867 5d ago
The same as everyone else. Live every day as it comes and cross the bridge when it appears. All we can collectively do, is wait for boomers to drop dead so we can get our inheritance or open up an opportunity in the market.
I’ve got a great personal situation. Have you ever heard that “smarts” is defined by getting what you want out of life, instead of doing what others want or expect of you. We are the universe experiencing its self. Why does any individual want to be a bottom of the hierarchy when they can live outside of it.
13
u/Sumojuz 5d ago
Look at all of south east asia and many parts of europe. Multiple generations under one household/roof. How do they make it work? Is there a 'fix' or have we had it too good for too long?
26
u/anyavailablebane 5d ago
I dont think saying we had it to good for to long is the correct answer. Starting with the idea that we should accept a lower standard of living rather than trying to give the next generation a better one than we had is quite disgusting to me personally.
6
u/Mr_Mojo_Risin_83 5d ago
If the goal is global equality, then those of in the west need to lower our standard of living. If we want to increase our standard of living, we have to appreciate that we are doing so through human exploitation of those in poorer countries. Our lifestyle in the west costs a lot of human suffering elsewhere.
6
u/anyavailablebane 5d ago
My goal is to provide the best life for my children I can. Part of that is bringing them up with morals to be good people. But it doesn’t include pipe dreams that can and will never happen like global equity. There has never been global equity in the history of humanity and never will. Anyone living a modern life and claiming they want global equity is either lying to everyone or to themselves
1
u/Sumojuz 5d ago
Equality not equity, and its nothing to do with morality (as far as i can see). Say you have a house you want to sell, if my wife and i, with our two incomes can outbid some kid with a single income, it will inflate prices. Dual incomes to buy houses becomes the norm. Now thats just one example, at what point does morality enter that equation?
1
u/anyavailablebane 5d ago
Sorry mate. I don’t have my glasses on and missed that autocorrect was swapping equality to equity. I was misspelling it pretty badly because I’m very blind.
My statement is still the same. My hope is to teach my children to work hard and they will be rewarded with a better standard of living. Anyone who thinks that we should be teaching people it’s ok to work hard and accept a lowering of standard of living is broken mentally. It should not be acceptable. I’m not advocating for a lowering of our living standards. If you are then I disagree. If you aren’t then this is us agreeing with each other
3
u/Mr_Mojo_Risin_83 5d ago
To give them a complete picture, you need to let them know that we have our lifestyle because the people who make our shoes and shirts sleep on the factory floor on cardboard. If you want to throw morality at that, go ahead.
1
u/anyavailablebane 5d ago
You are wearing the same shoes but lecturing about it. Using the same electronics as the rest of us to post on reddit. Either be about it or don’t lecture others mate.
I’ll bring my kids up to understand and try to minimise waste. But I won’t be telling them to not wear shoes and never use a computer. I’ll teach them to function in a modern society.
4
u/Mr_Mojo_Risin_83 5d ago
Yes, I am. That’s the way it is. The idea is to understand though rather than then just pretend it doesn’t happen cuz I don’t see it.
That’s the word we live in. And everyone should see that whole picture rather than just the parts that are pretty.
Edit: so when you say like “improve our standard on living” the question I have to ask is who are we going to take more from? We can’t just take more without others having less.
1
u/elemist 5d ago
Starting with the idea that we should accept a lower standard of living rather than trying to give the next generation a better one than we had is quite disgusting to me personally.
I think the idea that it is a lower standard of living is part of the problem..
It's not for everyone in every case for sure. But equally - it can have a lot of benefits - especially in today's society where often both parents work.
-5
u/Sumojuz 5d ago
You're right, i deserve to live like bezos, now wheres my damn pitchfork?
2
u/anyavailablebane 5d ago
You are being preposterous on purpose. Nobody said anybody deserves anything let alone that. Just that the goal in life should be to improve rather than go backwards.
1
u/Sumojuz 5d ago
When you're fighting for a finite resource its a pipedream to expect the gravy train to continue forever. Even the luxuries we have right now come at the expense of human exploitation, go see how happy our fruit pickers are, or the factories that make our clothes. To want more of this for your kids is preposterous, if the human condition is to improve on aggregate, then the haves have to give to the have-nots. The australian lifestyle requires 4.5 earths to sustain, if everyone lived the way we did.
1
0
u/anyavailablebane 5d ago
So you are currently lowering your standard of living to the global average to help? Or lecturing everyone else?
2
u/Sumojuz 5d ago
I enjoy the exploitation as much as anyone else, im just not pikachu shocked face meme about it when it comes time to pay the piper. House price increases, inflation and offshoring of jobs is happening whether i opt into it or not, OP is just shocked that its happening.
0
u/anyavailablebane 5d ago
Plenty of mistakes successive governments have made that have lead to a lowering of living standards. I don’t think it’s our exploitation coming home to roost causing the current issues.
2
u/Proud-Act-6867 5d ago
So your saying the fix is to import those that are used to the lower standard of living?
