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Gen Z’s Money Problem Is Worse Than You Think | Gen Z Money Habits Explained | With Claer Barrett

Eliza Filby

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#genzmoney #studentdebt #sidehustle #fintok #personalfinance #costoflivingcrisis #genzworkforce #investingforbeginners #housingcrisis #financialliteracy #futureofwork #moneytalks

Gen Z money, student debt, side hustles, investing, buy now pay later, housing crisis and financial anxiety — are Gen Z financially savvy or financially screwed?

This week on It’s All Relative, I sit down with Financial Times columnist Clare Barrett to unpack one of the defining generational questions of our time:

What happens when an entire generation grows up expecting economic instability?

Unlike millennials, who came of age during a consumer boom, Gen Z were shaped by the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, stagnant wages, unaffordable housing, and the collapse of the old promise that hard work guarantees security.

And it’s changed how they think about money completely.

In this episode, we explore:

00:00 Intro
02:34 Meet Clare Barrett
03:40 Student Debt Reality Check
05:15 Savvy Workplace Power
06:19 Side Hustles New Normal
08:44 Tuition Fees And Career ROI
10:27 Deposit Versus Debt
13:19 Happiness Curve Flattening
14:20 Is University Still Worth It
16:43 Gen Z Investing Boom
22:15 Trading Apps And FinTok Risks
23:44 Finance Influencers Rules
24:21 Brands Chase Gen Z
25:32 How Gen Z Learns Investing
26:29 Frictionless Spending Debt
28:07 Buy Now Pay Later Reality
30:04 Housing Dream Slips Away
31:11 Renting Landlord Ethics
31:54 Help To Rent Debate
33:49 Shared Ownership Pitfalls
36:45 Money Talks Relationships
38:10 Protect Yourself Legally
40:59 Gen Z Money Openness
43:50 Savvy Or Screwed Finale
44:29 Episode Wrap And Outro

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🌍 Find Claer Barrett here
Website: https://www.claerbarrett.com/
Financial Times Column: https://www.ft.com/claer-barrett
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/claerb/?hl=en
LinkedIn: LinkedIn: claer-barrett-74088414

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20 Comments

@StewSims 4 months ago

What is really sad is that we're creating this race to the bottom where life centres around earning enough money to survive, in an age of shrinking career prospects. As millennials we've had to learn to adapt and that the single employer / profession career that our parents may have had no longer existed. Now it seems we have a situation where a single job at once is not enough and Gen Z are having to juggle multiple concurrent jobs. If everything becomes a 'hustle' and we're filming ourselves or whatever to generate content all the time we're effectively heading for a situation where people are working 24 / 7. Add to that the fact that people are trying to supplant human work with AI (and thereby devaluing it) we are in a very dark place. That is unless there's a realisation that this can't go on and a distopian future for the next generation is a choice rather than an inevitability. The question is - do you believe in a world where people learn and work purely to survive or a world where they do it to expand their knowledge, human experience and to help others?

@111dddcca 4 months ago

Good stuff from both of you plus the chap with the sunglasses.

I've been investing since school with the view to work as little as possible. The system hates us. At best we are viewed as cattle.

@leonora8998 3 months ago

I am Gen Z and just started working with my now hubby. We earn more than our parents at that time but are very very savvy with our money, to the point where our parents dont understand us anymore. They think we are too strict but we dont have another choice if we want to retire at one point and just have SECURITY.
I personally crave that and it is NOT offerend, to the contrary, it gets taken away bit by bit every day.
Tax wealth not work!

@UseDgh 4 months ago

"I've never heard of a politician committing to building houses for rent", err, this was this thing called council houses, we built almost 2 million of them in the 1960s alone.

@pavanpatel4150 4 months ago

Appreciate the effort that went into this. I grew up in the UK and live in the US and volunteer at a youth organization and I am teaching them about personal finance and to be more open when talking about money. They are more willing to talk about money compared to other generations, in my anecdotal experience.

@stuartslyper1479 4 months ago (edited)

The Student loan product design is awful and would not be permitted in the private sector.

However I’d also point out that fees have remained flat since 2012. The 2012-2015(ish) cohort were really screwed because they and their parents didn’t have time to plan towards it. And £9k was worth a lot more in 2012 than it is now in 2026. Someone entering university in 2026 had 14 years to plan towards their university fees. Parents have let their children down by not putting even small amounts of money aside for their children’s university fees.

I know I’m oversimplifying things and there will always be those who genuinely couldn’t afford to study without a loan. For them a loan can be a lifesaver. But if you grew up in a house with a car and the occasional holiday then your parents could have afforded to put £50 a month aside. This for 14 years at 3% interest would have paid for one of the three years of a degree. Better still if the money were invested. This combined with a holiday job could cover most/all fees. I’m not blaming the kids, their parents on the other hand…

@Kurafnic 3 months ago

I always wonder how big the difference is, viewing US or UK financials (long distance covered already) from a european / german perspective. The financial crisis was far worse in the US and here there is just no such thing as "student debt".

@annawilliams6661 4 months ago

How sad how university equates only to earnings in this. It is so much more then that. It's people in a community of people who love learning, it is opportunities to develop thinking, deepening understanding of the world. There are many skills that can be transferred into the world of work.

@welshhibby 4 months ago

Tony Blair caused the student loan debt by lying to young people that everyone had to go to university to do mostly worthless degrees.

@leonora8998 3 months ago

Tax wealth not work!
That is the only solution, look up Gary Stevenson.

@paramjitsingh-uk9fl 4 months ago

Previous gen had no need because their wages were enough to get ahead

@Voidhorrn 3 months ago

I work a full time job a bit above minimum wage in a relatively more affordable area of the UK, but even then, trying to get housing closer to my work, it would eat 60% of my take-home in living expenses alone

@TCJones 3 months ago

If i had not purchased my house for 90k in the may before covid, there is no way i could afford it now, as its supposedly worth 150k, as single person, there is no way i could afford a place now and live.

@CandlestickTV 4 months ago

Savy!

@keviinschannel 4 months ago

6:41

@chrishart8548 4 months ago

I still don't understand investing i would rather just work less. Do the least work for just enough food and housing. And then maybe a little extra so i can travel a bit.

@Sgscouser 4 months ago (edited)

I’m not surprised that nobody wants babies anymore if everything is revolved around money now.

@LHMLondon 4 months ago

but if Gen Z (and Millennials) are saving for their own pensions by investing earlier, why are we paying so much taxes for other people, esp when we will never see anything of all that tax money back.

@Badaboobib 3 months ago (edited)

Pro advice:

Move abroad! Student loans company will have a hard time deducting the money from your salary 👍.

Many countries have NO OBLIGATION to handout information about your working status to students loans company or the UK government. 👍

SLC can’t deduct money from your payslip if you’re working for a company that’s NOT based in the UK 👍

I’m not advising you to avoid paying your debt but this is a way to make SLC harder to collect money 👍

The entire system is NOT fair from the beginning.

All the rich folks pays for tuition fees in full! Which means there’s no additional interest fees !

How is this a fair system for most people ? If you’re poor you’re paying more?