Young People Want a Fair Shot, Not Just Platitudes About 'Social Cohesion'

I read a report today that stated something painfully obvious: young people want to live in a cohesive society. It then detailed how they feel unrepresented, excluded, and deeply concerned about inequality. And all I could think was: of course they do. But the term “social cohesion” has become one of those empty buzzwords politicians love to throw around while completely ignoring the root cause of the problem.

It’s infuriating. The political and media establishment wrings its hands about a supposed lack of social cohesion, as if it’s some mysterious cultural illness that has befallen the youth. They talk about it as if young people just decided one day to be disconnected. It’s a deliberate misreading of the situation.

This isn’t a crisis of cohesion; it’s a crisis of fairness. It’s a crisis born from decades of economic policy that has systematically benefited the wealthy and the old at the direct expense of the young and the poor.

You Can’t Eat “Cohesion”

Let’s be brutally honest. It’s hard to feel “cohesive” with a society that seems rigged against you. How can you feel like you belong when you’re working a full-time job (or two) and still can’t afford rent, let alone dream of owning a home? How are you supposed to feel connected to a system where your wages stagnate while corporate profits and CEO bonuses soar to obscene heights?

Young people are drowning in student debt for degrees that no longer guarantee a stable career. They are facing a housing market that treats shelter as a speculative asset rather than a human right. They are looking at a future where their quality of life will be demonstrably worse than their parents’.

And in response to this, what does the political class offer? Platitudes. They offer task forces on “social cohesion” and reports on “intergenerational dialogue.” They talk about everything except the one thing that would actually make a difference: redistributing wealth and power.

This Is by Design

This isn’t an accident. This is the result of deliberate choices. Tax cuts for the rich, deregulation for corporations, the systematic dismantling of unions, and the defunding of public services. These policies have created a chasm of inequality so vast that the very idea of a shared social fabric is laughable.

The report mentioned in The Conversation article suggests practical steps: youth impact assessments for policies, supporting youth work, raising income support above the poverty line. These are sensible, necessary first steps. But they will be fought tooth and nail by the very people who benefit from the current, broken system.

So, the next time you hear a politician lamenting the lack of social cohesion, see it for what it is: a diversion. A way to blame the victims of a rigged system for not being happy about it. Young people don’t need lectures on cohesion. They need a fair shot. They need a system that doesn’t treat them as fuel for an economic engine that only benefits those at the very top.