It is the case that a younger demographic is earning thousands of dollars less for full-time work, so that's a challenge in and of itself. Then their biggest cost of living—as it has always been—is housing, and that is so much more expensive than the past. In that context, a younger demographic absolutely is having to go and get more post-secondary these days to land jobs that pay less. So student debt, without doubt, is an issue.
If that's the only issue that we focus on for a younger demographic, we miss how the socio-economic vulnerability has really shifted toward younger people. I applaud the emphasis on early childhood education and care from the Federation of Labour in Alberta because child care is typically—outside of Quebec—more expensive than university tuition these days.
We need to recognize that we've had a long-standing conversation about post-secondary. It remains important—there are some things we can do—and the current federal government is making some important changes there that are in line with what the Canadian Alliance of Students Associations would recommend.
There's more work to be done, but we shouldn't think that's the only issue facing young people. In fact, it's sort of like the tip of the iceberg and the bigger issues are below.