Youth exit matters
It’s not just millionaires who are leaving the UK in droves, an ASI-commissioned poll shows that up to a third of young people are considering moving away, or actively preparing to do so. Isabelle Fraser makes the point in the Telegraph that this matters more than the departure of millionaires.
There is a strong case for saying that the departure of talented and ambitious young people does indeed matter more to the UK's future than the exodus of current millionaires.
There will be an effect on future economic growth because young, skilled individuals represent the backbone of long-term growth. They are the future creators of businesses, innovators, skilled professionals, and taxpayers. When they leave, the UK loses not just current talent but future employers, inventors, and wealth generators. Their absence diminishes the country’s potential for homegrown economic expansion.
The UK already faces demographic challenges with an ageing population. Losing younger cohorts exacerbates this imbalance, placing more pressure on public services such as healthcare and pensions. An ageing population without a robust, productive younger base to support it is economically unsustainable.
Ambitious young people often represent the next generation of millionaires, the entrepreneurial pipeline. If they are deterred or driven away by overregulation and over-taxation before they’ve had a chance to create value, the UK risks cutting off that entrepreneurial pipeline at the source. It is a long-term drain on innovation capacity and wealth creation.
Youth drives cultural dynamism and institutional renewal. Fresh perspectives, digital fluency, and global openness brought by younger talent are crucial in adapting institutions to modern realities. Their exit creates stagnation and detachment from contemporary global norms.
And while existing millionaires contribute significantly to tax revenues now, their wealth may already be mobile or diversified globally. By contrast, young professionals could be expected to contribute income tax, national insurance, VAT through consumption, and more over decades. Their cumulative fiscal contribution is potentially larger over time. Their loss matters more.
A country bleeding away young talent signals to the world that it is no longer a viable place for innovation, ambition, or opportunity. This harms foreign investment, deters skilled newcomers, and undermines the UK's standing as a global hub for creativity and entrepreneurship.
So, while the departure of millionaires represents an immediate financial and symbolic loss, the departure of young and talented individuals is a deeper, more structural threat to the UK's future viability, innovation capacity, and socio-economic resilience.
Someone, somewhere, should be planning steps to halt or reverse this outflow by making the UK attractive enough to stay in.
Madsen Pirie