Australia Is Becoming Impossible to Live In | Aussies Are Being Crushed by the Cost of Living

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:00]Cost of living? You mean cost of existing?

[00:00:04]Just spent $180 on three bags of groceries and some kitty litter from Wworth.

[00:00:09]This isn't living. This is barely scraping by.

[00:00:12]>> Cost of living crisis is bad, people.

[00:00:15]Prices are through the roof.

[00:00:17]Everything's expensive as hell. I've had to do some stuff I'm not proud of.

[00:00:22]>> This is how bad the cost of living is in Australia. Could you feed a family of four for less than $10? That was a promise from a major supermarket not even a decade ago.

[00:00:34]>> The majority of Australian cities have officially hit the most unaffordable housing market.

[00:00:41]>> If two working parents can't afford a home in Australia, the problem isn't them. The problem is the system.

[00:00:48]>> Australia, the lucky country. At least that is what they used to call it. sun, beaches, opportunity, and a quality of life the rest of the world supposedly envied. Politicians loved saying it.

[00:01:02]Tourism ads were built on it. And for a while, maybe it was even true. But right now, in 2026, a growing number of Australians are waking up to a very different reality. The lucky country has quietly become the expensive country.

[00:01:16]And for millions of ordinary people just trying to get through the week, the luck appears to have run out entirely.

[00:01:21]Everything from groceries to rent is getting harder to afford. Not in some abstract economic sense. In the very real sense of standing in a supermarket aisle doing the math in your head wondering which items you can put back.

[00:01:34]In the sense of opening your energy bill and feeling your stomach drop. In the sense of a generation of young Australians quietly shelving the idea of ever owning a home and wondering whether any amount of hard work actually changes the outcome anymore. Over 3.3 million Australians are currently living in poverty. That is more than 1 in 8 people. This is not a developing nation struggling to build infrastructure. This is one of the wealthiest countries on Earth, sitting on enormous natural resources. And yet one in eight people cannot make ends meet. The numbers are not a blip. They are a trend. And the trend is getting worse. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirms that living costs rose for every single household type in the year to December 2025. And for anyone watching their grocery receipts grow while their paychecks stay stubbornly flat, that will not come as a surprise. What should come as a surprise is how long ordinary Australians have been told this is temporary. That relief is coming, that the government has a plan. Because by now the temporary has become permanent and the plan has become a punchline.

[00:02:39]This video is not going to tell you to budget better or cut out your morning coffee. Australians have been given enough of that patronizing advice to last several lifetimes. What we are going to do is look directly at what is happening, why it is happening, and who is really benefiting while the rest of the country struggles to stay afloat.

[00:02:56]Because someone always benefits and it is rarely the person checking the price of bread twice before putting it in the trolley.

[00:03:03]>> Cost of living? You mean cost of existing?

[00:03:06]Just spent $180 on three bags of groceries and some kitty litter from Wworth.

[00:03:12]This isn't living. This is barely scraping by.

[00:03:16]You got the crisis bit, right?

[00:03:21]Not really sure what I'm being charged for cuz I didn't ask to be here and not for a lack of trying.

[00:03:30]Oh man, what is this economy? Who out here isn't struggling? When are they going to [ __ ] do something about it?

[00:03:39]If ever.

[00:03:41]>> Cost of living crisis is bad, people.

[00:03:45]Prices are through the roof.

[00:03:46]Everything's expensive as hell. I've had to do some stuff I'm not proud of.

[00:03:58]If two working parents can't afford a home in Australia, the problem isn't them. The problem is the system. We're told to work harder, budget better, and stop complaining. But wages haven't kept up. Housing's out of reach, and families are getting squeezed from every single angle. That's not personal failure.

[00:04:17]That's policy failure. And pretending it's normal, that's how it stays broken.

[00:04:22]>> The majority of Australian cities have officially hit the most unaffordable housing market. So, Sydney coming in at number two. Adelaide. Adelaide number I'm from Adelaide. Adelaide number six next to Los Angeles. I mean, what the [ __ ] does Adelaide have in common with LA? Melbourne coming in at number nine.

[00:04:41]Brisbane 11 and Perth 14. That's pretty much the majority of Australia's major cities. No wonder everyone's distressed.

[00:04:48]No wonder everyone can't afford housing.

[00:04:51]Living in Australia is officially unaffordable.

