Antonia Bernardin

The Sarcasm Diaries returns.

We would really like to ‘grow up’ but we can’t.

I have two different friends who have both just started families with their long term boyfriends and they have had to move back in with their parents in order to get by. Neither received enough maternity leave to do anything else, nor do their partners earn enough to get a mortgage on their own salary.

Another friend earns 25k and was told he could get a mortgage for a one bedroom flat, at 30% ownership, a 10k deposit and the minimum mortgage amount (I cannot recall the exact amount, so sorry for the vagueness).

Another managed to get a flat with a mortgage, with significant help from his dad (who had to pay for all the furniture also) but, as with most people nowadays, job security is not a thing and he was made redundant. He was bought to the brink of declaring bankruptcy at 25.

Another who has a shared flat, pays more than half his monthly earnings in rent alone, not counting bills or food, or his car.

Another has a rented house with a boyfriend, he earns 25k, she earns 18k. After all their bills they have £20 a week spare for ‘socialising’.

This is the price you pay for independence now.

How can we save for our futures and live away from home?

The answer? You can do one or the other but both.

I have even read the very patronising articles about ‘how to become a home owner before you are 30’, it was only once I reached the bottom that they mentioned the 10k contribution from the examples girls  parents.

I don’t pretend to understand the complex sociological or economical reasons why we are all still stuck in our parents homes.

All I know is that I can count on one hand the number of my friends who are in their own place, rented or otherwise.

And they are not better off

I am not crying victim, or being a ‘millennial snowflake’ but the reality is that a 50 hour working week and a 20- 30k salary is still not enough to own your own place, have a car and all those other ‘adult’ milestones.

And I have only discussed those I know with higher earning jobs, I have not even delved into those that work in retail on zero hour contracts and the like.

At this moment in time we all feel a little defeated.

I’m so sorry these posts are not more cheerful but these are the things that are on my mind.