‘My balance is on zero’: young Europeans on their first experience of inflation

High rents, low pay and spiralling food costs have left younger workers struggling to make ends meet and worried about the future

In May 2021, while much of the world was still navigating Covid-19, the OECD warned that young people were being disproportionately hit by the crisis and that there was a risk of “long-term scarring” on their careers and on their economic outcomes. It also found that many young people were suffering from increased instances of depression and anxiety about jobs and personal finances. These worries have not gone away but the inflated cost of living rather than the pandemic, appears now to be acting as the main drag on younger lives. Across the continent, under-30s find their ambitions frustrated by worsening economic conditions. Some of them spoke about the pressures they face in making ends meet, often while juggling work and studies.