Generation Squeeze's Hard Truths

Government budgets shape how we live – and how we feel. The consequences of government policy choices can be seen in new research on happiness. While, baby boomers remain relatively happy, the average life satisfaction of Canadians under age 30 is in steep decline. Gen Squeeze founder, Dr. Paul Kershaw unpacks why young Canadians are increasingly miserable and what we can do about it.

Old Age Security is the largest program expense in the federal budget and is a driving force behind the federal deficit. A new national poll shows 3/4 of Canadians, including seniors, support reform so that benefits are reduced for higher-income households, and the savings are repurposed to eliminate seniors’ poverty and improve affordability for younger generations. Generation Squeeze founder, Dr...

Canada’s National Housing Strategy is the federal government’s main plan for tackling housing affordability. The strategy expires in 2027. If it isn’t renewed, federal housing spending will drop by more than half. Gen Squeeze founder, Dr. Paul Kershaw unpacks what’s at stake and why a housing system that works for the next generation can’t be built on ever-rising home prices for the last.

Canada’s Armed Forces have  reportedly  begun modelling responses to a U.S. invasion. Among the ideas said to be under consideration is a  civil defence corps  – potentially a million residents trained and organized to strengthen national resilience. Before we ask Millennials and Gen Z to shoulder yet another obligation of national service, we must acknowledge the many ways we already oblige them...

Most gains from economic growth today flow to prioritiestied to older Canadians — retirement income support (Old Age Security) and medical care — leaving less for housing, child care, post-secondary education, and climate action. This is happening even as younger Canadians pay more income tax to support seniors than boomers did when they were younger. In this episode of Hard Truths Pod, Generation...

This week's episode is a feed swap with Planetary Conversations– with host Warren Bell. Planetary Conversations is a podcast that showcases ways to create a world where everyone in the human family and all living things have an assured place, and where every one of usis truly able to make a constructive and creative contribution. Host, Dr. Warren Bell interviews guests who have, in one way or...

It’s no secret, GenZ and Millennial Canadians are finding it harder and harder to afford the basics: rent, child care fees and tuition. In this episode of the Hard Truths pod, Generation Squeeze founder, Dr. Paul Kershaw introduces a new study by Generation Squeeze: “Medical Budgets in an Aging Canada”. He points out a hard truth and draws an important connection: The rising costs of medical care...

Most Canadians believe that Canada's Old Age Security benefits act as a safety net, lifting struggling retirees out of poverty. But in this episode of the Hard Truths pod, Generation Squeeze founder, Dr. Paul Kershaw explains the hard truth: Some seniors with two homes, seven-figure portfolios, and six-figure incomes are still collecting OAS. And not just a token amount — retired couples with...

The Generation Squeeze analysis of Canada’s Budget 2025 is getting a lot of media attention! That’s because we’re pointing out a hard truth: The fiscal imbalance in budget 2025 began decades ago when governments failed to plan for the rising costs of an population aging. And as predicted, these costs are now crowding out space for investments to help younger and working Canadians build homes, rais...

Budget 2025 sidesteps a hard truth: neither the Prime Minister who tabled it, nor the Opposition Leader who critiques it, has found the courage to ask financially secure retirees to share equally in this national moment of sacrifice. In this episode of the Hard Truths pod, our social media coordinator Jennifer Fox presents the Generation Squeeze press conference direct from Ottawa. where Gen Squee...

The Canadian Association of Retired Persons (CARP) proposes an increase to Canada's Old Age Security but it won’t lift most poor seniors out of poverty. Yet, it would pad the pockets of financially secure retirees and add more than $3-billion to the deficit. In this episode of the Hard Truths pod, our social media coordinator Jennifer Fox joins Generation Squeeze founder, Dr. Paul Kershaw as h...

A recent poll shows that most Canadians — especially olderones — support requiring young adults to spend a year serving in areas like health, disaster response, or the environment. In this episode of the Hard Truths pod, our social media coordinator Jennifer Fox joins Generation Squeeze founder, Dr. Paul Kershaw as he explains how younger Canadians already perform a critical national service: They...

