Young people are increasingly miserable
Canadian research shows average life satisfaction among those under 30 is dropping. The sharpness of the decline puts Canada alongside places like Lebanon and Afghanistan.
End Anti-Child Budgets
No grandparent would choose a system that leaves their grandchildren worse off. No government should either.
Across Canada, budgets from Liberal, Conservative, and NDP governments are anti-child, anti-parent, and anti-young worker. How do we know? We follow the money.
Governments invest far more urgently in supporting older Canadians than in what younger generations need to build a good life. The result is stark: young Canadians’ wellbeing is declining — as fast as in countries like Lebanon and Afghanistan. When young adults struggle, their children are also more likely to fall behind.
This isn't accidental. It's a pattern that flows from our policy choices, including the longstanding failure of governments to prepare for population aging - and the predictable costs that accompany it. But we can make different choices.
Join us in calling for an end to ageism in government budgets.
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3 ways governments sustain anti-child budgets
1. Cut back on what younger generations need
As costs rise and revenues don’t keep up, governments scale back investments elsewhere. The result: less support for housing, child care, education, and good jobs — leaving younger people with higher rents, more debt, and fewer opportunities.
2. Ask younger people to pay more
Even as younger Canadians face rising costs for housing, education, and raising families, they are paying 20-40% more in taxes to support an aging population compared to what today’s seniors paid during their working years.
3. Run up big deficits
Governments led by every major party — Liberal, Conservative, and NDP — are running large deficits to deal with rising costs for seniors’ medical care and Old Age Security. These unpaid bills are passed on to younger generations.
The cost of ageist budgets for younger Canadians
Anxiety about the future is rising
Young Canadians are becoming less hopeful about the future. Over the past decade, hopefulness among people aged 15 to 29 has dropped sharply.
Earnings are down. Insecurity is up.
Hard work doesn’t pay off the way it used to. Young people today earn less than they did in the 1970s, when today's seniors were young. That's a big reason...
Homes are out of reach
By comparison with today's seniors, young people now often must work 10 to 20 years longer to save a 20% down payment on an average home. When dreams of home...
Starting a family is being put off — or given up
The squeeze on earnings, housing, and mental health doesn’t just delay milestones like homeownership. It’s also postponing family life.
Kids are more likely to fail, go to jail, or wind up sick
Early vulnerability has lifelong consequences. When children enter school struggling, they're more likely to fall behind, have poorer health, and face greater risks of involvement with the justice system later...
A growing sense the system is rigged
Over half of young Canadians think the system is working against them. It's not hard to see why.
Act Now to End Anti-Child Budgets
Call on Ottawa to take a big step to end anti-child budgets
The biggest step Ottawa can take to end ageist budgets is updating Old Age Security. By making OAS responsible, modern, and fair we can end seniors' poverty AND improve affordability...
Call on provinces to fairly fund medical care for an aging population
We knew decades ago that population aging would increase medical costs as Canadians live longer. Yet governments chose not to prepare for this predictable demographic change.
Make it law to build budgets that plan for all ages
Make it law to build budgets that plan for all ages. Generational fairness must be securely embedded in government processes and institutions, so that it becomes a guiding principle for...
Commit to calling out ageist budgets
Join other organizations calling out ageist budgets. Naming ageism helps connect issues like child care, housing, and education to the bigger picture — and builds momentum to shift priorities.
