Young adults are finding it tougher than ever to afford living costs during the current recession.
Extreme housing costs, unstable work, and expensive food are driving them to food banks, budgeting services, and other measures to keep the lights on - or forcing them to move overseas altogether.
David Cameron, budget manager and financial advisor at Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) Wellington, told Newshub they're "very, very busy".
Roughly one in 10 clients at the CAB in the past year have been Generation Z, Cameron said - and in the first six months alone, "we had double the number of clients than we saw last year".
'Colossal' cost of rent
Cameron said many young adults don't have guaranteed minimum work hours, meaning it's unstable work - and the rate they do get paid isn't enough for the "colossal" cost of rent, he told Newshub.
"Probably 99 percent of them are in rented accommodation, and it's such a huge percentage of their income," he said.
Food is expensive, he said, but rent is "easy 40 to 50 percent of their income".
"Houses are getting more expensive and yet they can't manage to save anything."
High rental costs are biting, no matter if his clients are in work or on a benefit, Cameron said.
'They are eating dinners with their McDonald's points'
Keegan Wells, president of Otago University Students Association told Newshub the cost of living is a huge barrier for students studying, or those looking to enrol.
"Flatting and food costs are probably our two biggest ones."
She said most students depend on the student allowance and part-time work to get by, because the allowance (currently a maximum of $314.15 a week) doesn't cover all costs adequately, depending on where you live.
"The rent in Christchurch compared to the rent in Auckland is very different."
According to student support data, there was a jump of more than 100 students needing financial help in the past month versus the whole of 2023. And food insecurity is growing among students, Wells said.
"The cost of fresh food and vegetables on a student budget - it's not really being allowed for anymore."
The foodbank at Otago University/Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka has been inundated in recent months, she told Newshub, with demand increasing by nearly 60 percent. That doesn't account for students who need the help but don't come in.
Some are turning to desperate measures to get some kai.
"They are eating dinners with their McDonald's points from the McDonald's app - and that comes from actually somebody on our executive who is also still getting paid for a 20-hour role."
She said students now live in a different world financially than it had been in past decades.
"A lot of people look at students and say, 'I went through it, it was bad when I was a student', but it shouldn't be seen as a rite of passage - because a lot of people can't afford to eat or pay rent or do all these other issues," she said.
"It's genuine poverty in my eyes."
'You feel isolated'
Otago/Ōtākou students spend less on transport compared to other cities, but that doesn't mean life as a young adult is cheap. Wells said she's noticed her peers cutting back on their socialising in recent months.
"It seems like we are at a time where if everything is stressing you out, the last thing you're gonna do is go spend more money and hang out with friends."
She said that makes people withdrawn, isolated, and disconnected.
"It's hard because it just makes it so much worse and then you feel isolated at a time where we really should be coming together more."
Increasingly, students have been moving back in with parents or quitting study altogether, Wells said.
"If they can't have a warm flat or be eating well, they're just not going to be here," she said.
"People want to be above the poverty line."
'A disproportionate impact on youth'
Urvashi Yadav, a senior consultant at BERL (Business and Economic Research Ltd), said record-high median rents are biting young adults in Gen Z more than other groups, since they're less likely to be homeowners.
"Home ownership rates have been declining for those under 30 for several decades now," she added.
"For instance, according to Stats NZ, in 1991 61 percent of people aged 25 to 29 years lived in an owner-occupied home."
But this had plummeted to 44 percent by 2018.
"Coupled with the fact that young people also have lower incomes (because they may still be studying or early in their career journeys) means that rapidly rising rents have a disproportionate impact on youth," said Yadav.
Meanwhile national median rents surged 8.3 percent in the year to March.
"On average rents have increased by about 6 percent annually. While it's not the biggest annual increase we've ever seen, it is unusual to see it this high in March," said Gavin Lloyd, sales director for Trade Me Property.
'A 20 percent increase in the number of young adults departing New Zealand'
In its latest labour market update, Stats NZ said the biggest jump in unemployment was experienced by Generation Z. Unemployment for those aged 20-24 now sits at 9.8 percent, more than double the national rate of 4.3 percent.
"In a tight job market, younger workers are competing against more experienced workers," said BERL analyst Simon Hunt in May.
Yadav said young people can be disadvantaged for a long time, even after the downturn ends.
"This is because it becomes harder to find that first job, increasing the risk of long-term unemployment and poor skills matching in the labour market."
Unsurprisingly, young adults are leaving the country in droves to escape.
"From the first quarter of 2023 to the fourth quarter of 2024, there was a 20 percent increase in the number of young adults departing New Zealand and staying out of the country for 12 out of 16 months," said Hunt.
"Young adults are leaving, driven by higher wages, lower costs of living, more opportunities, and an increasingly interconnected world."
