Give millennials £10,000 each to tackle generation gap

Level 3 l Advanced
1 Warmer
Match the generations to the years they were born in. Scan the article to check your answers.

1. millennials a. 1946–1965
2. baby boomers b. 1966–1980
3. Generation X c. 1981–2000

2 Key words
Match the key words with the definitions. Then, find them in the article to read them in context.

hedonists redress underpinned predecessors resentment inheritance

spendthrift subsequent tacit miscast threshold think tank

1. a group of people who work together to produce new ideas on a particular subject _______________________
2. money that you receive from someone when they die _______________________
3. an angry unhappy feeling that you have when you think you have been treated unfairly
_______________________
4. coming after something else _______________________
5. expressed or understood without being said directly _______________________
6. the people who came before you _______________________
7. do something to improve a bad situation that you are responsible for _______________________
8. said to be something you are not _______________________
9. very careless with money and spend more than you need to _______________________
10. people who believe that pleasure is very important and who try to spend all their time doing things that they
enjoy _______________________
11. a limit at which something changes _______________________
12. supported _______________________
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NEWS LESSONS / Give millennials £10,000 each to tackle generation gap / Advanced
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Give millennials £10,000 each to tackle generation gap
Level 3 l Advanced
Give millennials £10,000 each to
tackle generation gap, says think tank
Resolution Foundation proposes ‘citizen’s
inheritance’ to help redistribute wealth to young
Robert Booth
8 May, 2018
1 Every person in Britain should receive £10,000
when they turn 25 to help fix the “broken”
intergenerational contract between millennials
and baby boomers, an influential think tank has
proposed following a two-year study.
2 The payment, described as a “citizen’s
inheritance”, is intended to redistribute wealth at
a time when young people need it most to find
housing, return to education or start a business.
3 It is also intended to reduce resentment towards
baby boomers (born 1946–65) who have typically
done better out of the housing market and
pensions than any subsequent generation.
4 The idea has emerged from the Resolution
Foundation’s intergenerational commission,
which has been working on the issue for two
years and has now published its final report.
5 The panel was chaired by David Willetts, the former
Conservative universities minister, and included the
TUC Secretary General, Frances O’Grady, and the
CBI Director General, Carolyn Fairbairn.
6 Fairbairn, who represents British business, said
the tacit deal in which the young look after the old
and the old help the young have a better life than
the generation before had broken down.
7 “Younger generations are bearing more risks and
holding fewer assets than their predecessors,”
the report states. “We need to redress that
imbalance if we are to maintain the promise of an
asset-owning democracy.”
8 The findings will be seized on by millennials (born
1981–2000) who believe they have been miscast
as spendthrift hedonists who would rather splash
out on artisan coffee and slices of avocado on
toast than save for a house deposit. In fact,
research found that in 2001, people aged 25–34
consumed the same as 55–64-year-olds and
today, they consume 15% less.
9 The £10,000 lump sum would be funded by
a change to inheritance tax, the authors said.
Inheritance is taxed at 40% above a threshold
of £1m for many. It is proposed that this would
be replaced with a new 20% tax on all gifts or
© Macmillan Publishers Ltd 2018
NEWS LESSONS / Give millennials £10,000 each to tackle generation gap / Advanced
inheritances throughout one’s life up to £500,000
and then at 30% above that.
10 Some millennials said the handout would barely
affect their finances, given the extent of student
debt and the cost of housing. Others said it could
be money down the drain if it was not used wisely.
11 However, the commission said it could only be
used for housing, education, starting a business
or towards a pension.
12 The idea is underpinned by analysis that shows
inherited wealth will have an ever greater effect
on standards of living, with inheritances and gifts
from parents set to grow in size much faster than
incomes.
13 “This poses challenges,” the authors write. “Many
will not inherit and those that do are likely to
receive this support shortly before retirement
rather than in the expensive family-raising years.”
14 That not only creates a widening gap between
the asset wealth of the generations but will also
sow division among millennials. “Inequalities of
income within generations are higher for younger
people today than for their predecessors,” the report
says. “There is a risk that the growing importance of
inheritances will hold back social mobility.”
15 Painting a largely grim picture for millennials, the
commission found that the disposable income
of 30-year-olds today was no higher than that of
the generation before them, despite the economy
growing 14% in the last 15 years. Millennials are
half as likely as baby boomers to own their own
home by the age of 30 and four times more likely
to rent in the private sector.
16 The number of families bringing up children in
rented homes has trebled since 2003, to 1.8
million. Millennials in their 20s are more likely
to be in insecure work than their Generation X
predecessors (born 1966–80).
17 However, millennials benefit from higher overall
employment rates, higher employment rates for
women and a falling gender pay gap.
18 “Britain’s contract between generations lies at
the heart of society,” said Willetts. “As families,
we provide for our children and parents at different
times. We expect the state to support these natural
instincts but too often, it is tilted in the opposite
direction. Many people no longer believe that Britain
is delivering on its obligations to young and old.”
© Guardian News and Media 2018
First published in The Guardian, 08/05/18
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Give millennials £10,000 each to tackle generation gap
Level 3 l Advanced
3 Comprehension check
Answer the questions using information from the article.
1. Why is the payment described as a ‘citizen’s inheritance’?
2. What restrictions would there be on how the money could be used?
3. What justifications does the think tank’s report give for the proposal?
4. In what ways does the report say that life is better for millennials than for previous generations?

