Short Changed

The decimation of youth clubs during austerity was a betrayal of young people, according to Emma Warren, a cultural documentarian and author of a recent book tracing the history and significance of youth clubs. 

At IF, we believe strongly in the importance of institutions that support young people in this country, and youth clubs are an often overlooked piece of that puzzle. Conor explores why they are more than just a ping pong table and a PlayStation, and what role they play in giving young people important opportunities in a society otherwise hostile to the young.

If you want to find out more about the work of the Intergenerational Foundation:

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Order Emma's book Up the Youth Club and find her on Instagram

The Intergenerational Foundation is a research charity fighting for a fairer deal for younger and future generations. As the leading authority on intergenerational fairness in the UK, we produce research that challenges the status quo, shapes public debate, and drives meaningful policy change. Our charity number is 1142230. 

It's still a sad fact that where you are born in Britain, and which family you are born into, determines too many of your life's outcomes. Conor sits down with one of the UK's most eminent academics in this field to discuss how inheritance - in many different forms - can leave us in a divided society.

If you want to find out more about the work of the Intergenerational Foundation:

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Check out Danny's work here

The Intergenerational Foundation is a research charity fighting for a fairer deal for younger and future generations. As the leading authority on intergenerational fairness in the UK, we produce research that challenges the status quo, shapes public debate, and drives meaningful policy change. Our charity number is 1142230. 

A few decades ago, it wouldn't be unreasonable to imagine that if you got a good education, worked hard, then after a couple of years of renting you could buy your first home.

Not so in 2026. These days having a home increasingly depends on parental help, inheritance or very high earnings, something that Senior Researcher Conor Nakkan explores with Anna Clarke, Director of Policy and Public Affairs at the Housing Forum. 

While she argues we can't call it a housing 'crisis' anymore because the problem of housing shortages has been so protracted, she agrees that our housing situation can take the form of many individual crises: whether that is homelessness, someone who can't keep up with the rent, or overcrowded or temporary accommodation.

Conor and Anna explore how we got to this position, why housing is such a driver of inequality between and within generations, and how to fix it.

If you want to find out more about the work of the Intergenerational Foundation:

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Find Anna on X and the work of the Housing Forum, a cross-sector membership network across construction and housing 

The Intergenerational Foundation is a research charity fighting for a fairer deal for younger and future generations. As the leading authority on intergenerational fairness in the UK, we produce research that challenges the status quo, shapes public debate, and drives meaningful policy change. Our charity number is 1142230. 

Nothing can be certain, except death and taxes. But our tax system can also shape inequality and increase gaps between generations.

Conor sits down to talk with Dr Julian Limberg, Senior Lecturer in Public Policy at King's College London, about how our system rewards wealth rather than work, how to change our system to make it fairer for younger generations, and whether a wealth tax would really work.

If you want to find out more about the work of the Intergenerational Foundation:

Take a look at our new-look website

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Check out Julian's recent paper on how support for taxation crumbles when it is perceived as unfair and the 2020 paper on how tax cuts for the wealthy only benefit the rich.

The Intergenerational Foundation is a research charity fighting for a fairer deal for younger and future generations. As the leading authority on intergenerational fairness in the UK, we produce research that challenges the status quo, shapes public debate, and drives meaningful policy change. Our charity number is 1142230. 

This week Conor sits down with Cameron Garrett, Deputy Director of Research at More in Common, which tries to understand what Britons think and why.

They discuss what younger people want from politics, why so many are voting Green, the steep decline in political trust and whether our democracy serves the interests of younger generations. 

If you want to find out more about the work of the Intergenerational Foundation:

Take a look at our new-look website

Follow us on Instagram

Check our Cameron's work at More in Common

The Intergenerational Foundation is a research charity fighting for a fairer deal for younger and future generations. As the leading authority on intergenerational fairness in the UK, we produce research that challenges the status quo, shapes public debate, and drives meaningful policy change. Our charity number is 1142230. 

In the first episode of this new series, Conor Nakkan explores the issue of student finance and higher education with Jim Dickinson, Associate Editor at WonkHE.

Jim says: "One of the things I constantly say is this system is like an onion. There are lots of layers. Every time you remove one, you're more likely to cry."

This complex subject has finally made headlines in recent months after years of campaigning from students and graduates, who have argued the system is not fair. Is that the case? 

If you want to find out more about the work of the Intergenerational Foundation:

Take a look at our website

Follow us on Instagram

Read Jim Dickinson's work at WonkHE

The Intergenerational Foundation is a research charity fighting for a fairer deal for younger and future generations. As the leading authority on intergenerational fairness in the UK, we produce research that challenges the status quo, shapes public debate, and drives meaningful policy change. Our charity number is 1142230. 

Why are young people having to set aside 70% of their weekly expenditure on essential spending? Listen to IF's Toby Whelton explain our latest research findings in our newly published report “Blowing the Budget: Why the young have to spend more than the old on Essentials” 

What are the financial pressures facing young people and how should government policy change? Here's a clue; it's all about housing costs!

The Intergenerational Foundation is a research charity fighting for a fairer deal for younger and future generations. As the leading authority on intergenerational fairness in the UK, we produce research that challenges the status quo, shapes public debate, and drives meaningful policy change. Our charity number is 1142230. 

This episode investigates the housing crisis facing younger generations in the UK and includes a discussion between the Intergenerational Foundation's CEO, Liz Emerson and Paul Brocklehurst of the Land Planning and Development Federation, which funded IF's research into how the housing crisis is playing out on a local level. 

The Intergenerational Foundation is a research charity fighting for a fairer deal for younger and future generations. As the leading authority on intergenerational fairness in the UK, we produce research that challenges the status quo, shapes public debate, and drives meaningful policy change. Our charity number is 1142230. 

This episode explores the intergenerational fairness case for a wealth tax with discussion between IF co-founders Angus Hanton and Liz Emerson and the report author, Alec Haglund. 

It discusses how a moderate wealth tax would affect just 1% of the UK population while raising at least £18 billion a year which could be used to lower younger people's tax rates or even invest in free higher education. 

The Intergenerational Foundation is a research charity fighting for a fairer deal for younger and future generations. As the leading authority on intergenerational fairness in the UK, we produce research that challenges the status quo, shapes public debate, and drives meaningful policy change. Our charity number is 1142230. 

Over the last 3 years these podcasts have been delving into a range of topics regarding intergenerational unfairness and we’ve provided a platform for dozens of people from all walks of life to have a voice. So for our season finale, it seems fitting to take us back to where we first started and talk to the people who started it all. 

The Intergenerational Foundation is a research charity fighting for a fairer deal for younger and future generations. As the leading authority on intergenerational fairness in the UK, we produce research that challenges the status quo, shapes public debate, and drives meaningful policy change. Our charity number is 1142230.