It's All Relative with Dr Eliza Filby

The defining political emotion of the 21st century is powerlessness, says Grace Blakeley who I sat down with on this episode. Capitalism, inequality, stagnant wages, the housing crisis, Gen Z, millennials, entrepreneurship, AI, social mobility, and the future of work are all colliding in ways that are reshaping how we live, work, and think about our future. If capitalism won, why do so many people...

Birth rates are collapsing. Fertility rates are falling. Populations are ageing. And governments around the world are starting to panic. I sit down with world-leading demographer Dr Paul Morland, author of No One Left, to explore one of the most important and misunderstood issues shaping our future: demographic decline. Together we unpack what falling birth rates really mean for economies, welfare...

I'm joined by youth culture expert and researcher Konrad Collao to unpack one of the most analysed, stereotyped, and misunderstood generations on the planet: Gen Z.Everyone seems to have an opinion about Gen Z.They're either saving the world or destroying it. They're activists or apathetic. Entrepreneurs or work-shy. Progressive heroes or victims of the manosphere. But what if most of...

Multiple income streams, side hustles, moonlighting, portfolio careers, AI disruption, and remote work. Why are more professionals working two jobs, building side businesses and preparing for an increasingly uncertain economy? This week on It's All Relative, I explore the end of the one-salary life and the rise of the moonlighting middle-class professional. For years, we've associated mult...

This week on It’s All Relative, I sit down with Financial Times columnist Clare Barrett to unpack one of the defining generational questions of our time:What happens when an entire generation grows up expecting economic instability? Unlike millennials, who came of age during a consumer boom, Gen Z were shaped by the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, stagnant wages, unaffordable housing, and...

This week on It’s All Relative, I explore one of the defining cultural questions of the 2020s: Who gets to be creative anymore? Because increasingly, traditional creative careers are becoming the preserve of the financially secure. The children of affluent families. The beneficiaries of the Bank of Mum and Dad. Those who can afford unpaid internships, unstable income and years of uncertainty. And...

This week on It’s All Relative, I unpack exclusive polling data from OnePoll, looking at how under-45s in Britain are really coping financially. And the findings are stark.38% of respondents said they felt worse off after receiving a pay rise. Not because pay rises don’t matter. But because rising wages are being immediately absorbed by housing costs, childcare, debt repayments, tax, and the gener...

This week on It’s All Relative, I unpack my recent conversation with Simon Sinek and explore why AI is transforming work and exposing everything that was already broken about it. The collapse of stable careers. The erosion of loyalty between employer and employee. The rise of individualism. The breakdown of the old life script. For decades, we sold people a very clear promise: Work hard. Get a deg...

Are you actually rich? Middle class wealth, income vs wealth, cost of living, generational wealth and inequality, why so many people feel poor in a rich country. If you earn £50k… you’re in the top 30% of earners in the UK.And yet most people on that salary would not describe themselves as rich. So what’s going on? In this episode of It’s All Relative, I unpack one of the biggest misconceptions sh...

Are women becoming more “materialistic”… or just more realistic? In this episode of It’s All Relative, I unpack one of the most controversial conversations happening right now around dating, relationships, and money. Because increasingly, we’re hearing that women are becoming more selective, more financially focused, even “gold diggers”.I don’t think that’s what’s happening. I think we’re seeing t...

AI in universities, ChatGPT students, is a degree still worth it? Future of education, student debt, and assessment — is AI exposing a deeper problem with higher education? Are universities facing an AI crisis… or is AI simply revealing a crisis that was already there? In this episode of It’s All Relative, I explore how AI is transforming university education — and why the real issue may not be st...

Friendship and money, class differences, millennials, Gen Z, social mobility, and the Bank of Mum and Dad. How money is reshaping our friendships. We don’t like to talk about money when it comes to friendship. It feels uncomfortable. Slightly taboo. Almost… inappropriate. Friendship is supposed to be the one space where money doesn’t matter. And yet, increasingly, I think it does. In this episode...

Pensions, retirement planning, millennials, Gen X, and money. Why ignoring your pension could cost you hundreds of thousands. At 28, I made what I now think is one of the most expensive decisions of my life. I opted out of my pension. At the time, it didn’t feel reckless. It felt… rational. I needed cash. I was freelancing. I was living month to month. Retirement felt abstract, distant, irrelevant...

