5 ms·

Kids are not okay. New data shows Canadians under-30 'unhappy'

49 points by djkivi 3y ago

14 3y ago
kids over 30 unhappy as well. I moved back into my parents after a separation. Trying to save up to get my own place but every time I get some money something big comes up or a kid gets dental work or something like a car dies. Canada is not a place people can thrive. Those who got some money gifted to them do well. I am left waiting for my parents to die so I can afford a home on my inheritance. Sad
- AznHisoka 3y ago
  Heck, kids over 40 are unhappy too. I think there was a study done that said unhappiness starts to grow once you're 19, up until you're 50, then you start becoming happy again.
  - frickinLasers 3y ago
    I think if that study were done every year, we'd see the "happy again" age trend older and older, as retirement becomes less and less feasible for the majority.
- shrimp_emoji 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - reaperman 3y ago
    This isn't adding anything to the discussion at all; it's not appropriate for HN. Please review the HN commenting guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- niklearnstodev 3y ago
  Sympathy for your personal hardship. That just sucks. There was a facetious comment that was flagged discussing that, as a HN user who certainly makes $XXX XXX, you can't be having a hard time. It is interesting, though, that even folks on HN (who I think it's fair to assume skew towards the higher end of the income distribution?) are also having a hard time. Note that I mean interesting in the worst way. I hear these stories from folks of all walks of life in the non-metropolitan region that I live in, and I've generally just chalked it up to not knowing the upper-class folks (the ones making $240K writing client-side TS at MANGA). I suppose I'll now read about these same struggles of affording, affording kids, planning to retire, and so on here on HN.
preommr 3y ago
> Cars getting stolen non-stop; police literally advising to just leave keys at the front of the house so that it's easier to steal and criminals don't have to resort to violence > A real estate market that's so stupid that there's no point in investing in other businesses > Immigration at a level where we're adding the equivalent of our fifth most populous province (we have 13 - so no cherry picking) every year, while also having lots of social services. > Immigration policies that make no sense. We went from having a strict system to people just gaming the system so that univerities and random industries can have access to cheap labor to keep the economy numbers looking good in the short term. Lots of people that use Canada as a stepping stone to the US or EU. > Governments at all levels have absolutely no plans for any kind of infrastructure or fixing issues with housing. Local blames federal, federal blames local. It's pointless to say since everyone does it; but for anyone on the fence, if you get a chance, just jump ship to the US for your co-op or something.
- bugglebeetle 3y ago
  Canada’s problems are almost entirely from their refusal to curb real estate speculation and build housing people can afford. This is also a fairly new problem, so that it’s painted as intractable seems bizarre. I would also add that most of Canada’s problems with real estate speculation have made their way south of the border, where things are only about 30% less bad.
  - ipaddr 3y ago
    Canada's problem is much bigger than real estate. Adding 3%+ of your population yearly drives down wages and increases housing costs. Canada not building enough housing to support that influx is only part of the problem.
    - hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
      Why do you say "3%+"? Googling "Canada population annual growth rate" brings up a chart that shows an annual growth rate that never exceeds 1.5% over the past 30 years. Canada's growth rate was significantly higher that the US from 2016-2020, but otherwise doesn't really look that different.
BigParm 3y ago
[dead]
api 3y ago
HOUSING PRICES Every time I see a story about economic anxiety and dissatisfaction among people under 40, I want to etch "housing prices" on a hammer and beat people over the head with it. Housing prices are the economic problem in most of the developed world. The economic problem, singular. Everything else is at least okay, and some things are great, but housing prices negate it all. Canada seems to have this disease worse than (most of) the US. Not sure why. It looks like utter madness, especially since Canada has a lot more land than the US per capita. https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-housing-theory-of-everything/ https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-housing-theory-of-every... I think that article understates its case. Real estate prices are destroying civilization. So many other problems are downstream of real estate hyperinflation.
- randomdata 3y ago
  > especially since Canada has a lot more land than the US per capita. Unless you want to live off by yourself in the isolated tundra, the land anywhere close to civilization is highly sought after farmland. Farmland values is the even more interesting story in Canada, having increased at a rate eclipsing the growth in housing prices over the past 15 years or so. Cities have become so expensive largely because sprawling out into that farmland has become so much more expensive as compared to the historical norm.
alienicecream 3y ago
Trudeau embodies the kindergarten Kumbaya view that so many Canadians of his generation were raised on, and he was voted in for it, and these are the consequences of that. Why complain? This is what we deserve.
- voisin 3y ago
  To be fair, I think a lot of Canadians would vote for a different party if the election were held anytime in the last few years, but this in democratic coalition the NDP entered into has delayed an election. Now I think both the Liberals and the NDP will get burned in the next election.
ChrisArchitect 3y ago
Related: Deeply Unhappy Gen Z and Millennials Cause U.S. Drop in Global Happiness Ranking https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39767329 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39767329
iosystem 3y ago
The country has been ruined by increasing immigration numbers to double of what it was previously while failing to even build the necessary homes needed for the growing young adulthood demographic. It’s sad that some of my peers are even starting to utter racist remarks in resentment of common knowledge that migrants are keeping wage stagnation constant and rent increase is obviously related. I fear that the liberals won’t be able to ever recover from the mistrust they’ve created by allowing things to get so out of hand. I love my immigrant friends but it’s bad to know born Canadians aren’t having a good time because of all this nonsense.