This week's episode is a feed swap with Aborsh – A podcastabout abortion in Canada, by playwright and podcaster Rachel Cairns. What do abortion and housing have in common? Well, they areboth recognized as human rights by the UN and multiple other international organizations and agreements. But you wouldn’t necessarily know it from living in Canada as the ongoing housing crisis locks people int...

Home ownership among young Canadians (under age 35) has recently surged to 44%, the highest level in five decades! 18% of them are mortgage-free. Generation Squeeze founder, Dr. Paul Kershaw, and AI host Jenna discuss how Canada may be drifting from a meritocracy toward a landed aristocracy, where access to secure housing increasingly depends on being born into the right family.

Canadian politicians are sidestepping the most important – and politically dangerous – question in our housing debate: Should home prices rise, stall or fall? Until we answer it, we can’t fix what’s broken in Canada’s housing system. In this episode of the Hard Truths pod, our AI host Jenna talks with Generation Squeeze founder, Dr. Paul Kershaw as he explains why politicians continue to dodge the...

For decades, Canada's politicians have been protecting the wealth gains of primarily older homeowners at the cost of affordable housing for the generations who follow. Younger Canadians are stuck with higher rents, bigger mortgages, and way less of a shot at home ownership. Compensation for Millennials and Gen Z is long overdue but what does that look like? In this episode of the Hard Truths p...

Emma Buchanan of Visual Change Video sits down with Gen Squeeze Founder Paul Kershaw to discuss Elxn 45 through the lens of generational fairness and Gen Squeeze’s election priorities: housing, pollution pricing, tax cuts, and balancing the budget (and trust us, the last two are more interesting than you think!). We seek to understand: - The magical thinking behind party promises to cut taxes and...

For our last election bonus, we dip into the sexiest of ballot issues: deficits and taxes. Our guest is Marc Lee , senior economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in BC. Deficits and medical budgets are ballooning across Canada, as there are fewer workers to support more and more retiring baby boomers. How do BC parties propose to balance spending and revenue, while meeting the n...

As election day approaches, housing affordability and access are top of mind for many British Columbians. The BC NDP, Green, and Conservative parties acknowledge the severity of the crisis, but they offer very different plans to tackle it. We spoke about those differences with Thom Armstrong, CEO of BC’s Cooperative Housing Federation . We also dig into a few of the key strengths and weaknesses in...

We dig into what the BC NDP, Conservatives and Green parties are promising on child care. Our guest Rita Chudnovsky serves on the board of the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC and has spent three decades advocating for child care with organizations across Canada. The conversation should interest all Canadians concerned about supporting families with affordable child care. Learn more: Our Go...

Canada's outdated, underfunded parental leave system is failing too many families. UNICEF's Lisa Wolff explains why one in three infants is falling through the cracks in this system, and how we can give all children a good start in life, by giving their parents adequate time off and income to care for them. Dig Deeper UNICEF Canada's parental leave campaign Generation Squeeze's fam...

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland spoke with Gen Squeeze founder Paul Kershaw and our supporters about the federal government's plans to deliver on its budget's promise to restore "Fairness for Every Generation," through investments in housing, child care, climate action, and economic growth. They also tackle the imbalance in spending on older and young...

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sat down with Gen Squeeze Founder Paul Kershaw for a live show with our supporters and allies in Vancouver. They delved into the 2024 Budget's focus on "Fairness for Every Generation," as well as housing, child care, climate change, deficits, and the challenge of protecting healthy retirements without sacrificing the wellbeing of younger and future Canad...

Younger Canadians are far from alone in feeling squeezed by the rising costs of housing, child care, and higher education. In this episode, we spoke with Liz Emerson , CEO of the UK's Intergenerational Foundation , about the symptoms of generational unfairness harming young people in England, as well as the progress her organization has made calling political attention to their plight and figh...

When you think about what makes us healthy, do you think of doctors, medicine, and hospitals? Or do you think of affordable housing, living wages, and quality child care? Our health depends much more on the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work and age than on the medical care we receive. But for decades Canadian governments have devoted more and more of their budgets to medical care,...