by Seth Schindler, Professor of Urban Politics and Development
Every autumn the University of Manchester slowly awakes from hibernation and lumbers into the new academic year. This awakening is accompanied by the springtime optimism of new beginnings, even as darkness descends on the city in the afternoons. Fresh-faced students imagine the endless possibilities that await their future selves as they explore the campus and city. This should be a time of great anticipation and excitement, yet students increasingly suffer from anxiety because they will most likely graduate with debt and few job prospects.
University graduates in the UK struggle to enter the workforce. The number of job openings advertised for graduates in 2025 is 33% lower than 2024. This reflects slack in the labour market but graduates are hit the hardest. The percentage of graduates who had secured employment by February 2025 dropped to 27%, six per cent below 2024.
Source: Financial Times
So why does anyone still enrol in university? The answer is that graduates can still expect to earn more than their peers without university degrees (although this premium is shrinking, especially for women). This is little consolation, however, because the lucky few who do secure employment can expect lower wages than graduates from past cohorts. Recent data shows that graduate salaries have not kept up with wage growth in general.
Source: Financial Times
So young people who do not attend university earn significantly less than graduates, but students entering university this year can look forward to bleak job prospects and low wages. Additionally, the jobs they train for may soon be eliminated by artificial intelligence.
All of this means that a university degree is not the ticket to financial independence and prosperity that it used to be. Gen Z really is worse off than previous generations. Just look at the way young adults are frozen out of the housing market. Wages for graduates have stagnated but housing prices have soared. The average house price in the UK is approximately eight times the median income. For graduates earning below the median income, this makes home ownership nearly unattainable. Those without support from the bank of mom and dad will most likely languish in the purgatory that is the UK’s rental market, and spend about half their meagre salary on rent.
Source: Financial Times
It’s understandable that many don’t think hard work pays off. Some have responded by opting out of the labour market altogether. According to one estimate 13.4 per cent of 16-24-year-olds are Neets – not in education, employment or training. Others muddle through in anger. Constantly reminded that contemporary capitalism rewards asset ownership more than work they take a punt on meme stocks, NFTs and obscure crypto coins.
All of this explains Gen Z’s growing support for socialism. According to one recent survey, 62% of Americans between 18-29 have a “favorable view” of socialism, compared to 39% of Americans in general. Now, Gen Z’s embrace of socialism is shaking up politics.
Most recently, young people propelled democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani to victory in the Democratic Party’s primary for New York City’s upcoming mayoral race. He defeated longtime political operative Andrew Cuomo. The two candidates couldn’t be more different. Mamdani spent time speaking with actual New Yorkers about issues that matter to them, like access to housing and the cost of living. These conversations were viewed millions of times on social media. His grassroots campaign was fuelled by small donations. He plans to experiment with policies that would restrain market forces and make housing, transportation and necessities affordable. He also promises to have Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrested if he ever sets foot in New York City (Netanyahu is wanted by the International Criminal Court for war crimes and remains at large).
Cuomo is a political dinosaur by comparison. He received donations from so-called Super PACs, which represent special interests like high finance and real estate. He proceeded to spend the money on radio ads. Imagine being so out of touch that you think people listen to the radio. He also provided pro bono legal support to Netanyahu. This was a bold move in a city that witnessed massive protests against the genocide in Gaza, and only 29% of New Yorkers support Israel (this drops to 13% among 18-29-year-olds). His campaign failed to allay the concerns of New Yorkers who viewed him with suspicion ever since he was forced to resign as governor of New York State over a string of allegations of sexual harassment.
It was little surprise that Mamdani handily won the primary with 56.4% of the votes. The actual election is November 4. Cuomo is running as an independent, apparently because his grandfather told him to persevere in the face of adversity. But evidently he did not inherit his grandfather’s endurance. He announced that if he loses the election he’ll move to Florida. The prospect of shipping Cuomo off to the Sunshine State electrified Mamdani’s base, and most polls give the 34-year-old a lead of 15-20%.
Mamdani’s victory in November will raise a series of questions about municipal socialism. What can a socialist mayor accomplish in a capitalist society and globalized world? Put another way, is socialism in one city possible? Can socialist candidates upset other races in the US? And what about the UK, where the Labour Party has declared that it is the party of business? It would be easy to establish socialist proposals in stark contrast to what is offered by the Labour Party and Reform UK – could this be a winning electoral strategy? Are there cities where socialists have won elections, and how have they governed? These questions will be explored in a series of articles on the GDI blog in the coming months.
Top image: Zohran Mamdani at the Resist Fascism Rally in Bryant Park on Oct 27th 2024 by Bingjiefu He via Wikimedia Commons
