Jenny Bathurst: "I can’t even see the ladder let alone start climbing it."

This week, our heating and hot water gave out. As someone who would struggle to keep cool in the Arctic I was rather pleased, but the same cannot be said for my parents. I all of a sudden found myself almost defending the house, as if it had feelings that needed to be protected. “Just put a few more layers on, you’ll be fine!” and “Worse things happen, it will get fixed soon”, as I sat there in my t-shirt and skirt basking in the refreshing chilly temperatures.

Due to the current cost of living crisis we are of course rather conservative with our heating anyway to ensure we don’t have to sell our left leg for the privilege, but for many it is not a choice or a laughing matter.

In a rather cynical way I can laugh at the fact that my health condition always keeps me at a temperature that feels like I should be getting a tan, but this isn’t the case for many vulnerable individuals. The elderly, the disabled, even the very young. I spoke last week about the pressures that struggling families are facing this year with the mission to make Christmas ‘magical’ without entirely emptying their bank accounts. But this doesn’t stop after Christmas.

If I were to define my column I would argue that it is a young person’s view of the 21st century world, and I wonder if I can speak for all/ most young people with the following worry. We are called to ‘chase our dreams’, ‘work hard’, and we only ‘plan to fail if we fail to plan.’ (Also the lyrics to a Taylor Swift song in case anyone spotted that.) But with the state of the UK being the way it is, I can’t even see the ladder let alone start climbing it. Deposits, mortgages, bills, taxes - not only does it all suddenly seem entirely unaffordable and therefore unachievable, but we never heard a word of it in school.

My teachers would probably be horrified but I can’t remember a spot of GCSE Maths. Okay, I remember how to do percentages because I use them when I’m working out discounts whilst online shopping, and I can add and subtract and multiply- oh wait, that was all primary school knowledge. Secondary school on the other hand - algebra, geometry, pi. I’ve forgotten every single word (or should I say number) of it. Suddenly we are faced with a future that not only we have learned nothing about but also seems entirely financially unattainable. And then everyone wonders why so many young people frown upon the system