In times gone by, young people doing professional jobs in a busy city would be called yuppies; young, unmarried professional, or young urban professional, or even young upwardly-mobile professional. Or they might have been called dinkies – dual income, no kids. However, both of these titles hark back to a time when being a young professional meant you'd probably become rich and succesful. It's telling that the terms were both coined in the early ’80s, when aspirations were different.
Now, in 2014’s London, we have the Endies; Employed But No Disposible Income Or Savings. Yes, it should probably be EBNDIOS, but let’s give the researchers who made up the term the benefit of the doubt. After all, they say one in five Londoners is an Endies.
Because the life of an Endie is all too familiar: ‘They cannot see how to build up assets in London while earning incomes which each month barely cover getting to work and the essentials of life.’
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Shopping at Aldi or Lidl, after 8pm to take advantage of the ‘reduced’ section, they’re ‘stuck. They cannot face leaving London because it is exciting, vibrant and where the work is. But living in London is a struggle they often feel they are losing.’
This is having an effect on their political outlook, too: ‘While “Endies” don't complain, they are increasingly disenchanted with the political system. Unless London does better by them, the city's politics could easily turn sour.’
Pretty doomy stuff, and very accurate: the Centre of London thinktank put together the report, which is called Hollow Promise: How London Fails People on Modest Incomes, And What Should Be Done About It, and thinktanks don’t muck about with this sort of thing.
As well as applying to people who would count as that ‘squeezed middle’ and the ‘hard-working families’ that politicians like to bang on about, it applies to you: an Endie typically earns between £20,000 and £33,000 and if they’re not ‘lucky enough to already own a home have next to no chance of buying one.’
The solution to the Endies’ problems? Making income through ‘lazy assets’ like spare rooms (we already know of plenty of young people foregoing living rooms to lower rents), reports The Independent, and better housing provided by the powers that be.
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‘With property prices in London soaring at an ever-increasing rate and essential costs rising faster here than anywhere else in the country, this group of Londoners are in danger of being forgotten and pushed to the edges – both physically and socially,’ said Mark Rogers, chief executive of Circle Housing said in a foreword to the report.
‘It’s vital this group does not remain silent. We need to create innovative housing solutions that offer London’s diverse residents affordable rents and a helping hand to get on the property ladder.’
British millennials are pulled in by an exciting, thriving city that lives off of youthful creativity, but also pushed away by rising rents in areas of speedy gentrification. Which is a pretty big dilemma. But now this report has recognised what’s wrong, hopefully there’ll be some steps taken to solve the capital’s housing crisis, otherwise it’s the Endies for all of us…
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
Picture: Rory DCS
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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.