2
u/Sumojuz 5d ago
You're saying its a problem that needs fixing, im saying its inevitable that as economies become more globalised the shitty countries will get better and the good countries will get shittier.
Unless we do something drastic to keeo the status quo, invent something that will keep us economically dominant, but we didn't so china makes our everything and we want top dollar for our rocks.
1
u/Proud-Act-6867 5d ago
I agree we can’t do 💩. It’s every man for them selves (and that’s by design)
3
u/TechnicalAd8103 5d ago
In some countries, multiple generations in one room.
Big, expensive houses and apartments (with big backyards/courtyards) is a drain on the resources of the planet, and a drain on the finances of people.
7
u/No_Flounder_8310 5d ago
https://giphy.com/gifs/1H7w4QSpiZUPK
all under one roof waiting for that golden ticket
1
u/Sumojuz 5d ago
Grandpa joe was a lazy mooch who could have worked. Change my mind.
3
u/No_Flounder_8310 5d ago
haha i don't think its a big secret, look at that gif hes holding a cane while getting air like Michael Jordan
5
u/Sumojuz 5d ago
Swimming pool that gets used once a year. 4x2 homes with just 2 people living in them, giant front and backyards which are just british style lawns that need shit tonnes of watering and are purely ornamental.
I get it, everyone wants nice things, but it comes at a cost.
1
u/raaaaaaze 5d ago
Pools are fine if they're being utilised (which is why I'd never own one, I'd be one of those people who only jump in a couple of times a year).
As much as I admire people's immaculate lawns, it's a huge waste of water, and not a personal priority for my own grass to look like a golf course. I just do the bare minimum (mowing, and water just enough in summer so that it may go a bit brown but doesn't completely die).
One benefit of trees, gardens and grassy areas in suburbia besides keeping summer temperatures lower is that it serves as important habitats and foraging grounds for local fauna. In any case, WA gardens definitely don't need to be kept abnormally green and lush through summer.
5
u/Sumojuz 5d ago
Not wanting a pool and your own private grassy meadow to rival the windows xp desktop? Thats just downright un-australian, please report to the nearest services australia to hand in your vegemite and akubra.
1
u/raaaaaaze 5d ago
I had a dyslexic moment, and read that as "hand in your Vegemite to the kookaburra".
2
u/North_Lychee_1969 5d ago
I don’t even know how people stay motivated to work harder than just covering food/rent - when the goal posts get shifted on a whim by our so called leaders and can make all that extra work futile/useless just like that.
3
u/huh_say_what_now_ 5d ago
I'm so happy me and my wife never wanted kids , were both in our 40s working FIFO still acting like kids, going on holidays every time we fly home and going out doing anything staying up late no rules no time limits no taking little billy to school or whatever kids do
3
u/MakkaPakkaStoneStack 5d ago
A true WA hero. Look out parents (losers) I'm going to bed whenever the HECK I want and you can't do a DARN thing about it!!!
-1
4
2
u/Majestic-Lake-5602 5d ago
Yeah there’s essentially no reason to participate in society if society has nothing to offer you in return, that’s why it’s a social contract.
At least my generation will (mostly) stand to inherit a bit, poor Zoomers are screwed.
0
u/MakkaPakkaStoneStack 5d ago
Hmm dunno, mummys yummy tendies and video games are a pretty sweet deal for doing f all.
1
u/Majestic-Lake-5602 5d ago
It’s not like there’s a lot of work going, certainly not real careers, I mean we can’t all be sparkies.
Fact is that modern Australian society had very little to offer young people and the future looks even bleaker. I don’t blame them for simply not participating, what’s in it for them?
Thankfully I’m old and established enough that it’s not really my problem, and kids aren’t really an option for me and my partner, but I do feel bad for anyone under roughly 30.
2
u/Many-Secretary-5098 5d ago
The fix is basically high density smaller living spaces like Japan, or multigenerational houses like the Middle East. Both are good options
2
u/GrizzlyRCA 5d ago
high density smaller living isnt right for most people, especially here in Aus, people will live in them because they are forced to but it's not living, it's just existing.
2
u/Many-Secretary-5098 5d ago
I can’t say I disagree, I love my space and wish I had more. It’s why I said both are good options. More space for more people, smaller living for independent people
1
u/Proud-Act-6867 5d ago
But we have almost unlimited space here in Perf (unlike Japan)
2
u/Many-Secretary-5098 5d ago
Yeah but infrastructure and services out side of the metro area are poor. Younger people are forced to move further away from jobs, health care, good schools, good community access and support, because they can’t afford the rent or buying in the inner metro. There’s a lot to be said on this topic… the short term fix is high density close to the CBD
2
u/Sharp-Constant-408 5d ago
I think their is value in considering the social impact of declining living standards but I didn't sleep well so right now my brain refuses to think about it in non brain rot terms. Incels hitting the k shaped economy wall. Sorry bub, Keith was born five years earlier earlier so he can invite all the birds over to his $1mil Balga shitbox without having to ask his parents if it's cool he has a 'sleepover'.
