We Were Promised the Moon

By: Vicky Spratt

Were our young adults mis-sold a future?

In 1980s Britain, the line was that anything was possible if you worked hard enough, whether that be owning a home or going to university. Now, house prices are exorbitant and both student loans and childcare costs have skyrocketed. Birth rates are falling, social mobility is in reverse, and living standards are tanking because even basic needs are becoming unaffordable. Not just for those on low incomes, but for people earning what were once decent salaries too.

Combining her own experience and the stories of women she’s met over the last ten years whilst travelling around Britain as a journalist, Vicky Spratt’s crucial and remarkable book is a deep exploration of how the economic context of the last thirty years has shaped the lives of Millennials and Generation Z – their finances, relationships and perception of what a good life looks like. Both empathetic and urgent, Spratt’s work is a holistic examination of the problems facing young adults today, for which she then outlines the solutions – if only there was the political will to implement them.

©2025 Vicky Spratt (P)2025 HarperCollins Publishers