Victor Jack, William Schomberg

(Reuters). During online chats with 132,000 of his young followers, Joshua Gausden, a British social media influencer and 19-year-old British citizen is focusing more attention on inflation. As energy prices spike and the global economy struggles to cope, Gausden has been chatting about how he’s addressing issues such as rising fuel costs.

Young people are not as concerned about their grandparents’ concerns. They remember the sharp rise in prices worldwide and the rampant inflation that occurred in Britain during the 1970s.

Gausden said that he feels like many young people do not think about these things. He is currently studying finance. But they’re starting to.

    Inflation in Britain has averaged 2% over the past 20 years but now looks set to top 4% at least, more than double the Bank of England’s target. Due to the rise in global energy prices, economists believe it could reach 5%-6%.

    While that is nowhere near 1970s levels and is likely to prove less stubborn, Gausden thinks young people should learn from their elders about its corrosive power that threatens to hit them particularly hard. Many of these people have lower incomes and are less able pay higher energy bills.

Also, the younger generation does not have as many protections as older generations. They cannot own their homes or receive pensions.

Gausden said that they won’t see inflation’s effects until it’s too late. They are beginning to see the effects of inflation now.

   Older people are increasingly predicting higher prices in the 12 months ahead, but expectations among 19-24 year-olds in September remained unchanged from a year earlier, according to data from polling firm GfK.

These worries may be due to the fact that Britain was one the biggest economies in the world and suffered the worst effects of the 1970s oil shock. Inflation rose to 25% between 1975 and 1975. It is a frightening time for many households, who are left wondering if enough will remain to pay their fuel bills or mortgage payments.

That seems old history for today’s younger generation.

Andrew McEvoy 22, an Airbus apprentice, stated that few of his close friends knew of the rising cost of inflation. He is however investing right now to safeguard his savings.

His comments suggested that “Maybe as a group, we’re less aware of what information there is around it and how to help ourselves,” which was obviously not good, since many people will be affected.

    TRANSITORY-ISH

    Like other central banks, the BoE predicts the rise in inflation will be transitory.

The 5% rise in global financial crises ten years ago has waned rapidly and policymakers claim there is no risk of an ’80s-style price-wage spiral.

    But BoE officials concede that the inflation jump is likely to last longer than they previously thought.

    Angus Hanton, an economist who co-founded the Intergenerational Foundation, which campaigns for younger people’s economic interests, said the older generations had an edge when it came to protecting their finances.

    “Compared to oldies like me, younger people haven’t had the experience of inflation so they don’t know the tricks of the trade,” Hanton, 61, said.

    They included minimising cash balances, taking the likely path of inflation into account when making wage demands and making sure pay deals can be renegotiated regularly.

    “Because it happened at a formative time of my life, it’s just instinctive for me,” Hanton said.

    As for the government, he said, it should raise taxes on wealth which is largely held by older people, for example via a levy on windfall profits from home sales. He said that this would lower the tax burden on incomes of working people.

    But rather than fall, work taxes are set to rise with an increase in social security contributions in April which will help to pay for social care provided typically to older people who have also benefited from generous pension increases.

    Another hit for many young people could come from a reported plan by the government to lower the earnings threshold at which student loans must be repaid.

    Hanton said the government should carry out an intergenerational assessment of the impact of all policy changes, something already done for the environment.

    “Young people have enough to deal with as it is and now we’re throwing in a whole new dimension,” he said.