What the budget means for your generation – gen Z, millennial, gen X or boomer | Ima Caldwell, Molly Glassey, Jonathan Barrett and Susan McDonald

Generation Z: We’re not off the treadmill yet

It’s difficult to speak for millions in the Gen Z community. We were born from the mid-90s to 2010, at least 18.2% They are a large part of Australia’s population and are at very different stages of their lives. Some closers started families; others live in shared homes or childhood bedrooms. Despite our changing circumstances, we are largely united by a sense of uncertainty.

I was born into Y2K. Every morning I navigate real-time global conflicts that feel apocalyptic. The Treasury’s “worst case scenario” modelling seemed oddly comforting.

Jim Chalmers said this year’s budget will address “intergenerational equity”. I hope that negative gearing and capital gains tax reforms will achieve their goal for my generation, most of whom are left out of the housing market. Rebalancing the property market away from investors will make it easier for first home buyers to enter the market. The government estimates 75,000 first home buyers will be supported over the next decade.

A $59.4 million investment to provide social housing for more than 4,000 people aged 16 to 24 or at risk of homelessness could give Gen Z a bit of a boost. Perhaps housing in Australia can be seen as a human right rather than a good investment.

It’s unclear whether young renters will ultimately benefit from property tax reforms. But no change will be fast enough to offset the unaffordable rent increase my flatmates have just been slapped with, forcing us to return to the Sydney market with a month’s notice. The weight of Hec’s debt also dampens the mood, and the budget offers no relief here. We’ll see how effective any changes to strengthen Medicare are when we no longer pay out of pocket for essential health care.

Many Gen Zers are treadmilling their wages towards rent and bills, or living at home with mom and dad while saving for a house deposit.

Having a budget based on intergenerational justice sounds great, but that goal still seems a long way off. – Ima Caldwell

Millennials: young parents can’t take a break

I have a painful mortgage and two children and live in a regional Queensland town where all public transport is terrible. Jim Chalmers promises reform, which means change, and frankly life is a bit of a pressure cooker right now.

The first question young parents in Australia will ask on Wednesday morning is: “Where is the help for my family?” And unfortunately for us, that doesn’t sound like a cost-of-living assistance budget.

With capital gains tax changes and the removal of negative regulations for whole bar new properties, the terrain of the investor market has a slightly more positive bias towards that of the first home buyer, which I am not – But I’m happy for them. For all my fellow millennials, especially those still renting in capital cities, this budget offers some hope. An optimist might even say that my children could be entering a very different housing market when they grow up.

There’s also an extra $2 billion to enable housing development infrastructure across the country, helping build an estimated 65,000 new homes over the decade. That’s plenty of housing announcement budget to move the dial on enabling young Australians to buy their own homes.

Great. What’s in this for me and my children? Not much happens unless I decide to buy another one. Starting in July, the government will provide paid parental leave for six months.

And the $10 billion fuel safety package and $2.55 billion package to reduce fuel excise duty and heavy road user charge for three months could help my diesel-driving partner with his expenses. This could also mean that the supply chain costs associated with getting food to the regional center where I live will also fall, unless Woolworths and Coles decide to pass these savings on to their customers. Which, historically…

This is the budget of a prime minister who says he wants to inherit universal childcare, but childcare was not mentioned once in the treasurer’s speech. The government will say there is only so much it can do, especially against the backdrop of the war in Iran.

But the costs of child care, doctor’s appointments, and food were barely mentioned; This makes it hard to believe there is political pressure for parents to take a break. And as a millennial mom, I often find myself too busy fighting the nursery bug to apply for lobbying passes. – Molly Glassey

Generation X: A late chance to own a home

Members of the small group known as Generation X – a group with first-hand knowledge of Walkmans and Discmans And iPods are generally identified as those born between 1965 and 1980.

We are the sandwich generation; Many of us are raising children while also caring for aging parents. Time is limited, costs are high.

The budget is light on cost-of-living relief and big on reform, with no obvious measures to immediately help daily life. But additional spending on health care, including public hospitals and urgent care clinics, is welcome.

My budget response is not a lament because it is better to enact reforms than to propose sugar hikes in short-term spending.

Finances can be tight, but it’s often more difficult for those born after us; Many Gen

Budget changes to property taxes, meaning the end of the downside for most future investors and less favorable capital gains deduction arrangements, are a social benefit.

Tax benefits are heavily concentrated among Australia’s top earners, government data shows.

Reforms that target future investors and leave intact many of the tax benefits enjoyed by Boomers may prevent some X-ers from becoming powerful landowners, but it’s good for the country and for younger generations, including our children.

The changes could also help some Xers who have given up on homeownership buy their forever home.

Writer Damian Barr likened the inequality of the pandemic to being in the same storm but on different ships.

That proposal may apply to the resurgent cost of living crisis. Boomers have cruise ships, younger generations have boats. Generation X has an old fishing boat; It’s not luxurious, but it’s better than a rubber ducky. – Jonathan Barrett

Boomers: We have kids and parents too

Not all Australians in their 60s and 70s are bloated plutocrats; Boomers are retired too! Although we are disproportionately rich as a group, and Labor is focused on intergenerational equality, it is no surprise that some budget savings fall directly into the hands of the asset-rich generation.

Vanity measures include the rollback of CGT relief and negative practices that have helped send property prices into the stratosphere and out of the reach of young people. There is also pressure on the use of family foundations to minimize taxes.

The justification for this, like the tax increase currently imposed on large retirement balances, is fairness.

The changes won’t solve the housing affordability crisis overnight, but I think they could pass the pub test even among boomers. Intergenerational equity requires trade-offs; I want my kids in their twenties to be able to buy a house in the near future (preferably without mom and dad’s bank).

In health, private insurance discounts for people over 65 will be reduced and savings will be directed to elderly care. Labor says such a concession based on age has become “more difficult to defend”. But I wonder if so many seniors being forced to give up their private insurance would put extra pressure on public hospitals.

On the spending side, aging boomers were always going to put pressure on health and aged care, and the pharmaceutical aid plan included extra funds for public hospitals, urgent care clinics and new medicines, including vaccines. There’s also more for aged care beds, home care and dementia units. I’m on the younger end of the group, so elder care doesn’t affect me yet. But this is important to my parents’ generation, who are in their 80s, so it’s important to me, too.

I’m disappointed there isn’t more progress on clean energy. The global fuel crisis seems like the perfect time to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuels (and a windfall gas profits tax could also be included in the budget to finance renewables). Future Australians would thank us for this; Does anyone want equality between generations? – Susan McDonald