[00:04:56]So today, me, my wife, we met with a mortgage broker and I walked out realizing something pretty scary. Being a normal family in Australia is becoming impossible.

[00:05:09]Between the two of us, we earn about $170,000 a year.

[00:05:14]That's not low income. That's two adults working hard.

[00:05:19]We've got a kid and we're not living flashy.

[00:05:23]No jet skis, no holidays to Europe, just trying to buy a home and raise a family.

[00:05:31]The broker broke it down for us. If we buy at today's prices, we're looking at about $1,000 a week in repayments.

[00:05:41]That's $52,000 a year just to have a roof over our heads.

[00:05:47]And here's the part that gets me. If we're almost priced out, what hope does single parents have?

[00:05:55]Or a young couple or someone on an average wage? This isn't about bad budgeting. It's not about avocado and toast. It's not about being lazy.

[00:06:09]The system is broken.

[00:06:12]We're doing everything we're told to do.

[00:06:16]Get skills, work hard, pay tax, play by the rules, and the reward is stress, fear, and being one rate rise away from drowning.

[00:06:31]When a household can earn $170,000 a year and struggle to raise a family, that's not personal failure.

[00:06:42]That's policy failure. Australia wasn't always like this and it doesn't have to stay like this. Housing shouldn't feel like a gamble and families shouldn't feel disposable and working people shouldn't be punished for existing.

[00:07:00]Dear system, you're not working for Australian families anymore and it's time to fix that.

[00:07:07]>> Oh no, it's that who talks about op shops. Yes, queen. It's me and I'm not going anywhere because autism and hyperfixation, if you know me, you know what I'm like when I go down a rabbit hole. I cannot be stopped. So, today we're having a quick little chat about the cost of living. You don't have to listen to me. I get dismissed all the time because, you know, tattoos, four kids, living on Sinno and more than one baby daddy. But don't take my word for it. Go fact check me. Food up, energy up, rent diabolical. The the ABS shows people are cutting back on essentials.

[00:07:39]The Reserve Bank of Australia says price pressures are likely to stick around.

[00:07:43]And globally, when tensions hit oil supply, we feel it because around 20% of the world's oil moves through one region. When that gets disrupted, prices spike. And here's the part that people don't seem to understand. That doesn't just fix itself next week. Historically, it takes months and sometimes years to settle. And the inflation from that can hang around for years after. So, yeah, call me dramatic. Call me a prepper. I actually might be though cuz I would love a bunker. But this part, this is real because when oil goes up, transport goes up, food goes up, everything goes up. Now, zoom out. Australia's charity sector over 200 billion a year in funding, tax concessions, donated goods.

[00:08:24]So, explain this to me. People are already cutting back on food and we're telling them to book a meeting to prove hardship and explain their life to afford basic things despite the data, despite acknowledging that it's getting worse and we're in a cost of living crisis. Access shouldn't depend on how well you can prove you're struggling.

[00:08:43]And honestly, start thinking ahead. Grow food if you can. I'm about to start with my kids because this isn't going anywhere anytime soon. And the more self-sufficient we are, the less we rely on systems that are already under pressure. Communities need to remember how to be communities. Again, build your village. Don't listen to me. Go and look it up. But this is also fueling. Funny cuz we talked about fuel. Um my desire and drive to start this community clothing project because clothing should not be gatekept and you know it's not a supply that's going to run out. There are so many bloody clothes for everyone.

[00:09:21]So, go fact check me.

[00:09:28]There was a time when buying a home in Australia was considered a reasonable life goal. You worked hard, you saved, you got a mortgage, and eventually you owned something. That was the deal. That was the social contract. In 2026, that contract has been shredded, set on fire, and the ashes have been sold to investors at a record price per square meter. Sydney's median house price sits at approximately $1.75 million. That represents nearly 14 times the median household income, making it the second most unaffordable major housing market in the entire world, behind only Hong Kong, a city-state with almost no land surrounded by water. Australia, a continent with more land than it could ever use, has somehow replicated that level of dysfunction. That is not an accident. That is policy in action.