49 points by djkivi 3y ago

14 3y ago

kids over 30 unhappy as well. I moved back into my parents after a separation. Trying to save up to get my own place but every time I get some money something big comes up or a kid gets dental work or something like a car dies. Canada is not a place people can thrive. Those who got some money gifted to them do well. I am left waiting for my parents to die so I can afford a home on my inheritance. Sad

AznHisoka 3y ago
Heck, kids over 40 are unhappy too. I think there was a study done that said unhappiness starts to grow once you're 19, up until you're 50, then you start becoming happy again.
- frickinLasers 3y ago
  I think if that study were done every year, we'd see the "happy again" age trend older and older, as retirement becomes less and less feasible for the majority.
shrimp_emoji 3y ago
[flagged]
- reaperman 3y ago
  This isn't adding anything to the discussion at all; it's not appropriate for HN. Please review the HN commenting guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
niklearnstodev 3y ago
Sympathy for your personal hardship. That just sucks. There was a facetious comment that was flagged discussing that, as a HN user who certainly makes $XXX XXX, you can't be having a hard time. It is interesting, though, that even folks on HN (who I think it's fair to assume skew towards the higher end of the income distribution?) are also having a hard time. Note that I mean interesting in the worst way. I hear these stories from folks of all walks of life in the non-metropolitan region that I live in, and I've generally just chalked it up to not knowing the upper-class folks (the ones making $240K writing client-side TS at MANGA). I suppose I'll now read about these same struggles of affording, affording kids, planning to retire, and so on here on HN.

preommr 3y ago

> Cars getting stolen non-stop; police literally advising to just leave keys at the front of the house so that it's easier to steal and criminals don't have to resort to violence > A real estate market that's so stupid that there's no point in investing in other businesses > Immigration at a level where we're adding the equivalent of our fifth most populous province (we have 13 - so no cherry picking) every year, while also having lots of social services. > Immigration policies that make no sense. We went from having a strict system to people just gaming the system so that univerities and random industries can have access to cheap labor to keep the economy numbers looking good in the short term. Lots of people that use Canada as a stepping stone to the US or EU. > Governments at all levels have absolutely no plans for any kind of infrastructure or fixing issues with housing. Local blames federal, federal blames local. It's pointless to say since everyone does it; but for anyone on the fence, if you get a chance, just jump ship to the US for your co-op or something.

bugglebeetle 3y ago
Canada’s problems are almost entirely from their refusal to curb real estate speculation and build housing people can afford. This is also a fairly new problem, so that it’s painted as intractable seems bizarre. I would also add that most of Canada’s problems with real estate speculation have made their way south of the border, where things are only about 30% less bad.
- ipaddr 3y ago
  Canada's problem is much bigger than real estate. Adding 3%+ of your population yearly drives down wages and increases housing costs. Canada not building enough housing to support that influx is only part of the problem.
  - hn_throwaway_99 3y ago
    Why do you say "3%+"? Googling "Canada population annual growth rate" brings up a chart that shows an annual growth rate that never exceeds 1.5% over the past 30 years. Canada's growth rate was significantly higher that the US from 2016-2020, but otherwise doesn't really look that different.

BigParm 3y ago

[dead]

api 3y ago

HOUSING PRICES Every time I see a story about economic anxiety and dissatisfaction among people under 40, I want to etch "housing prices" on a hammer and beat people over the head with it. Housing prices are the economic problem in most of the developed world. The economic problem, singular. Everything else is at least okay, and some things are great, but housing prices negate it all. Canada seems to have this disease worse than (most of) the US. Not sure why. It looks like utter madness, especially since Canada has a lot more land than the US per capita. https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-housing-theory-of-everything/ https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-housing-theory-of-every... I think that article understates its case. Real estate prices are destroying civilization. So many other problems are downstream of real estate hyperinflation.

randomdata 3y ago
> especially since Canada has a lot more land than the US per capita. Unless you want to live off by yourself in the isolated tundra, the land anywhere close to civilization is highly sought after farmland. Farmland values is the even more interesting story in Canada, having increased at a rate eclipsing the growth in housing prices over the past 15 years or so. Cities have become so expensive largely because sprawling out into that farmland has become so much more expensive as compared to the historical norm.

alienicecream 3y ago

Trudeau embodies the kindergarten Kumbaya view that so many Canadians of his generation were raised on, and he was voted in for it, and these are the consequences of that. Why complain? This is what we deserve.

voisin 3y ago
To be fair, I think a lot of Canadians would vote for a different party if the election were held anytime in the last few years, but this in democratic coalition the NDP entered into has delayed an election. Now I think both the Liberals and the NDP will get burned in the next election.

ChrisArchitect 3y ago

Related: Deeply Unhappy Gen Z and Millennials Cause U.S. Drop in Global Happiness Ranking https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39767329 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39767329

iosystem 3y ago

The country has been ruined by increasing immigration numbers to double of what it was previously while failing to even build the necessary homes needed for the growing young adulthood demographic. It’s sad that some of my peers are even starting to utter racist remarks in resentment of common knowledge that migrants are keeping wage stagnation constant and rent increase is obviously related. I fear that the liberals won’t be able to ever recover from the mistrust they’ve created by allowing things to get so out of hand. I love my immigrant friends but it’s bad to know born Canadians aren’t having a good time because of all this nonsense.