Broke Irish Millennial: The penny has finally dropped

My boyfriend has only just learned that our generation is fucked.

Bank balance: €210.76.

Location: Arse end of nowhere, Co. Kildare.

Age: 26 years, 5 months, 14 days.

My phone buzzes and the headline “Stagnant wages and expensive housing leave young people in Ireland worse off than parents” flashes up on screen. I momentarily wonder when the hell I downloaded The Irish Times app, but I realise it’s just a message from my boyfriend when my phone flashes again with the message “Guess I’m fucked, so”. This seems like the beginning of a spiral, so I FaceTime him. It’s better to get ahead of something like this.

Shane’s face appears on screen pretty quickly, abnormally large chin courtesy of the angle he’s got me at. Lying on the bed, phone held above him. Only a matter of time before he drops it on his own face.

“Jen, did you read it?”

“You only just sent it to me, how would I have time to read it?”

“Well open it there now.”

I open the article and scan to see what would have upset him. “Earnings have flatlined”… “Rapidly rising rents”… “Significantly higher rates of unemployment”… Seems normal to me. I switch back to his face.

“I don’t get it, what’s the problem?”

“How can you not see the problem? Higher rents, lower wages, unemployment… we’re going to be worse off than our parents! Like, forever!”

“Yeah, but… had you not realised that already? You hardly thought all of this was a blip. We’re in our twenties and we’re already in our second “once-in-a-lifetime” recession.”

“Well… Yeah, I kind of did.”

I momentarily feel sorry for him. You see, I did Economics for the Leaving Cert. I know about these things. Before I can say anything assuring, the screen momentarily goes black before he pulls his phone away from his face and rubs his nose. He’s lasted longer than usual.

“It’s just I’m turning thirty next month, and I thought I’d have my life together a bit more than this.” He sounds upset, but I can’t entirely tell if it’s an existential crisis or he really hurt his face when he dropped his phone. “Like, should I not have things a bit more sorted out?”

This is my opportunity to jump in with positivity before we spiral further. “Shane, you’ve got loads sorted out! You have a job-”

“That I hate.”

“And a car-”

“That I can barely afford.”

“You don’t live at home-”

“I have five housemates and I hate all of them.”

I try not to roll my eyes. “Look, I know it’s not ideal, but you’re doing pretty well, all things considered. Look at me; I’m 26, I’m unemployed, I live at home, I have no social life, and I have no way of changing any of that.” Oof. Saying all that out loud wasn’t great for my self esteem.

Shane considers it and smiles. “You’re right, Jen. Compared to you, I’m doing pretty well.”

“Well,” I counter, “It’s not that I’m not doing what I can. A lot of people are in my situation. High rents, unemployment… Y’know, like the article said.”

“Yeah… I don’t know, though. Maybe you could do a course or something.”

Before I can give him the hiding he deserves for that comment, he says a quick goodbye because he’s on his lunch break and has to take his two-step commute from his bed to his desk in the next 20 seconds. I blow him a kiss and he’s gone.

I go back to the news article and read the whole thing, feeling significantly sadder by the time I’ve finished. Should I be doing something differently? I went to college, got the degree, did the weekend restaurant shifts for the CV, did all the things I was supposed to do. I even made a LinkedIn profile, for God’s sake. It’s not my fault I lost my job and had to move home, and there’s only so much you can save for emergencies when you’re trying to cover rent with €250 a week.

I close my phone and look around my bedroom, which I share with my 17-year-old sister. I only have it to myself right now because she’s at school. I feel a bit sick. Stuck. Trapped. Not sure what to do about it though, so I just open TikTok. Maybe I’ll think of something tomorrow.