Here’s how some young Canadians are facing their financial future

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The Canadian Press has been speaking with young people about the financial challenges facing their generation — a tough job market, unaffordable housing and goals that seem out of reach.

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‘WAITING FOR EVERYTHING TO WORK OUT’

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A few hours into a night out with friends in downtown Toronto, 19-year-old Eleni Koumoundouros has a choice to make.

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Does she end the evening early and start the hour-long commute to Oakville, where she lives with her parents? Or, does she savour the evening a little longer and contend with late-night transit and walking home in the dark?

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It’s a recurring question for the third-year undergraduate at the University of Toronto, who says the commute puts a damper on her social life.

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Koumoundouros works 30 hours a week in addition to her schooling, but downtown Toronto rent isn’t affordable.

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“I’m working so hard to make this money, even if it feels like the money is kind of going nowhere.”

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Koumoundouros says her generation is dismayed by scarce job opportunities.

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The political science student has long hoped for a career in government so she could help pass laws that make people’s lives better, and she hopes today’s policymakers realize the extent of the affordability crisis in Canada.

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“I think I could be happier. But right now, I’m not entirely disappointed. I’m just chugging along, waiting for everything to work out.”

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GHOSTED BY EMPLOYERS ‘THE WORST THING’

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Recent graduate Lauren Hood thought that by now she’d be working at her first real job and starting to live independently.

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But things haven’t gone as planned for the 21-year-old, who completed an undergraduate degree in political studies, philosophy and a certificate in law from Queen’s University in June.

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Hood has been job-searching for months and, while she has found work in a store, there are no prospects in sight in her field of study.

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“The job market right now is very, very hard to get into,” she says.

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Hood has been living with her parents in Aurora, Ont., as she continues her job hunt while paying bills with her side gig as a DJ.

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Her job search hasn’t been easy. Hood recalls walking into a restaurant that hosts weekly open interviews.

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“At the end of the interview, they said this would be hiring for next April,” she says. “I was like, ‘What do you mean next April? It’s September!”

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Hood says she has applied for more than 50 jobs related to her degree and has only fielded two job interviews since graduation.

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Dealing with rejections has been discouraging. Hood says she’s wary of applying for some jobs because it’s hard for her to handle the disappointment.

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“Being ghosted by the employers is, I think, one of the worst feelings.”

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Hood says the search has upset her plan to save money, pay off her debt and eventually write exams for law school.

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“I feel behind,” she says. “In my head, I pictured to be working and ideally, it would be nice to move out and not live at home anymore. But I can’t do that without a job.”