[00:10:15]Wages grew at around 3.4% annually, but real wages went backwards as costs rose faster. People are earning slightly more on paper while being significantly worse off in practice. The cost of life is outrunning the reward for work. And that gap is widening, not closing. Rent for a modest family home or apartment in a major city now typically sits at $2,600 per month before food, before power, before petrol, before childare. The average household now spends around 33% of income on rent, up from 26% just 5 years ago. Meanwhile, mortgage payments consume 45% of a median household's pre-tax income. Housing experts define financial stress as spending more than 30% of income on housing. By that measure, enormous numbers of Australians are not approaching stress. They are already deep inside it. Saving a 20% deposit now takes nearly 12 years nationally. 12 years of disciplined saving, assuming no medical emergency, no job loss, no unexpected crisis. 12 years of paying someone else's mortgage in rent while your deposit target keeps moving further away because the market climbs faster than your savings and prices are still forecast to rise with some cities potentially seeing values climb by up to 16% in 2026 alone. Lucky country. Sure, housing gets most of the headlines and for good reason, but the cost of simply existing on a daily basis in Australia has become its own quiet emergency. You do not need to be trying to buy a home to feel the pressure. You just need to eat. You just need the lights on. You just need to fill a tank and get to work. And somehow every single one of those basic requirements has become noticeably more expensive.

[00:12:01]While the people responsible for fixing it hold press conferences about how much they understand your pain. Food prices have jumped significantly with fresh produce and dairy leading the surge.

[00:12:12]Energy bills have risen substantially, hitting hardest during extreme weather.

[00:12:17]Many families now focus only on essentials, cutting discretionary spending entirely. Discretionary. That is the polite economic word for anything that makes life worth living. A restaurant meal, a birthday present not on clearance, a holiday. These are the things being cut first. And for many households, they have been gone for a long time already. Beef and lamb are up more than 13%. Chocolate is up nearly 7%. Overall food inflation still sits at 3.1% annually, 13% on beef and lamb. In a country with more livestock than people, where cattle graze on land the size of European nations, Australians are paying 13% more for their own domestic product. There is a dark comedy in that sentence, and none of it is funny when you are standing at the checkout. Inflation hovered at 3.8% into 2026, above the Reserve Bank's 2 to 3% target. The RBA has the power to raise interest rates to slow inflation. But raising interest rates makes mortgages more expensive for the millions who scraped into the property market before the ladder was pulled up. The tool being used to fix the problem simultaneously punishes the people most affected by it.

[00:13:27]The system working exactly as designed.

[00:13:30]Whether it was designed well is a different question entirely.

[00:13:34]More than 37% of Australians have cut back on living expenses. 17% have moved into cheaper housing. 7% have moved into shared housing just to keep a roof over their heads. Over 42% of renters say they will struggle to pay rent over the next 3 months. Almost half not approaching crisis already in it.

[00:13:54]>> Could you feed a family of four for less than $10? That was a promise from a major supermarket not even a decade ago.

[00:14:02]>> But with grocery prices soaring, that budget meal is now almost impossible to pull off.

[00:14:08]It was a simple idea.

[00:14:09]>> Feed your family one of my recipes for under $10.

[00:14:12]>> Curtis Stone's cottage pie. One of many meals from a 2017 Coohl's campaign that could feed for on a budget. Do you think you can feed the family for under $10?

[00:14:22]>> Oh, not these days. No. No. Definitely not.

[00:14:25]>> Recreate that meal today and you'll pay a lot more. Coast three star beef mints.

[00:14:31]Just $4 for a 500 g pack. Beef mints now $8.50. Add the vegetables, tomato paste, stock, milk, flour, and butter. That's nearly $35. But without staples, it comes down to $26.

[00:14:45]>> I guess you got to say, well, have have wages gone up to meet that increase in costs. And if they're not, then, you know, more and more people are going to be in trouble, aren't they?

[00:14:56]>> We've seen such a huge change in the cost of groceries over the last five or 6 years. A Compare Club survey has found groceries are now the most stressful bill for Australians, overtaking rent, the mortgage, and even energy, which used to be number one. The average weekly spend at the supermarket has surged to $250.

[00:15:16]Coohl's says its feed your family campaign was retired many years ago. On its website, there are still recipes serving for for under $10 for families looking to keep dinner simple and cheap.

[00:15:28]>> What are we having tonight? Salad and salad and pies is like really basic.

[00:15:32]>> Georgia Holland 7 News.

[00:15:34]>> I've been living overseas for 12 months and I'm back here for a quick visit and everything is just so goddamn expensive.

