Baby boomer claims it has 'become a crime to be born' in their generation - and busts 'toxic' myths

A prominent author and Baby Boomer has lashed out at younger Aussies who blame his generation for their economic woes.

Clive Hamilton, 70, and his daughter Myra, told readers it has 'become a crime to be born in the 20 years after World War 2', claiming 'generational warmongers' had their targets set on Baby Boomers.

The Hamiltons used the opinion piece to debunk several of the 'toxic' myths surrounding Baby Boomers, revealing how many had really received a free university education, and showing that a vast majority aren't blowing through their children's inheritance as is often claimed.

They also refuted claims that Boomers are to blame for the state of the housing market, for fuelling inflation, and for being responsible for rising rents.

Mr Hamilton is a professor of public ethics at Charles Sturt University and a member of the Order of Australia, while his daughter is an associate professor at the University of Sydney researching gender, ageing and care.

The Hamiltons told readers that fewer than 10 per cent of his generation benefited from the 'fabled free university education', most of which came from upper and middle class families at a time when year 12 finishing levels were still low.

Fees for undergraduate university degrees were abolished by Gough Whitlam's Labor government in 1974 to make education for more accessible for the working class, during an era when middle class boomers benefited from scholarships.

'That was the reason for HECS, so that low-income people would no longer subsidise middle-class kids to get the high-paying jobs,' the opinion piece for the Sydney Morning Herald reads. 

Free tertiary education was replaced by HECS, also known as the Higher Education Contribution Scheme, in 1989 by Bob Hawke's Labor government so graduates paid for their education after they earned above a certain threshold.

Baby Boomers, specifically those in their late-60s and in the 'builders sub-generation', still hold the lowest rate of university graduates at less than 10 per cent.

Every generation following Baby Boomers has continued to increase the amount of people graduation university with as many half Gen Zs holding a degree in the future.

The Hamiltons went on to bust the 'toxic myth of SKIing', saying that Boomers vilified for hoarding financial resources are instead to be responsible for a massive transfer of wealth between generations.

'Over the next couple of decades Boomers will bequeath a massive $3.5trillion in assets to their children, the same ones they have been oppressing so thoughtlessly,' he wrote.

A Productivity Commission report from 2021 found about $3.5trillion, mostly property and superannuation, would be passed through inheritance by 2050.

That figure will only grow over time, with the current $120billion inherited per year predicted to rise to $500billion by that same year  

The Hamiltons also noted that while the housing market is 'shockingly unjust', the fastest growing demographic that are becoming homeless aren't aged in their 20s, but  instead 'women over 55, Baby Boomers'.

'There are rich Boomers and there are poor Boomers and many in between. This fake conflict is responsible for enormous bitterness out there,' they wrote.