“No Future?” Why Gen Z are on the streets — and what the UK data says about jobs, homes, mental health and trust

7 november 2026

Young people from Kathmandu to Rabat have spent 2025–26 telling political leaders they don’t see a future unless something changes. Here’s what sparked the wave of youth‑led protests — and what UK numbers say about why that feeling is so widespread.

The spark, the fuel, the fuse

From late 2024 into 2026, youth‑led demonstrations surged across several regions. In Nepal, a government social‑media ban on 4 September 2025 lit the fuse for huge anti‑corruption protests by teenagers and students in uniform; police used live ammunition, with at least 19 people killed on 8 September alone according to Human Rights Watch, and the turmoil led to an interim government and elections in March 2026. A year on, official probes were still addressing abuses and many demands remained unmet.

In Morocco, the “GenZ212” movement mobilised from 27 September 2025 across multiple cities, angry at poor access to healthcare, education and jobs amid rising costs of living. Authorities arrested hundreds; media and think‑tank analyses describe a heavy crackdown and contested trials.

In Madagascar, weeks of youth‑driven protests over blackouts, water shortages and corruption culminated in October 2025 in a military mutiny and the president’s exit; young organisers told reporters their daily lives hadn’t improved overnight, despite the power shift.

Peru saw youth‑branded marches in September 2025 after controversial pension reforms, broadening into anti‑corruption and security demands; observers noted the protests’ explicitly “Gen Z” framing.

Kenya’s 2024 anti‑tax demonstrations were a template: leaderless and very online, they forced the government to withdraw the finance bill and energised a cohort that research shows is more protest‑prone than older groups. That wave set the tone for 2025‑26 across the Global South.

What changed? Analysts point to a digitally native protest style — fast, decentralised, and memetic. International IDEA’s 2025 review even notes a shared protest symbol (a skull‑and‑straw‑hat manga flag) popping up from Morocco to Nepal and Peru. But beneath the aesthetics lie shared drivers: corruption, cost‑of‑living crises, stagnant opportunity, and repressive policing.

Young people on the street — Photo: Markus Spiske / Unsplash

The UK picture: jobs, homes, minds, trust

Jobs: UK youth unemployment has climbed. In June–August 2026, 715,000 16–24‑year‑olds were unemployed — a rate of 15.6%, up from 14.6% a year earlier (House of Commons Library, October 2026). Early in 2026 the number of young people not in education, employment or training (NEET) passed one million for the first time since 2013; by April–June 2026 it was 981,000, or 13% of the age group (ONS).
Housing: Affordability improved slightly on paper since the 2021 peak, but remains brutal where most young people work. In 2025 London’s median home still cost 10.6 times median earnings; across England the ratio was 7.6 — the lowest since 2015 but historically high. Rents are still at record cash levels and still rising, according to ONS’s monthly rent index. Research suggests rent takes a large share of young private tenants’ income, pushing more of Gen Z to live with parents longer despite higher early‑career incomes than Millennials.
Mental health: England’s 2023/24 Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey reports that one in four 16–24‑year‑olds (25.8%) had a common mental health condition, up sharply on 2014. NHS data on children and young people likewise showed around one in five 8–25‑year‑olds with a probable mental disorder in 2023.
Trust and voice: Trust in government is low across the board. ONS’s own wellbeing measures, Edelman’s annual Trust Barometer and youth polling by Opinium and My Life My Say all point the same way: most young adults don’t believe politicians are working for them.

Together, that’s a picture of a generation facing higher insecurity in work and housing, worsening mental health, and eroded faith in institutions — even as they’re more educated and politically active online. It doesn’t take a social‑psych degree to see why the sentence “we have no future” keeps showing up on placards.