[00:15:40]You know, they say $100,000 is considered a decent income, but after tax, you're literally left with nothing.

[00:15:46]You then got rent, which is what, $600 for the outer suburbs for an average looking house. You've then got groceries, which is going to cost you about $150 to $200 a week. What else?

[00:15:58]you've got bills. If you want to go out for a nice meal or go out for drinks with with friends, that's going to cost you about 200 bucks if you can even afford that. So really, after everything, you've got nothing left. So it doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense at all. So if you're an average Australian working at 9 to 5, how exactly are you surviving right now?

[00:16:18]>> This is how bad the cost of living is in Australia for a woman.

[00:16:22]>> $4620 for a period cup. $11.50 for one deodorant, $16 for a basic face wash, $10 for shampoo, and that's on sale half price, $11.90 for body wash, and that's on sale.

[00:16:44]>> Yeah. So, the other the other side of this is a lot of people actually leaving the West, like the UK, Australia, all these countries, because the cost of living is [ __ ] insane. So for example, Australia has some of the highest personal debt in the west. I believe it has the highest personal debt/ credit out of any of the countries in the west at the moment. So the cost of living is [ __ ] [ __ ] house. And over here people have actually have a life where they can spend time with their families and eat out and all those things. There's cafes everywhere because people are constantly going out to eat at, you know, have coffee at cafes and everything else. the the cost of living back in Australia comparatively is astronomically higher. I mean, in Sydney now, you could pay like $1,000 a week and you get a [ __ ] dump. All right? Or in New York City, $1,000 bucks a week and you live in one little tiny box [ __ ] full of cockroaches. So, there's actually heaps of Europeans where I am right now. Um, and Americans as well and Australians because a lot of people are making >> Australia is so lucky. It's what we get told. This is my fridge. Day out from payday. But we're the lucky country that can't afford fuel, electricity, food, anything.

[00:17:57]>> Albanesei, cuz $17 for two coffees. I did a 10k run. I'm go. You know what? Treat myself. Vanilla oat latte. Treat myself cuz $17 cuz my z bro. What's that about cost of living? Cuz I'm trying to enjoy my run now. month stress for this freaking $17 coffee I bought for two.

[00:18:16]But mind you, it's not good enough cuz fix your [ __ ] cousin.

[00:18:19]>> Out in this field again making some videos. Um, again, this is not a part of where I rent. This is just an open field, but there's always horses and cows here um and stuff like that. So, I like it. Um yeah, I went out the other day with some friends and um went to something called like a Mumba festival or something and it was it was I paid $100 for 25 tickets for their kids to go on rides and I thought, you know, this is going to get them a whole bunch of rides to go on.

[00:18:44]They went on haunted house, some jumping castle thing type of maze thing um and bumper cars and that was it. Three kids, $100 for three rides. Um, I don't understand what people are meant to do anymore. The cost of living is atrocious. The amount you pay for groceries, petrol has just gone up an insane amount um for reasons that are out of control over this side of the world. Um, it's mental. I I genuinely don't know what families are meant to do. I've been going to these inspections. I've been going and checking out as much as I can and getting as much information. Um, and I just don't I live by myself. Even for me, it is insane. It is insane how much it costs even for me to go and buy groceries. So, what are people with kids and families meant to do? The cost of dayare, the cost of after school care, and all those things if it's not subsidized or maybe someone has some sort of circumstance where they can't get those kinds of things. They're stuffed. It is absolutely insane. Um, so I'm going to start making these videos and asking you guys, what do you think the fix is? What is the problem here?

[00:19:50]What can we do to fix the housing crisis, the cost of living crisis, all these things? Because I think it all rolls into one.

[00:19:57]>> Uh, stay home.

[00:19:58]>> Stay home.

[00:19:59]>> Yeah. Don't drive. Don't Don't drive any cars.

[00:20:01]>> Yeah. Do you drive a car?

[00:20:03]>> I do.

[00:20:04]>> But I added a VA and I choose it to keep it at home.

[00:20:08]>> Yeah. So, admire it on the farm.

[00:20:12]>> Keep it from uh take it from the pocket.

[00:20:15]>> Yeah.

[00:20:16]>> Take it one step at a time >> and vote for the right people.

[00:20:19]>> Yeah.

[00:20:20]Good advice. And who would you vote for?

[00:20:22]>> Who would I vote for?

