They are 'Austerity's Children', born in 2010. A modern-day equivalent of 'Thatcher's Children' – born into cuts, cost-of-living crisis, Covid and Brexit , and the tearing of the social safety net. After months of chatting to 13 and 14 year-olds across the country for a special Daily Mirror project it’s clear these young people have been starkly affected by the last 14 years of Conservative government.
But what if today’s Year 9s had the keys to No 10? Our project, 'Year 9 in No 10' asked this question of Year 9s across Scotland , Wales, England and Northern Ireland – and heard a range of answers with the same recurring themes. After 14 years of seeing public services run down, communities neglected and climate pledges abandoned, these young people want change. When we asked them to finish the sentence 'If I were in Number 10.
..', they said they would cut NHS waiting lists, reopen youth clubs, prioritise the climate, give teenagers free public transport, pay people in the public sector fairly, guarantee free sport, introduce Votes at 16, get justice for the Covid Bereaved families and sort out the housing crisis.
It was Prime Minister Gordon Brown who first compared this cohort of young people with 'Thatcher's Children' – those who grew up among the mass unemployment, upheaval and welfare cuts of 1980s Britain. Our project has found that even those who don’t live in or directly with poverty are still deeply affected by 14 years of Tory government. These young peop.
