Giving tomorrow’s adults a say in the future

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The idea that the young should have a say in shaping their futures has become more pronounced in recent years. In 2016, the UK government launched a major inquiry into intergenerational unfairness, which is seen as engendering anger and fear among younger consumers, who perceive the state-pension and welfare systems as favouring the older generation.

That baby boomers control most of the country’s wealth – having enjoyed secure, better-paid jobs, low property prices and free education – is another reason for young people to feel they have been dealt a raw deal.

Last June’s European Union (EU) referendum exacerbated feelings of resentment, when the vote for Brexit was said to have been largely swayed by the very same older generation, with the youth bemoaning what they viewed as the forcible inheritance of economic and political uncertainty.

Against this backdrop of the old shaping the futures of the young, Wessex Water decided to speak with teenagers – the future generation of ...