Hope that better days are ahead is among out most valuable public assets. It gives people confidence to start businesses, invest in communities, raise families, trust democratic institutions, and sacrifice today for tomorrow. When hope erodes for younger people, so does much of what allows a country to flourish.

That’s why rebuilding hope for younger generations should be a central goal in this election. 

The starting point is for all parties to acknowledge that our province has become far better at protecting the living standards people have already achieved, than creating comparable opportunities for those still trying to build them.

As Gen Squeeze has long documented, diverging financial fortunes are at the root of generational tensions. Older people have lower poverty, higher incomes, more home ownership, and the most wealth. By contrast, financial precarity has become the norm for younger generations. Home ownership is out of reach, competition for rentals is fierce, and starting a family is being put off. The punchline is that hard work no longer pays off the way it did for previous generations.

Alongside growing economic insecurity, young people report a sharp drop in life satisfaction — a decline on par with places like Venezuela, Lebanon, and Afghanistan. For those under age 25, Canada now ranks 72^nd globally, below the United States, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Yet seniors remain relatively happy, ranking 8^th out of 143 countries.

This gap should be setting off alarm bells for all parties. A province that allows this generational divide to deepen is putting its future at risk.

BC’s next government must invest adequately in the building blocks of a healthy society: affordable child care, quality education, secure homes, adequate incomes, and a healthy environment. Rebuilding hope requires concrete changes that give younger people a fair chance to build the lives they are working toward.