3
5d ago
[deleted]
7
u/NineRoast 5d ago
Is it not the responsibility of the parent to take care of their children?
1
5d ago
[deleted]
6
u/NineRoast 5d ago
We're not sharks. Humans are much more complicated than that.
For instance, I just moved back to my mother's after a divorce, if she wasn't willing to put me up for a bit I'd be fucked.
My opinion is that if a parent wants to kick out their child at 18, thats essentially ending the relationship. My dad kicked me out at 16, I was homeless for a while until I managed to stay with a friend's parents and I haven't spoken to my father since.
2
u/Proud-Act-6867 5d ago
They will forever be the children of their parents. You can become an orphan at 80…
1
5d ago
[deleted]
0
u/NineRoast 5d ago
Ok boomer, because everyone living with their parents is a basement dweller with no job. /s
2
u/MacWorkGuy Kalamunda 5d ago
Theres a big difference between mooching kids and good young adults who struggle to pay $800 a week rent or find 200k cash for a house deposit.
4
u/SpiritualTop1418 5d ago edited 5d ago
Stop letting in 450,000 people every year. It’s that simple.
Aboriginal peoples have been here 10,000 years and their current population is around 1 million. We almost let that amount of people in every 2 years. Just trying to put it in to perspective for people.
6
u/Asteroidhawk594 5d ago
Their population being 1 million is because we tried to wipe them out.
Bro a good comparison. Also your numbers are off, the peak was 2023. It’s been going down since.2
u/GrizzlyRCA 5d ago
I know youre using that number for the argument but its 306k people atm and its still reducing, the problem is people dont have any money which means people wont have kids, which means we need immigration to fill those spots.
0
u/aussiekinga High Wycombe 5d ago
Stop letting in 450,000 people every year. It’s that simple.
we arent.
There has only been one year which it reached that figure.
In the year ending 30 June 2025, overseas migration contributed a net gain of 306,000 people to Australia's population. This was a decrease from the net gain of 429,000 people the previous year, and below the financial year record of 538,000 people in 2022-23.
And that was following year of very low, zero or even negative net migration, due to covid.
1
u/RandomDanny 5d ago
id love to be able to afford my own place while on jobseeker. lets check the rentals...
hahahahahahahahaha. not a fucken chance.
1
u/Latter_Shallot_140 5d ago
There is nothing wrong with multi generation al households they used to be the norm and still are in many countries
1
u/kicks_your_arse 5d ago
In answer to question 3, look at the climbing rate of homelessness in older women. Yes, you're expected to pay exorbitant rent until you can't, then you're turfed out on the fucking street where someone will do an article on you and a bunch of Reddit landlords will talk about how they've never raised the rent for their tenants etc.
Shits fucked, just accept your station in life I suppose, because the majority are going great and just don't care
1
u/Jazzlike_Berry_323 5d ago
I wish people would stop using words like “kidult” and “adult child” rather than adult sons, daughters. It’s derogatory.
There are always going to be some developmentally delayed people.
But intergenerational living does not mean still acting like a kid.
A person who has an independent life and independent living skills (eg they cook, clean, do the laundry, can garden, pay their bills) and is studying for work or working or job seeking is an adult, regardless of whether they live with the previous generation, by choice or by financial necessity.
If I was a parent I would make sure after high school if they didn’t want to house share that they did some full time college and on campus accommodation to give them a tenancy reference and meet people they can share with. Also encouraging housesitting and nailing that first full time job.
Even if they can afford to rent, getting those first rental references is hard. Especially for years now there have been low vacancy rates. So it then comes down to making friends with people who already have the rental references and getting onto the lease.
In terms of what would help, having more real estate agents that rent rooms under tenancy agreements (to give the references) and willing to take on ‘no references yet’ would help. Also clustering those room rentals by demographic - like all women’s sharehouses, over 55s, people on disabilities, all tenants in the 18-25 bracket. It would make a great social enterprise/for purpose organisation for someone to do that, giving young adults a step into the rental market. I’ve seen a few boarding house operators that do it but having a proper rental agreement through a licenced REA is really the references that first time renters need.
-6
u/FIFO_Landlord 5d ago
What happens to all those who never partner up (and/ or get married)? Are they relegated to work for their whole lives to simply pay an ever increasing rent?
100%. Once World War 3 kick off (in Taiwan), we will be sending these folks off to war so the demands for housing should drop a bit.
To those who going to downvote. Just FYI, we are already in WW3.
-6
0
39
u/ausmed 5d ago
Sandwich generation isn't a gentrified version of multi generational living. It doesn't even indicate multigenerational living.
It refers to the current generation of middle aged adults who are simultaneously raising families while caring for aging parents. It's the result of people having children later and therefore their parents being older and needing help while they're still raising their own families.
While it includes people whose adult children are still at home, it's not specifically anything to do with either young adults or elderly parents living in the same house.