Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ upcoming Budget is expected to justify tax increases as a vital measure to keep the UK’s national debt under control.
Some have argued keeping the national debt down protects the financial interests of younger people. That’s because if the country’s debt went up drastically, it is younger people who would have to foot the bill to pay for the interest on it. And it would be taken directly from their payslips through higher taxes.
Generation Z, or those born between 1997 and 2012, have been hit in the pocket over the past 15 years by benefit cuts and dramatic increases in university tuition fees. Meanwhile, the homeownership rate of those born since the 1990s is well below that of earlier generations, due to the relative difficulty they have faced in getting on the housing ladder.
However, most politicians, including the chancellor, are also committing to keep paying for the triple lock on the state pension, which guarantees it rises each year by the highest of average wages, inflation or 2.5%.
There’s growing concern that current tax and spending policies help pensioners but are unfair on younger generations, and that the triple lock in particular will push up public spending and the national debt in the long term.
So will this budget really help younger generations? Or could it help saddle them with higher taxes and more debt?
BBC Verify has been looking at the numbers.