Boomers - your time is up ...

Even so, the X and Y generation brood are less interested in playing house than we were - not only can’t they afford to, they don’t want to. Could it be they’ve seen the error of their parents’ ways? After all, we’ve hardly painted a picture of domestic bliss.

Monogamy and children are now passé in a society that has neglected the family, put the brakes on equality and in many ways deserted its children.

Why get married when divorce beckons, and who cares about zero population growth when reproduction puts your career on the line and good affordable child-care is put in the too-hard basket?

Despite all this X and Y generation gloom, Baby Boomers are optimistic, and why not? They’re set for long and agreeable retirements, funded by big fat cheques, comfortable real estate and juicy portfolios. But age shall weary us, and when it does, it will be generation X and Y who look after our future.

Nursing homes and the health system are already in crisis mode; generations deprived of opportunity may well look to their inheritance as a means to securing what they have otherwise been denied.

Blame it on the Boomers: they framed the policy that ensures permanent full-time work is out of younger people’s reach; insisted on payment for higher education; and fostered competition, consumption and individualism.

Move over Baby Boomers, it’s time to let someone else drive the car.