Why the 2025–26 protests feel different

Cross‑border learning: CFR tracks how youth protest tactics and frames ricocheted across regions in late 2025 — from Nepal and Morocco to Peru and Indonesia — with explicit “Gen Z” branding and shared memes. This connective tissue is digitally accelerated and harder to decapitate than older, party‑led movements.
Bread‑and‑butter plus rights: The agendas mix daily survival (food, power, rent, jobs) with rule‑of‑law demands (anti‑corruption, police accountability, online freedoms). In Nepal, a social‑media shutdown became the red line; in Morocco, hospital corridors and job markets; in Madagascar, electricity and water; in Peru, pensions and corruption.
Outcomes are mixed: Some wins (Kenya’s tax bill withdrawn; Nepal’s interim government and inquiries) sit alongside crackdowns and limited policy change (Morocco prosecutions; Madagascar instability). One year on, many young organisers in Nepal and Morocco voice frustration with elite recycling and “cosmetic” fixes.

Crowd at a youth protest — Photo: Li-An Lim / Unsplash

Where the UK fits in

This isn’t a neat import‑export story. British politics isn’t Kathmandu or Antananarivo. But the underlying equation — higher costs and insecurity plus low trust — is visible here in the data. Youth unemployment is rising; rents are at record cash levels; the house‑price‑to‑earnings gap still locks out those without wealth; mental health need is up; trust is thin. And yet, UK youth also have leverage: local action, from renters’ groups to campus organising, can win tangible changes.

The UK also shapes the global story via media and platforms. When Nepal’s police shot students in uniform, evidence spread through the same feeds your mates scroll on the bus. The sense of a shared generation — different countries, same vibe — is part of what sustains this wave even when single‑country campaigns stall.

Key facts

8 Sept 2025: Nepal police used live fire on “Gen Z” anti‑corruption protesters after a social‑media ban; at least 19 killed, 300+ injured that day, per Human Rights Watch.
27 Sept–Oct 2025: Morocco’s “GenZ212” movement protested across 11 cities over healthcare, education and jobs; 400+ arrests reported; courts handed down harsh sentences.
Oct 2025: Youth‑led protests in Madagascar over outages and corruption preceded a military mutiny and the president’s exit; organisers warned daily life hadn’t improved.
2026 UK: Youth unemployment hit 15.6% in June–August 2026 (715,000 people); NEETs passed one million in early 2026 for the first time since 2013.
2023/24 England: One in four 16–24‑year‑olds (25.8%) had a common mental health condition, up from 18.9% in 2014.

What this means for you

Work: If you’re 18–24, the job market is more precarious than headlines imply. Use apprenticeships and training schemes where they exist, and ask local officials what they are delivering.
Housing: Renting can eat a huge share of take‑home pay. If you claim housing support, track Local Housing Allowance changes — the Resolution Foundation says the gap between LHA and actual rents hit a record in October 2026.
Mental health: Services are overloaded, but campus and charity provision can be quicker than NHS routes. The official data backs you: prevalence is highest in your age band.
Power: Low trust doesn’t mean low impact. The Kenya and Nepal cases show “leaderless” digital organising can force concessions — but lasting wins tend to come when pressure is paired with concrete, specific asks.

Film treatment

Opening montage: TikTok verticals from Kathmandu, Rabat, Antananarivo, Lima; intercut with UK rent listings and job‑centre screens. Title card: “No Future?”
Character focus: A 20‑year‑old in London commuting from parents’ home; a Moroccan “GenZ212” organiser describing hospital images that went viral; a Nepali student injured in the September 2025 protests.
Expert beats: Researcher walk‑and‑talk on “connective action” and meme symbols; UK economist on rent‑to‑income ratios and why young people stay at home longer.
Policy room: A councillor or MP shown the NEET and rent data; a youth charity on waiting lists for therapy and housing.

Research limits

Several protest death/injury counts vary by source; we cite conservative, documented figures and note that official inquiries in Nepal ran into 2026.
UK trust data for 18–24s is patchy across official stats; we combine ONS wellbeing, Edelman and youth‑specific polling (Opinium/MLMS).
Housing “affordability” improvements since 2021 reflect earnings growth and falling prices in some areas, but don’t capture deposits or volatility — we flag that nuance.

Sources

Photos: Alex Radelich; Markus Spiske; Li-An Lim (all via Unsplash, Unsplash License).

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