(Disclaimer: UK perspective) I think it's partly because the "cool kids" today have had to pay out hugely for their education, to find a non-existent job market

(Disclaimer: UK perspective) I think it's partly because the "cool kids" today have had to pay out hugely for their education, to find a non-existent job market on the other side, tremendous pressure on the housing market meaning it's completely unaffordable to live anywhere half-decent even if you do have a job. The generations above us benefitted hugely from a great wave of socialism following World War II - with the creation of the NHS, completely free university education, the ability to buy a house right out of university etc. There's a feeling (accurate or not) that this older generation, having benefitted hugely from socialist measures, are now 'pulling the ladder up behind them', entrenching their position of privilege while denying the same opportunities to younger people. It's not that capitalism is bad - it's probably one of the least bad economic systems - but that the swing away from socialism towards capitalism (it's not black and white - it's a smoothish gradient from one to the other) is exacerbating this situation. There is some evidence behind this - a report published recently showed that since tuition fees were introduced for universities, more children of wealthy people are attending and fewer from poorer backgrounds.