What sets Generation Z apart from other generations? What drives today’s youth, and what keeps them awake at night? No one can tell us better than Gen Z themselves. That's why we are portraying 24 students from Radboud University. In this episode: Nan Lont, 21, Philosophy, is politically active within the AKKU student union.

‘The main reason I joined the AKKU student union two years ago is my sense of justice. Politicians have stood by and allowed the crisis in the housing market to develop, and now they’re hiding behind “that’s just the way things are”. Think about it: social housing was actively eroded and houses were seen as investment assets to be left to the vagaries of the free market. Thanks to that neoliberalist frame, people of my generation will soon be unable to buy homes, while private rents will also become unaffordable.

At AKKU, we fight for affordable housing for all students in Arnhem and Nijmegen. I am responsible for coordinating the housing working group. We talk to the municipality, organise local actions, or join one of the LSVb initiatives (Dutch national student union, Eds.).

I think students are not angry enough. They often think they can’t do anything about the situation anyway. Or they find it scary to act against their landlord. I understand that very well, but if you join forces, you become stronger. The beauty of union work is that you can actually influence political choices.

I hope I can find a rental house for myself when I graduate, but I’m already trying to come to terms with the idea of moving back in with my parents. They are not the worst housemates imaginable, mind you. But it would make me one of those boomerang children who go back to their father and mother.’