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Gen Z protests: Do Baby Boomers really have it better than young people?
Germany’s younger generation faces growing concerns about whether it can afford housing, fund pensions and build a secure future, prompting protests across Europe. Youth researcher Simon Schnetzer says young people need support now, while data show that Gen Z and Baby Boomers have experienced major social changes in different ways.
The pension burden is shifting as the number of contributors per retiree fell from 3.73 in 1957 to 2.1 in 2025, and is projected to reach 1.73 by 2045. Government pension subsidies already total about €118 billion a year, while retirees receiving basic income support rose from 257,000 in 2003 to 738,000 in 2024. Housing costs have also increased pressure on low-income households: their rent share rose from about 24% of income in 1990 to nearly 36% in 2021; meanwhile, Boomers’ 4.8 million homes could eventually add supply as they change hands.
In short
- Fewer workers are supporting each retiree in Germany.
- Pension subsidies already take about a quarter of the federal budget.
- Rising rents weigh especially heavily on low-income households.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Younger people face a tougher path to security: housing takes a larger share of low incomes, fewer workers support each pensioner, and the burden of funding retirement is growing. On this view, targeted help now is justified so younger generations can afford homes and build stable lives rather than inherit mounting costs.
The case against
The figures point to real pressures, but they do not establish that every young person is worse off than every Boomer or that older people have had an easier life. Pension subsidies support retirees who may themselves be on low incomes, and the eventual transfer of millions of homes could ease housing supply; policy should account for these differences while addressing present hardship.
Explained simply
Gen Z refers to people born roughly from the late 1990s to the early 2010s; Baby Boomers are the generation born after the Second World War, from 1946 to 1964. Their experiences of work, housing and public services have unfolded in very different economic and social conditions.
Germany’s state pension is funded largely by people in work paying contributions to support retirees. With fewer contributors for each pensioner than in the past, the system relies more on government funding, while some older people also receive basic income support.
Housing is another source of pressure: rent takes a larger share of income for low-income households than it did decades ago. The homes owned by Baby Boomers may add to supply as they change hands, but that depends on when and where they become available and who can afford them.