Gen Alpha charts, Gen Alpha data, Gen Alpha parents, Gen Alpha childhood trends – 8 charts every parent must see. This week on It’s All Relative, Dr Eliza Filby reveals Gen Alpha data on the rise of only children, gaming addiction, myopia crisis, Sephora tweens, shadow schooling, and why Gen Alpha calls parents "overwhelmed."Gen Alpha (born 2010–2025) is hitting teenage years amid the AI...

Are prenups just for billionaires, celebrities and oligarchs… or are they becoming a normal part of modern marriage? In this episode of It’s All Relative, I explore the surprising rise of prenups among millennials and Gen Z, and why attitudes toward money, marriage and inheritance are changing rapidly. Nearly 40% of Americans under 34 who are married or engaged now have a prenup. In the UK, attitu...

This week on It’s All Relative , I’m unpacking one of the biggest economic shifts of the last 40 years: the rise of the dual-income household, and why it’s no longer a sign of feminist triumph, but financial necessity. We like to tell ourselves a story about progress. More women in professional careers. Greater equality. Higher household earnings. But beneath that narrative lies a quieter, more un...

This episode of 'It's Relative' explores the concept of meritocracy and argues why it has become a trap. Featuring Daniel Markovitz, Yale professor and author of 'The Meritocracy Trap,' the discussion dissects the rise of elite parenting, the collapse of the middle class, and how current labor markets are exacerbating inequalities. The conversation includes insights into the social and economic pr...

Are we living in a world where hard work isn't enough? In this episode of It’s All Relative, join Dr Eliza Filby with guest Polly Toynbee as they dissect the societal implications of the profound shift away from meritocracy, discuss the impact on social mobility and examine what this means for the future of opportunity and economic justice. This crucial discussion challenges the very foundations o...

'Jade isn't even my real name. Jade began as my Starbucks name, because all children of immigrants have a Starbucks name.'  Jaded  is the must read novel of 2024, a debut from former City lawyer, Ela Lee. It's an interrogating exploration of race, class, work and sexual assault, not to mention what we tell ourselves (and others) in order to fit in at any cost. Ela sits down with Eli...

Is AI over-hyped? Or do we dangerously underestimate its looming impact? Which businesses should embrace AI, and which might resist it? In this fascinating episode Eliza talks to tech entrepreneur and leading AI expert Dr Lewis Lui about the transformative potential of artificial intelligence, as well as the risks and complexities surrounding it. Lewis began his career at McKinsey before advising...

Eliza speaks to Prof. Bobby Duffy about the strengths and weaknesses of generational analysis; why it is useful, why it is not and how we can understand the generational gap a little better. Bobby and I had fun trying to dissect stereotypes from fact and some of the methodological challenges of analysing society through the prism of age. This is a good one! You can buy Bobby's book  here &nbs...

Today Eliza sits down with writer, campaigner and educator Jeffrey Boakye to discuss the intersection of race and education. Race is inescapable when it comes to our education system; 86% of teachers are white even though 1 in 4 primary school pupils are from an ethnic minority and 1 million school children speak a language other than English as a first language. The disconnect is r...

It is the most desired profession for young people today but only 4% of influencers earn more than $100k a year... that means a lot of frustrated wannabes in an era when it is becoming ever more difficult to gain a following. Creator burnout is real and platforms are proliferating. This week Eliza sits down with the founder of Barcroft Media, Sam Barcroft, to discuss the future of the creator econ...

Eliza is joined this week by Professor Helen McCarthy to discuss the history of working motherhood in the UK from the 1900s to the present day. Helen manages to put our contemporary struggles around working motherhood, childcare and parenting into a historical context covering everything from the origins of working from home for women (spoiler: they've been doing it for centuries!), to parent...

Join Eliza on an nostalgic tech trip with journalists Marie Le Conte and Chris Stokel-Walker in which we discussed millennials' relationship with the internet; from the early days of vlogs and blogs to the rise of monetised influencer culture and the birth of millennial self-branding. How did we mature on-line and what does the future hold as we hit mid-life and are no longer the "kool kids" of th...