[00:20:22]>> Who would you vote for?

[00:20:24]>> No one.

[00:20:25]>> You know what? I think that's the best.

[00:20:27]>> Vote and put uh trust in yourself.

[00:20:29]That's all. That's my advice.

[00:20:31]>> Very good advice. Thank you very much.

[00:20:33]>> Uh uh how I'm I'm trying to spend less.

[00:20:38]>> Yes.

[00:20:38]>> Uh and uh try and drive less because fuel's really expensive. What else? I'm trying to save more, I guess. Yeah.

[00:20:45]>> Yeah. What are you cutting expenses on?

[00:20:47]Um just like uh luxuries >> luxuries. Is beer a luxury?

[00:20:54]>> Well, it is, but I also it's also a coping mechanism. So, >> you know what?

[00:20:58]>> Yeah. But um just, you know, just being a bit more conscious about maybe not eating out as much and >> doing meal prep and uh >> yeah, just being a bit more conscious about where my money goes.

[00:21:07]>> Yeah, fair enough.

[00:21:07]>> But I don't have kids as well, so >> you know, fortunately, that helps quite a lot as well.

[00:21:12]>> Awesome. Okay, >> you enjoy your beer.

[00:21:14]>> Thank you. All good.

[00:21:14]>> Feel terrible.

[00:21:16]government should do something about it, but not sure what they're doing.

[00:21:19]>> What would you say maybe would improve the situation for all Australians right now?

[00:21:24]>> Um, I would have to say some kind of maybe bit of um money for the people, bit of >> Yeah. subsidize, you know, so they actually have bit more to spend.

[00:21:35]>> Yeah. Yeah. Maybe some topical benefits for everyone. Maybe $1,000 per family.

[00:21:40]>> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. And would you give maybe any advice to anyone like in regards to what you've been doing to handle it?

[00:21:47]>> Uh just um buy cheap foods ration >> too many noodles.

[00:21:55]>> Two minute noodles. Yeah. Yeah. Get on um you know cheap cheap meals.

[00:22:00]>> Yeah.

[00:22:01]>> Um say try public transport to petrol cheaper. So >> yeah it's a shame because obviously cheaper food is you know worse quality as well. It's and it's fundamental for us. It's kind of sad to see so many people cutting down on such important stuff.

[00:22:15]>> Yeah, it is. It is. People aren't not very well off these days. So, >> yeah, >> we struggle, I think, as a country to actually um forgo on our lifestyle.

[00:22:25]>> Yeah.

[00:22:26]>> So, our changes actually aren't that drastic.

[00:22:28]>> Yeah.

[00:22:29]>> Um I think while consumer sentiment has like really really dropped, >> if you went out like tonight, you would still see people at the shops, people still shopping and dining. Sure. But >> actually from New Zealand.

[00:22:39]>> Oh, >> so I'm on holiday here, but no, it's pretty bad day. Even Even here is pretty bad.

[00:22:44]>> Yeah. Is it Would you say it's even worse over there?

[00:22:47]>> Yeah. Yeah. We get paid less. So, >> yeah.

[00:22:50]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:22:52]>> So, guys, today's topic, I should say topic/rant is a little bit different to my other topics, but today I'm going to talk about dye ink and how much it actually costs to dye nowadays. So, we were talking about this over the weekend with a friend. Now, the fork cemetery is not less than $15,000 per burial. So, imagine you have to have that money.

[00:23:18]Who's got that sort of money laying around these days? What has this world come to? Now, when you go down to Bakas Marsh, cuz a lot of people are actually starting to go down to Bakas Marsh to get, you know, their loved ones buried there because over there down that side, it's like around $5,000. So you're saving a good 10 grand.

[00:23:38]We literally have to sit here stressing that when our loved ones do decease, are we going to actually be able to afford to bury them? Or do we have to drive down to Bakers Marsh to see them to pay our respects? What has this will come to, bro? Now we have to sit there thinking we better have some sort of money in the background with the way the cost of living is. All right. Who's got that sort of money laying around? No one has it in the background in their bank accounts. Nothing. Nothing. Not even background. Like when it comes to family, how are you going to Are you going to grief over the loss of the person or you going to go there grieving over how am I going to pay for this? How disgusting.