4 Money
a. Find the following expressions in the article.
1. buy something expensive or unnecessary (three words, para 8)
2. money in a single large payment rather than small separate payments (two words, para 9)
3. money wasted (four words, para 10)
4. money that you have left to spend after you have paid your taxes (two words, para 15)
b. Use the expressions in sentences of your own about the article as well as about your life or work.

5 Responses
a. Read three millennials’ thoughts about the ‘citizen’s inheritance’ plan.

I would put it towards furthering my music education but it won’t make much of a
difference; it would cover me for about two terms. There are lots of other problems
with this millennial cohort. A lot of them feel the world owes them something because
they were promised they could do anything they wanted when they were kids. My fear
is some people might get the £10,000, decide to be an entrepreneur and waste it. I am
kind of embarrassed to be part of that millennial group.
, London
Rory Childs, 21

I would have a big smile on my face. With no restrictions, it

Nikeh Gray, 29, London
would be gone in a month but with the restrictions, how would it
help me? £10,000 is not even enough for a deposit and I don’t
want to deal with my pension until I am in my late 30s. I won’t
think that far ahead. But if there were no restrictions, I would
be straight down to Selfridges.

Having that amount of money at 25 would change your ability

to afford a house. Maybe you could put it into a bond while you
get the rest of the money together. What the older generation
don’t understand is that while the minimum wage helped people
afford things for a while, that’s not the case now. I gave up on
buying a house a few years ago because I realized I would never
afford it. Matilda Morgan, 23, Petersfield

b. Think of a millennial that you know. How do you think they would respond to the suggestion that they
should get £10,000 from the government on their 25th birthday?
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NEWS LESSONS / Give millennials £10,000 each to tackle generation gap / Advanced
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 Give millennials £10,000 each to tackle generation gap
Level 3 l Advanced
6 Discussion
• What do you think of the think tank’s suggestion?
• How would getting this sum on your 25th birthday have affected, or affect, your life?

7 Webquest
In your opinion, do today’s young people have better or worse lives than their parents? Circle your answer.

worse similar better

Look at the graph showing how survey respondents in 11 countries worldwide answered the question.
Discuss the survey results. What do you find most interesting? Is your country mentioned?
www.theguardian.com/money/2018/may/08/give-millennials-10000-each-to-tackle-generation-gap-says-thinktank

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NEWS LESSONS / Give millennials £10,000 each to tackle generation gap / Advanced
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Give millennials £10,000 each to tackle generation gap
Level 3 l Advanced
KEY

1 Warmer 3. Younger generations have more financial risks,

such as student debt and the cost of housing, but
1. c they own fewer assets than previous generations.
2. a There are greater inequalities of income within the
3. b millennial generation. More and more young people
are relying on inheritances and financial gifts from
their parents. Millennials are less likely to have
2 Key words secure jobs and are more likely to live in rented
accommodation.
1. think tank 4. They are more likely to be employed, women are
2. inheritance more likely to be in work and there is less of a pay
3. resentment gap between men and women.
4. subsequent
5. tacit
6. predecessors
4 Money
7. redress
a.
8. miscast
9. spendthrift 1. splash out on
10. hedonists 2. lump sum
11. threshold 3. money down the drain
12. underpinned 4. disposable income

3 Comprehension check

1. Every person in Britain should receive the money

when they are 25 without having to do anything for
it. It will be a payment made to them in the same
way that they might get a monetary inheritance
from a relative’s will.
2. It should only be used for housing, education,
starting a business or towards a pension.
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NEWS LESSONS / Give millennials £10,000 each to tackle generation gap / Advanced
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