Baby Boomers are retiring as the richest generation in history while new parents are stuck in an economic squeeze, according to a study released Tuesday from the University of British Columbia.
The study, from UBC's Human Early Learning Partnership, calls on provincial and federal governments to spend an additional $22 billion on social programs to give young families a higher standard of living – and a higher chance of success.
Author and self-proclaimed family policy expert Paul Kershaw said couples with young children are being squeezed in an economic vice because of high housing and child care costs.
"What we're seeing is something I call 'Generation Squeeze,'" Kershaw said, adding that the age bracket falls between 25 and 44.
"The generation raising young kids today is squeezed for time at home, squeezed for income because of the high cost of housing, and squeezed for services like child care that would help them balance earning a living with raising a family."
The study recommends funding a system that would allow 18-month parental leaves, shorter work weeks and child care that costs less than $10 a day.
The research revealed a troubling trend: While Generation Squeezed are struggling to find affordable homes and child care, Baby Boomers have higher income and more wealth because the housing market has nearly doubled over their adult lives.
Kershaw said the data shows "intergenerational tension" and a growing disparity between the haves and have-nots in society, a theme that is playing out in Occupy protests all over the world.
"The Occupy Wall Street movement and related protests across North America signal a growing concern about inequity between the rich and the rest," Kershaw explains. "Our pan-Canadian study shows we can only address these pressures by tackling the inherent intergenerational tension."
The study found that young families are bringing in roughly the same income as those before them did nearly 30 years ago, even though most families are now duel-income.
Kershaw said while household incomes have flat lined, housing prices have not -- rising 76 per cent in the same period since the 1970s.
B.C.'s housing prices have seen the largest increase since 1976 – a staggering 149 per cent. B.C. is also the only province where household incomes have fallen in the same time period.
The findings were released in Saskatchewan, where Kershaw hopes the issues will be brought to the forefront during the upcoming provincial election.
"If we really want to make sure the family remains at the heart of Canadian values, then we have to start talking about serious policy innovation and substantial reallocation of resources," Kershaw said.