[00:24:17]I'm I'm just I can't believe what this world's come to. You can't even die in peace. We don't even have money to leave this world, brother. What the hell, >> man? I don't even think we can afford to live in Australia anymore. You know, we've been here now for a month and a half back on this trip from Southeast Asia. And I didn't actually realize how much it costs to live in Australia now until we got back. I actually don't know how families do it anymore, honestly.

[00:24:47]Cuz the thing is, we've gotten used to living on about $54,000 as a family in Southeast Asia. And that's living comfortable and having a pretty good life, you know, and that's for a family.

[00:24:57]I don't think you could live on $54,000 a year as a single person in Australia anymore. What's happened? How has Australia gotten so expensive? I am very envious of families who can make it work. And you know, and I'm not talking about families that just barely scrape by because there's a lot of them. You know, I'm talking about the families that can earn enough to live comfortably and spend time with their kids and maybe even only have one person in the family working. Cuz honestly, it feels like if we were to stay in Australia right now, we would be back in exactly the same situation we were in, which is part of the reason we left, which is not spending enough time as a family, because we couldn't do it on one income.

[00:25:35]You know, I shuddered to think what you actually have to earn as a family in Australia in 2024 to be able to live a life where only one person has to work.

[00:25:43]It feels like everyone in the family has to work and everyone in the family has to earn an income just to make ends meet. you know, between the cost of daycare, which most people need these days cuz both people are working, um the cost of food, the cost of insurance, the cost of electricity, the cost of everything going up. Yeah, I'm genuinely surprised how families can do it at all.

[00:26:05]And maybe we've just lost touch because we've been away so long, but yeah, I don't know how it works. And this may be it for us. This may we may have to resign to a life where we just live overseas. Um, maybe we have genuinely been priced out of Australia now. Who knows? Maybe our plan to come back in a couple of years when things cool down may never happen. We considered our plan B at some point in the future the prices would stabilize of everything and the cost of goods and the cost of living in Australia would stabilize, but I don't know if it's going to. I don't know if Australia is going to be a place where families can comfortably live anymore unless you earn hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. You know, they say the average Australian income is $90,000 a year. But at $90,000 a year, I feel like you're just making ends meet at that price. You know, rents at 56 $700 a week if you're lucky in in places in the Eastern States. And we can't afford that. I completely understand why everyone goes up to the mines up north and uh works FIFO and and drives a dump truck up in the mines to earn 150 grand a year because it's almost out of necessity these days. I just I just don't see how we can make the numbers work anymore. Honestly, you know, especially when you can go to Southeast Asia and live for 55 grand a year and live super comfortably with only one of you earning an income. I just don't see how the numbers work over here anymore. I just don't think we can make it work.

[00:27:34]>> If there is one group bearing the heaviest weight of all of this, it is younger Australians. Not because older generations had it easy by accident, but because decisions made over the past 2 to three decades have systematically transferred wealth upward and locked younger people out of the financial stability that previous generations considered a baseline expectation. Own a home, build some savings, plan for the future. That was the deal. And for a growing generation, none of it feels within reach. Surveys show that over half of Australians aged 18 to 35 are considering leaving the country for affordability reasons. More than half of an entire generation, not considering leaving for adventure or opportunity.

[00:28:16]Considering leaving because staying has become financially unsustainable. That is a damning verdict on the direction a nation has taken. And it deserves to be said plainly rather than buried in an economics article nobody clicks on. The barriers to home ownership tell the whole story. 35% of people cannot save a deposit because rent and everyday expenses absorb their income before anything can be set aside. 20% believe mortgage repayments would be unmanageable even if they somehow purchased. 12% lack the borrowing capacity required for a home loan altogether. These are not people who failed to try hard enough. These are people trapped in a system where the cost of renting prevents them from ever saving enough to stop renting. There is no visible exit and the government's answer is grant schemes that cover a fraction of the deposit on a property they still cannot afford. Younger Australians are putting off marriage, children, and any financial commitment requiring stability they do not have. A generation denied access to the housing market creates reverberations through the entire system. Those reverberations are already here. declining birth rates, rising mental health statistics, the quiet desperation of people doing everything right and still falling behind. Popular destinations for those leaving include Southeast Asia, Portugal, and Dubai. Not chosen for luxury, chosen for survival. A country with some of the highest nominal wages in the world has made itself unaffordable to the people born and raised within it. That is an extraordinary failure and it should be described exactly that