Gen Z Is Getting Crushed—And It’s No Accident

A Stacked Deck From the Start

According to Oxford Economics, youth unemployment has jumped significantly in just the past year. Specifically:

• Unemployment for 20–24-year-olds is up 2.1 percentage points.
• For 16–19-year-olds, it’s up 3.5 points.
• Meanwhile, those over 25? Barely touched.

That disparity isn’t some random fluctuation—it’s the result of an economy designed to protect capital holders and punish laborers, especially inexperienced ones. The younger you are, the more disposable you are in the modern corporate cost structure—especially in a system increasingly relying on automation, AI, and financialization over people.

And don't forget: these younger generations were born into massive public debt, inflated asset prices, and a surveillance economy, with zero say in any of it.

High Costs, Low Return: The Education Trap

The Axios piece mentions “unclear ROI on a college education.” That’s putting it mildly.

Young adults today are being told to take on five or six figures in student loans for degrees that no longer guarantee stable employment, let alone upward mobility. All while tuition has ballooned thanks to the government-backed student loan racket, which pours money into a bloated, administrative-heavy higher-ed industry that fails to deliver real-world skills.

It’s a debt trap—one that lines the pockets of institutions while shackling borrowers before they even begin adult life.

The Fed's Fingerprints Are All Over This

Let’s talk monetary policy.

Wage growth is falling for young people, while inflation continues to eat away at purchasing power. Why? Because we’ve had over a decade of ultra-loose monetary policy, followed by “emergency” tightening that’s killing the job market just as Gen Z tries to enter it.

Meanwhile, asset prices—stocks, housing, everything—remain out of reach for new entrants. This is the inevitable result of a Fed-driven economy that rewards those who already own assets and punishes those who don’t.

Want to buy a house? Good luck affording anything without a six-figure income and a miracle. Gen Z isn’t “lazy” or “entitled”—they’re priced out by design.

AI and Automation: The New Pink Slip

The article briefly nods to AI replacing young workers. But let’s call it what it is: corporate America’s dream tool to eliminate entry-level jobs en masse. Why hire a 23-year-old grad when a machine can do 80% of the work for pennies on the dollar—and never needs health insurance?

The job ladder used to have rungs. Now it’s missing the bottom half entirely.

Living at Home, Spending Less, Dragging GDP? That’s the System’s Fault

Axios reports that a million more young adults are living with their parents than before the pandemic, and that their reduced spending has shaved billions off GDP. That’s framed as a macroeconomic concern—but it’s actually a survival strategy in a broken system.

Of course they’re not spending. They’re trying to avoid debt traps and economic ruin in a system that offers no margin for error.

The Real Threat: A Lost Generation, Made By Design

This isn’t just cyclical. It’s systemic.

Young people are the canaries in the economic coal mine. And what’s happening to Gen Z now—crushed between high costs, falling wages, and no job security—isn’t some post-pandemic fluke. It’s the natural consequence of:

• Government overspending,
• A financial system propped up by debt and inflation,
• And a surveillance-state economy that prioritizes control over productivity.

The kids aren’t alright because the system isn’t alright.

What Can You Do?

There’s no sugar-coating this. If you’re young and trying to build a future, you need to act outside the system, not within it.

That starts with getting educated, not indoctrinated. Bill Brocius has been sounding this alarm for years. His free ebook, “7 Steps to Protect Your Account from Bank Failure”, is a must-read to safeguard your financial life against the next wave of institutional collapses:

👉 Download it here

And if you’re ready for next-level insight, subscribe to Bill’s Inner Circle Newsletter for $19.95/month—real intelligence from a man who predicted 2008, nailed the 2020 monetary pivot, and now warns of a total loss of banking confidence.

👉 Join the Inner Circle

Lastly, if you want a comprehensive breakdown of how we got here, and how to get out—Bill’s book, The End of Banking As You Know It, should be your bible.