Freedom is the new class divide

Time, flexibility and control are what individuals now aspire to

Today on Arguably, Zoë Grünewald explores a new divide defined by “those who can step back and those who cannot”. This piece is paid but can you read it now by becoming a full subscriber or signing up for a seven-day free trial.

Image: Jorn Sangsorn/Shutterstock

Millennials are not a generation that dreams of labour. Nor, really, do they dream of big houses, fast cars or designer handbags. It’s not that these things have lost their appeal; it’s that, for many, they have drifted entirely out of reach.

In the postwar Keynesian era, capitalism rested on a simple bargain: work hard, earn more, build a better life. But in Britain today, that contract has been eroded. Real wages have risen by just 2 per cent since 2008 while the cost of housing and other assets has surged. For many, that means working full-time without getting any closer to owning a home, building savings, or achieving the kind of stability previous generations became accustomed to. The promise is broken, and with it, the incentive to devote yourself to work weakens. Who can blame those millennials who pull back rather than lean in?

For a generation raised on the promise that effort would be rewarded, the breakdown of this bargain is not just economic, but psychological. That promise was internalised early, so when success does not follow, the failure feels personal, a phenomenon identified by Michael Sandel as the “tyranny of merit”. Success breeds hubris among the winners and humiliation among those left behind – both are taught to believe they deserve their fate.