The credential costs more than the student has
Created by university pricing: the signal is priced against future income.
3 solutions built for it
Tax-advantaged education savings plans, Student loans and Scholarships and grants.
Where Scarce resources meets Early adulthood. Money, land, materials, and energy are never enough for every want. Scarcity is what turns a need into a market rather than a given: air is a need but not a business. It is also what makes timing central — most financial instruments exist because someone needs something before th…
12 frictions
Debt that arrives before the income does
Created by student lending: repayment begins whether or not the signal worked.
2 solutions built for it
Income-driven repayment and forgiveness programmes and Student loan refinancing.
Get a job without having had one
Every posting wants experience; experience requires a posting.
4 solutions built for it
Job boards and professional networks, Internships, Staffing and temp agencies and Résumé and career coaching.
Lose the parents' health coverage before earning your own
Young, healthy, and one accident from ruin.
2 solutions built for it
Employer-sponsored health insurance and Extended coverage on a parent's plan.
Manage income, taxes, and bills for the first time
Nobody taught this; the penalties for getting it wrong are real.
4 solutions built for it
Tax preparation software and services, Digital-first banks, Stablecoins and digital wallets and Budgeting and bill-split apps.
House yourself without parents and without savings
The first rent, deposit, and lease with no history behind them.
4 solutions built for it
Roommates and room-share platforms, Student housing, Lease guarantor services and Rental housing.
Strangers sharing bills, chores, and a fridge
Created by shared housing: the household without the bond.
2 solutions built for it
Roommate matching and agreements and Budgeting and bill-split apps.
No history, so no one will lend
Trust must be built from nothing, and the tools for building it are the ones that punish.
3 solutions built for it
Starter and secured credit cards, Buy-now-pay-later and Credit score.
Revolving credit compounds against the borrower
Created by consumer credit: the reputation tool becomes a debt trap.
2 solutions built for it
Debt consolidation and balance transfers and Credit counselling.
The courier has no employer
Created by app delivery: convenience for one young adult, precarity for another.
1 solutions built for it
Get to work without a parent's car
A job usually requires being somewhere.
4 solutions built for it
Auto loans and leases, Ride-hailing, Bikes, e-bikes, and scooter share and Public transit.
Drinking costs health, money, and control
Created by alcohol: the second-largest preventable cause of death.
2 solutions built for it
Addiction treatment and recovery and Non-alcoholic beer, spirits, and functional drinks.