Let’s be honest, young adults should be free to make their own choices

From smoking bans to national service, depriving young adults of basic freedoms is a growing trend among policy makers, says Matthew Lesh

Growing up we were told a straightforward story about how to succeed: try hard at school, get into university or some sort of training, find work in a relevant field, save for a house and start a family.

This vision has begun crumbling in recent years. Millennials and Generation Z are struggling to accumulate the wealth and stability of previous generations in the face of stagnant wages and astronomical house prices. Accordingly, they are settling down later and having fewer children. The prospects going forward are similarly dire, as we face ever-higher taxes for lower-quality public services with an ageing population.

Rather than address these deep, structural challenges at the heart of Britain’s malaise, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced eye-catching policies that reward the elderly and punish the young in recent days.

Under Conservative plans, not only would pensioners get a tax cut but 18-year-olds will also be required to do national service. A small number will undertake a year-long military training scheme while, in a phrase that would make Orwell blush, the rest will face compulsory ‘volunteering’ one weekend a month.

This is one of those policies that sounds superficially appealing but falls apart at first contact with reality. A weekend-a-month commitment will cause immense practical issues for young people who work and study on weekends, have sporting and other community commitments, or need to care for sick family members.

Proponents of national service justify the policy with communitarian rhetoric, citing civic duty, social cohesion, and skill development. After 13 years of compulsory schooling with similar aspirations, it’s hard to imagine how just a weekend a month will do it. If anything, the government’s policy could prove counterproductive even viewed through a communitarian lens.

The report from the think tank Onward, which inspired the Conservative policy, recommended that the scheme should be voluntary – because compulsion would risk breeding resentment. Slave labour including picking up rubbish and wiping bums in care homes is hardly going to make anyone particularly happy.

France’s national service scheme, introduced just three years ago, has seen camps descend into brawls, drug-taking and sexual assault. There were reports of participants booing the flag and corporal punishment. A 2019 study from Sweden found that military service significantly increased subsequent crime rates and delivered poorer job outcomes.

The plan for national service comes amid a series of other policies targeted at young adults.  Last month, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater introduced legislation to prevent new young drivers from having passengers despite statistics showing that the most dangerous drivers are the elderly.

Before shutting down for the election, Parliament was also on the cusp of passing a ban on anyone born after 2009 from buying cigarettes, meaning grown adults will be prevented from smoking over the coming years. The same law will ban single-use vapes.

Young adults are being penalised economically while losing their autonomy to make decisions about their lives and bodies. A new form of infantilisation extending from restrictions on childhood freedom—that begin with less unsupervised time for children—is moving into young adulthood.

These policies targeting younger votes may make electoral sense for now, as the elderly are far more likely to turn out at elections. However, considering that a new YouGov poll this week found that the Conservatives are on just 8 per cent among under-50s, this may not entirely be an election-winning strategy.

In the meantime, intergenerational resentment is being sowed. It is hardly a recipe for a strong, prosperous and cohesive society.