Multiple Choice Test from Generation Squeeze on Vimeo.
The B.C. economy may be benefitting people working in areas like real estate and home construction, but it’s not doing anything to help young people.
That’s according to a new report released Wednesday by Generation Squeeze, an organization that advocates for young people headed by UBC professor Paul Kershaw.
Rather than look at common economic health factors such as the unemployment rate or gross domestic product, the report looked at the incomes, costs of living and personal debt levels in B.C.
It found that on average, people aged 25 to 44 years old earn $8,000 to $10,000 less today than they did in the late 1970s.
“It took five years of full-time work to save a 20-per-cent down payment on an average home in 1976 to 80. It took eight years when the B.C. Liberals came to power in 2001,” the report said. “Now it takes 19 years.”
It’s time we asked instead: what *kind* of growth are we achieving BC? Growth for *whom*? https://t.co/G2JpYQMcXV #bcpoli #VanRE #bcelxn17 pic.twitter.com/x2PnR2RjOL
— Generation Squeeze (@GenSqueeze) March 15, 2017
The Liberals have said that programs like the first-time homebuyers loan introduced this January will make it easier for residents to buy into the province’s real estate market.
Generation Squeeze said the annual rate of economic growth under the Liberals is slightly lower than when the NDP was in office.
The group outlines 10 recommendations, including monitoring and reporting on the age distribution of government spending, levelling the playing field between renters and owners, and revising tax policy to slow the escalation of home prices.
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