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Comment by viraptor | Hacker News Reader

> The younger generation (18 - 35) aren't in a position where the EU membership effects them in any tangible way

You mean the age group which actually travels, studies abroad, looks for new jobs which right now they can choose from all over the EU, has more international contacts than previous generations, etc. ? I'm sure they're more affected in very practical ways than older generations.

I'm affected in at least 3 ways, and I'm not even in Europe anymore.

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> the age group which actually travels, studies abroad, looks for new jobs which right now they can choose from all over the EU, has more international contacts than previous generations

Oh yeah, rich people stuff.

I don't know many people who've done that. I know one guy who left for the USA, I know one or two older people who go on a regular holiday out of the UK each year. 90% of my friends have been abroad once or twice, but it's not an influence on their current EU debate.

Not only rich people. 8 people from my first university class did a year abroad on EU programs. (some couldn't afford it otherwise) At my last university, most of the year was not from the UK, which was funny when a GCHQ guy tried to recruit people - most of them not the right nationality to hire.

Or from another side, I expect most people from Poland are not going to work in the UK because they're rich and can afford it. They move where the work is and suddenly two parts of the family have a reason to travel internationally. Exactly because they're not rich.

I've done 4 year course at UK university and very few of the EU students were from rich families. For most it was their first time in UK and maybe 2-3rd time on a plane. My own circle of friends includes a lot of people from all over EU who now live in UK and every single one of them would be negatively affected by Brexit, and again, they are by no means rich.

bang on - I often ask my friends who are going through hard times with work or life, if they would consider moving to europe or further afield, among the poorer ones (aka 93% of the UK population) it's not even an option they would consider

Or the group that doesn't remember life before the EU.

That's a good point. I wonder if it matters though. I mean, 1) depending on how you count it, it could be either Schengen ('85), late '90s, or early '00s; 2) world was completely different before the EU - Europe was still dealing with WWII results / USSR issues - whatever happens, UK is not going to what was the pre-EU reality.

its also the generation with the lowest cost of travel and highest disposable income. their ability to travel won't be affected by leaving the eu.

Is it already certain that all benefits of Schengen remain? (likely) Visa-less work in the rest of EU? Visa-less study? Are travel costs going to remain the same? Will the UK have to renegotiate tourist visits with countries which had deals with EU, rather than separate countries? These are factors that could change as far as I know.

i would be surprised if we didnt get visa-less travel to shengen and visa-versa. visa requirements for study are generally pretty easy (can you afford it) and for work are a good thing. most eu countries already require some form of work permit (for tax purposes), they are easy to obtain and amount to the same thing as a visa. travel costs are based on market forces and government policy, we could make travel even cheaper if we left by reducing taxes if we chose to. the costs of operation are otherwise the same

But why would they choose to make things easy for us if we are essentially giving them the middle finger? We can't pick and choose what we fancy from the EU while simultaneously walking away..

I'd be surprised too. But right now it's an unknown, right? Also, there are multiple EU-related programs for scholarships which could go away for the UK people. Work... we'll see.

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