[user104658]

If you want people to work they need to have realistic goals to work towards. A large number of people hitting their 20's these days are stretched to the max - they have no hope of saving a deposit today, let alone planning for one in 10 years time when house prices will be even higher. Expecting people who feel hopeless to work hard is never going to work.

In fact it's worse than that; previous generations have felt hopeless... but the current situation is that we've had such a sustained period of people being told not to expect much, that they are comfortable with hopelessness. They're happy to see what the next day brings, and the next, and coast without planning. They won't have kids so they don't have to worry about it all that much. And then govts. will continue getting themselves into a panic about low birth rates and aging populations (whilst the populations that are left refuse to allow any migration to make up the shortfall ... lol).

'tis falling apart at the seams, folks. Not the country - the entire political philosophy behind modern western civilisation. It's broken .