Brexit and austerity: a toxic mix that has decimated the life chances of a whole generation

In this dispatch from Brexit Britain, Patrick Cockburn finds young people in Birmingham feel close to the edge

The country is as divided as ever over European Union withdrawal (Getty)

Birmingham is one of the youngest cities in Europe, with almost 40 per cent of its population under the age of 25. As in the rest of Britain, the younger generation believe they are facing greater problems and anxieties than their parents and grandparents.

“I think there is a slight resentment of older people in general, though not on an individual basis,” says Chris Taylor, 29, an accommodation manager living in south Birmingham. “No one hates their nan, but younger people object to the fact that everyone’s nan’s financial interests are very well protected, while other groups have had the hammer [brought down on them].”

The definition of “the younger generation” as a group with the same collective interests has changed radically over the past 40 years. People in their thirties and forties frequently have more in common today with those in their twenties, and even younger, than they do with older age groups when it comes to high rents, insecure employment – and Brexit.