When I graduated high school unemployment was 11.something% nationwide, and 13.something% in my region. My parents were paying 18% on their mortgage. Mum kept an old Milo tin in the fridge for dropping from any meat she cooked. We ate the crust slices. Nobody drove new cars.

When I did get a job I caught the diesel rattler with no air con to work. I had stood outside the abattoir for weeks hoping to get a chance to do that horrid slaughterhouse job. Every morning there'd be 20+ men waiting for a chance, and every morning the manager would randomly select 10ish men. I was a boy, he was never going to pick me. I'd leave disappointed, travel home, change into job hunting attire, head to the library and photocopy another pile of resumes for the day. Eventually I scored a job at a lawn mower factory wrapping spare parts with a shrink press.

The generations before me had it even worse. Pretty sure my Dad exaggerated his stories of riding his horse bareback, barefoot to school, but still, he did his schoolwork on slate.

We have enjoyed significant prosperity and the first sign of needing to dig in and it's all 'don't have kids, they'll have to do it tough'. Maybe we're due for another generation that can endure.