It's All Relative with Dr Eliza Filby

More parents than ever are opening pensions for their children, but this trend isn't really about retirement. It's about how families are adapting to an increasingly uncertain economy.In this episode of It's All Relative, I explore one of the fastest-growing financial trends you've probably never thought much about: parents and grandparents setting up pensions for children from birth.At first glance, it sounds strange. Why would you start saving for someone's retirement before they've even started school?But I don't think the rise of child pensions is really about pensions at all.It's about how parents are thinking differently about security, inheritance and opportunity in a world where housing is unaffordable, university is expensive, careers are uncertain, and retirement keeps moving further away.As families become less confident that they'll be able to hand over a house deposit, pay university fees or leave a substantial inheritance, they're increasingly turning to the one advantage every child has: time.

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The future of work is changing. Entrepreneurship, AI, portfolio careers, career advice, Gen Z, millennials, small business, financial resilience, purpose, and freedom are reshaping what a successful career looks like. In this episode, I reflect on my own journey from academia to building a business, and the career advice that completely changed my life.When I was in my thirties, someone gave me a piece of advice I've never forgotten: talk to people five to seven years ahead of you, not twenty. It transformed how I thought about my career, why I left academia, and ultimately how I built the business I run today.This isn't a "how to become an entrepreneur" video. In fact, I'm deeply sceptical of hustle culture, the glorification of entrepreneurship, and the endless LinkedIn clichés about success.Instead, this is an honest reflection on what it takes to build a career in an age where the old scripts no longer work.

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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 feel like they're losing? Grace argues that capitalism was never quite the free-market system we were promised. Instead, she suggests we live in an age of concentrated power, monopoly, political influence, and growing inequality. Together, we unpack how this affects everything from education and homeownership to entrepreneurship, community, social mobility, and our sense of freedom itself.

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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 systems, pensions, healthcare, housing, work and the future of generations to come.

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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 what we think we know about Gen Z is wrong?Drawing on three years of research, thousands of interviews and one of the most comprehensive studies of young people in Britain, we explore what it's actually like to be Gen Z today.

🔔 Follow on SpotifyA weekly show exploring generational change, work, technology, culture, and the forces shaping modern life.📩 Subscribe to My SubstackGet my weekly essays on generations, work, wealth and social change:📚 Buy InheritocracyMy book on inheritance, family wealth and the Bank of Mum and Dad:🌍 Find Me HereWebsiteInstagramLinkedIn

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 multiple jobs with financial hardship. But something has changed.Increasingly, it's not just gig workers or low-income households juggling multiple sources of income. It's lawyers, teachers, doctors, consultants, creatives, and knowledge workers. It's the professional middle class.

And that tells us something important.

In this episode, I unpack why more people are hedging their bets, diversifying their income and questioning whether a single employer can still provide the security it once did.00:00 Intro01:53 Middle class moonlighting03:48 Multi income data surge05:04 AI enables overemployment05:53 Portfolio career benefits08:32 Employers and distrust11:11 Side hustle openness14:48 Public sector moonlighting17:05 Platform capitalism risks20:57 Community questionsFollow this ChannelA weekly show exploring generational change, work, wealth, technology, and the forces shaping modern life.

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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 the collapse of the old promise that hard work guarantees security.And it’s changed how they think about money completely.In this episode, we explore:

00:00 Intro02:34 Meet Clare Barrett03:40 Student Debt Reality Check05:15 Savvy Workplace Power06:19 Side Hustles New Normal08:44 Tuition Fees And Career ROI10:27 Deposit Versus Debt13:19 Happiness Curve Flattening14:20 Is University Still Worth It16:43 Gen Z Investing Boom22:15 Trading Apps And FinTok Risks23:44 Finance Influencers Rules24:21 Brands Chase Gen Z25:32 How Gen Z Learns Investing26:29 Frictionless Spending Debt28:07 Buy Now Pay Later Reality30:04 Housing Dream Slips Away31:11 Renting Landlord Ethics31:54 Help To Rent Debate33:49 Shared Ownership Pitfalls36:45 Money Talks Relationships38:10 Protect Yourself Legally40:59 Gen Z Money Openness43:50 Savvy Or Screwed Finale44:29 Episode Wrap And Outro

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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 that raises a bigger question:What has happened to working class creativity?In this episode, I explore:00:00 Intro00:53 Premise Explained02:05 Romanticising Struggling Artist03:52 Postwar Meritocracy in the Arts05:46 Access to Arts Closing07:57 Creative Industry Cuts And Class Data08:53 Creator Economy Shift12:34 Monetising Is A Slog14:12 Keep Creativity Private16:46 Arts Culture Beyond The West22:05 Community Questions

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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 general cost of living.Which raises a much bigger question:What happens when work no longer feels like a reliable route to financial stability?In this episode, I explore:00:00 Intro01:54 Why Raises Feel Useless03:52 Patchwork Household Income05:20 Side Hustles Reality Check07:49 Two-Income Economy Trap09:08 Lone Parents Under Pressure11:07 Bank of Mum and Dad12:12 Luxury Redefined Today14:04 Three Ways People Adapt14:40 Community Q&A31:19 Wrap Up and Next Episode
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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 degree. Build a career. Buy a house. Build stability.

And increasingly, that promise hasn’t been delivered in the way many people expected. Especially for millennials and Gen Z.

In this episode, I explore:🔔 Subscribe to the ChannelA weekly show unpacking generational change, AI, work, culture, and the forces shaping modern life.

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