A young n woman has shared the breathtaking out-of-touch comments a wealthy baby boomer made to her about the cost of living crisis.
Writing for the SBS, Arts and Law student Varsha Yajman, 22, said she struck up a conversation with an older woman from northern Sydney.
Ms Yajman said the woman was complaining about the huge quantity of belongings she had built up in her home over in the past 20 years.
‘Her take on the cost of living crisis was that it was good that I wouldn’t have the issue of hoarding things like her,’ the full-time student, wrote.
‘As I would never be able to afford them in the first place…
‘While I appreciate her tone of optimism, it would be difficult to say that I found much hope in what she said.’
Ms Yajman said even multiple part-time jobs – balanced with her hectic schedule at university – still didn’t leave her with any spare cash.
Instead, the soaring cost of fresh groceries, vital dental work and other bare necessities ate up her budget.
And she said she will now focus on doing what she can to make an impact through her activism.
It comes as Gen Z ns widely report feeling robbed by the cost of essentials with dwindling money to fund their basic needs.
Increased rents, electricity and petrol prices have left little room for doctor visits and clothes – let alone the occasional weekend splurge.
For many, the thought of eating out is a dream with one report last year finding restaurant menu prices ballooned by up to a third in 2023/24.
Younger ns are now likely to take on more than one job, with research from last year showing one in six Gen-Z, full-time workers have a second income.
One report found baby boomers fuelled the country’s inflation crisis by continuing to spend big on luxury holidays and slap-up restaurant meals while renters go without.
Commonwealth Bank consumer insights report revealed those who own their home outright were the nation’s biggest spenders over the previous financial year.
An elderly couple last month sparked online fury after a family member sought advice on their behalf on how they could maintain their pension payments, despite owning almost $900,000 of bank shares.
The n couple aged in their 90s were worried about not only losing their part age pension payments but also associated benefits such as the Pensioner Concession Card and reduced health care costs.
‘With the market going up as it has, they are worried that they will lose their pension and the benefits,’ the relative asked finance expert Noel Whittaker for his weekly finance column.
‘Is there anything that they can do so they don’t lose the pension?’
In his reply, Whittaker said the couple were close to the $1.045million asset threshold, which would see them cut off from eligibility.
He suggested that the couple get their furniture valued at garage sale prices rather than replacement prices and to could reduce their assets by ‘pre-paying their funerals, renovating their home, or making a gift of $10,000’.
‘If they gave a bigger sum of money to the children now, their pension would not be reduced as it would be held as a deprived asset for five years but would not increase in value,’ Whittaker wrote.
A number of readers were furious at the premise of the inquiry, and why such a wealthy couple should be given taxpayers money.
‘Why are 90-year-old millionaires worried about losing a welfare payment?’ one questioned on X.
‘The Boomers talk about the millennials being ‘entitled’, but who is feeling entitled in this situation,’ one wrote.
Another fumed: ‘It’s such an entitled and weirdly skewed viewpoint’.
‘Why do they want the government benefit rather than supporting themselves?
‘They want to do everything they can to stay on the government teat.’