Brutally honest Gen Z uni moment stuns Q&A panel by revealing the grim reality facing millions of young people as a leading economist blames the crisis on irresponsible government Covid spending
- Woman admits she can’t afford to study and eat
- Bella Mitchell-Sears wants to teach but needs to work
- The stunned Q&A panel has no answers for her.
A young woman who dropped out of university at the age of 20 has revealed the brutal choice many young Australians are forced to make: study or put food on the table.
Bella Mitchell-Sears stunned Monday night’s ABC question-and-answer panel with the revelation that her cost of living has skyrocketed so high she had to drop her college degree.
Ms Mitchell-Sears was studying for a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne with dreams of becoming a teacher, but now she is losing hope.
“I have been forced to put my education on hold because I need to work full time to support myself,” Ms. Mitchell-Sears said.
‘My bills keep going up, owning a home seems like a pipe dream and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to get better.
‘What would you say to me and other young people in my position, and why should I decide between getting an education or putting food on the table?’
Everything from fuel to groceries to electric bills have risen dramatically since the end of the Covid pandemic, with inflation rose to a 30-year high of 7.8 percent.
The growing cost-of-living crisis has also forced the Reserve Bank to rapidly raise the cash rate to reduce inflation, with renters and mortgage holders hit with 10 consecutive increases compounding the economic pain.
Ms Mitchell-Sears said the problems students are facing started when their college fees doubled in 2020.
‘I can’t afford to go to college, but once I finally get the money to do it, I’m $50,000 in debt. I don’t know how to get out of this.
‘There is such a call for teachers, but it seems impossible to achieve it. I don’t know how to get out of this.
The panel, including Federal Labor MP Josh Burns; Perin Davey, deputy leader of the Nationals, had few responses beyond wishing Ms. Mitchell-Sears good luck and criticizing each other’s parties.
Economist Gigi Foster squarely blamed the pressures of high cost of living at the foot of the government’s “mismanagement of the economy” during the pandemic.
Scott Morrison’s Liberal Party government handed out more than $300 billion through Covid stimulus packages during the health crisis.
“We’ve spent a lot, as I said before, for little return and on things that were never predicted to have a lot of return,” he said.
It was a religious expense.
“The Covid problem was handled so poorly now that we have created an inflationary environment where house prices are going up and food prices are going up as well.”
Victorian woman Bella Mitchell-Sears stunned Monday night’s ABC question-and-answer panel with the revelation that her cost of living is so high she had to drop out of her college degree.
Economist Gigi Foster has blamed the pressures of high cost of living squarely on the government’s “mismanagement of the economy” during the pandemic.
British singer-songwriter Billy Bragg said he was lucky to have gone on the dole while becoming a musician.
Fellow British singer-songwriter panelist Billy Bragg offered a striking contrast between today’s students and those of his generation.
‘I was very lucky. I lived in a time when you could stay unemployed and no one was after you,” she said.
‘The British taxpayer paid for my apprenticeship as rock and roll.
I have paid the way back. Many more could if we encourage our young people to reach their full potential.’
