In Gen F-d?, economist Alison Pennington shows how the most educated generation in Australia’s history stands to be the first generation worse off than their parents, and gives young people the tools to create the change we need. This is the fifth book in The Crikey Read series from Crikey and Hardie Grant Books.

Young people are digital natives, encouraged to market their own uniqueness and success online, amid out-dated advice from parents and politicians: work hard and you’ll get ahead. But the bottom rungs of the opportunity ladder are disintegrating, and millions of young people are stuck on the rat-wheel of insecure work and crammed into share-houses paying off boomers’ mortgages.

Against the backdrop of global warming and COVID-19, young people inherit a dysfunctional economy that consumes their futures, turning misery into lucrative markets. But despite stable jobs, housing, and families all in flux, there is much to be hopeful for as a new generation of activists begins to rise. Gen F-d? plots a path forward for the young people of Australia to reactivate our democracy and create a new widely held vision of the common good.

From Crikey and Hardie Grant Books, The Crikey Read is a series that brings an unflinching and truly independent eye to the issues of the day in Australia and the world.