Dear BC

Dear BC,

After 8 years together, I can’t believe it’s come to this.  I thought I’d found the one when we first connected, the place I’d be forever.  Now, it’s just not working out between us.

Your rugged good looks drew me to you in the beginning, along with all the opportunities you offered for fun and exploration.  But since starting our family, your handsome looks and adventurous attitude are no longer enough.

We’re supposed to be raising our kids together.  Sure, you promise to put “family first.” But your words are empty in the absence of action. Where are you when I’m squeezed between high housing prices, stagnant incomes, and the need for time at home with our kids?  What are you doing to help pay for child care?  Why can’t you help make this affordable, when you can afford new bridges, roofs for sporting arenas, theOlympics and a highway to the ski hill.

Cars, fun and games!  Truth is BC, you’re just like a deadbeat dad.

Now that we have kids, what do I have to do to attract your interest again?  I’m keeping up my end of the bargain.  I work hard in employment.  I work hard as a small-business owner.  I work hard at home, and as a volunteer too. I stand on my own two feet.  Why doesn’t this look good to you?

Don’t get me wrong – I know that you have lots of fine qualities.  You dedicate much of your time and money to taking care of our aging parents, especially their health care and pensions.  And it matters very much to me that they are supported.

But why can’t all members of our family benefit from your rich resources and wealth?  Supporting retirees can happen alongside supporting our kids.  In fact, if more of my parents’ generation knew how many of our children are failing to be ready for school, or are growing increasingly anxious anddepressed, or are living with low-incomes, they too would ask you to devotemore of your resources to the next generation.

I do love you, BC. I have held on to the dream of raising my children with you for many years.  But as time goes on and our children become increasingly vulnerable, I don’t see you making the changes we need to be successful.

Since I’m not a quitter, I’ll give you 3 more months to shape up.

During this next provincial election, all provincial parties must finally speak to the needs of my generation – a generation in its prime child rearing years.  Sure, keep talking about jobs, jobs, jobs.  But know this focus is insufficient.  I have a two jobs, and they leave me squeezed for time at home with my kids, squeezed to pay for higher housing prices, and squeezed to pay for child care services that cost more than post-secondary tuition.  Unless you propose plans to reduce this squeeze, you cannot live up to the commitment you made to put our families first.

BC, I’m looking for a plan to reduce the squeeze on the generation raising young kids (see gensqueeze.ca).  If you don’t have such a plan in the next campaign, then I am afraid I will have to find somewhere else that does.

Sincerely,

Gen Squeeze Mom & Small Business Owner.

Boomer Hater?

In opening up this dialogue I understand that some may call me a boomer hater. They’ve hurled that nickname at Dr. Paul Kershaw (http://gensqueeze.ca/) and are potentially going to paint me with the same brush. The truth however is quite the opposite.

My parents are boomers and have admittedly enjoyed a life that was built on hard work and blessed with a mix of opportunity and good timing. They are both incredibly smart and cautious and loving and politically active and now enjoy the high quality of life that they have earned.

They eloped in 1969 on New Year’s eve. My dad says the reason they rushed to marry on that day was that in doing so he was able to claim my mom as a dependant for the whole of 1969. This resulted in a tax return large enough to pay for their honeymoon. Mom had been a flight attendant and was able to get free tickets to Turks and Caicos so they stayed the first night in a fancy hotel, got to know all the staff, then moved to a cheap hotel and snuck back to the fancy one during the day to enjoy the pool. Their ‘wedding’ and honeymoon is so remarkably different to the current trend of $30,000 debt-inducing ‘dream weddings’ and is a tribute to the way things were back then. Gen Squeeze is coming of age in a time when marketing forces are more powerful than ever and we need to see that it wasn’t always like that. While we lament the difficult economy in which we are raising our families we must admit that we could learn a thing or two from the spending habits of young boomers.

While my parents made the smart choice to have a wedding that was within their means they were then able to buy their first house, just a few short years later, for $19,000. They were able to do so on a single income while raising three young children – something that is next to impossible for today’s Gen Squeezers. They started their married life without any debt (not even student debt) – something that is increasingly rare for the Gen Squeezers. They had no child care costs whatsoever – an expense that now cripples most of todays parents with fees up to $1,000 per month for one child. In short times were different!

Is the deck stacked against young Canadians?

As we discuss the then vs now data we must be careful not to vilify those who benefitted from then any more than we can blame those who are struggling now. I look to the Boomers as a source of inspiration, guidance and mentoring as they had the wherewithal to be cautious financially and active politically. In return I’d like the boomers to look at my generation with a sense of understanding and compassion. While Gen Squeeze could stand to be more frugal we are not blowing our money the way you think we are….we are just paying way more for our basic necessities like housing, food and gas and have the added unbearable burden of paying for child care and student loans on top of it all.

All we ask is for open dialogue and understanding about what it’s really like to raise a family in 2013. Once we stop pointing fingers and laying blame we can get to work building social policies that reflect the needs of today’s Canadian family.