Roaring twenties

Your late teens and twenties are supposed to be the best years of your life. According to conventional wisdom, it’s a decade or so marked by key milestones such as studying, travelling, falling in love, and building the foundations of a career. It’s traditionally been seen as a chance to gobble up as many experiences as possible, before the heavy responsibilities of parenthood and financial commitments begin to limit your options.

The rising cost of living and changing cultural norms were already affecting these rites of passage before Covid came along. Young adults now live at home longer than they used to, for example. But another huge question mark is hanging over the current crop of twenty-somethings: will they be permanently scarred by the pandemic, given how much it has already disrupted their relatively short lives?

In countries such as Canada, the US, Australia and Britain, where Covid has claimed many more victims than in New Zealand, red flags are already being raised (see sidebar on page 21). Numerous reports from psychologists, health officials, teachers, academics and social workers have pointed to worrying statistics, which appear to show many young people have been deeply unsettled.

But my own peer group – well-educated young adults from stable homes – tell a slightly different story. Sure, Covid has been tough, they say. But they have got used to life being tough. They are the generation who have been brought up to believe that climate change is going to be a catastrophe, and they fear