It’s been a great week to be Gen Z. No, really.
On Wednesday, as part of her historic Budget, Rachel Reeves announced that the national living wage will rise to £11.44 in April next year – and that the rate, which is currently only for workers over 23, will apply to 21- and 22-year-olds for the first time. The national minimum wage for 18 to 20-year-olds will also increase by £1.11 to £8.60 per hour.
But don’t get too excited just yet. It’s not like you’re any closer to getting on Heat’s wealthiest 30-under-30 list… which, in an astonishing moment of synchronicity, was published a day before the Budget.
Of course, the majority of people on there are A-list celebrities: Dua Lipa, 29; Tom Holland, 28; and Lewis Capaldi, 28, are all present, but nowhere near Harry Styles, who topped the list with a net worth of £200 million. Their individual wealth can be attributed to their respective high-profile careers in film, music and TV, which makes them rather ludicrous comparison points.
But there are others on there who’ve made their millions more organically, through start-ups and businesses launched after appearing on reality TV. Like Kem Cetinay, 28, who has been prolific since winning Love Island in 2017, launching his own grooming range as well as fronting campaigns for Primark; his net worth is estimated at £2.5m.
Then there’s fellow former Love Islander, Olivia Bowen, 30, who has found enormous success on social media (three million followers and counting) and now has a networth of £5.1m.
Still, nobody on that list really serves as an accurate reflection of what it’s like to be a young person in the UK and Ireland. The coincidence of the list being published so close to the Budget is jarring, to say the least, and serves as a stark reminder of just how difficult things have become – and continue to be for young people.
Even with the national living wage increase, that’s not going to be enough to pay rent in most major cities, let alone anything remotely indulgent, like a daily flat white or, I don’t know, new clothes.
In light of this, the publication of Heat’s list seems strange. Who is it for? Because I can guarantee the people on the actual list couldn’t care less; they’re far too busy enjoying their multi-millionaire lifestyles – and I don’t blame them. It’s not for under-30s, either, because all it does is foster a culture of envy and resentment: why them and not me? I can’t really imagine anyone looking at that list in our current economic climate and thinking, oh great, my life is so much better off with this arbitrary information about celebrity bank accounts.
When you break it all down, it’s hard to see the point in any of it. All it does is feed a narrative that puts pressure on young people to reach absurd levels of success by the time they’re 30 because, apparently, once they’re past that birthday, none of this is really that exciting anymore. Youth is – and always will be – the fetish here. By achieving a certain salary by a young age, you’re rewarded with an unprecedented amount of societal approval. Like you’ve been stamped with a sign that reads simply: “good enough”.
This is despite the fact that most under-30s I know are either burning themselves out with work in order to make ends meet, or are living at home to avoid rising rental costs. All this feels more damning as we venture into winter, when the cost of living crisis will inevitably deepen as we spend more money on heating our homes, and subsequently agonising over the rising bills. Did we really need to be reminded that famous people are doing just fine? Didn’t we know that already?
It feels tawdry, too, to rank people by wealth. After all, money might be able to buy you all the products, houses, and handbags in the world. But it can’t buy anything that really matters: love, friendship, family. Those are the things that are the most valuable, and subsequently worth celebrating by way of lists or otherwise. My advice is to remember that – and not to waste any minutes of your precious youth reading Heat’s rich list.
