People reaching adulthood now enter the workforce in an uncertain and unequal economy, often with student debt.
The pandemic highlighted the essential vulnerabilities of jobs for many young, low-wage workers. An out-of-the-blue virus strike could recur in coming years. Additionally, younger generations will reckon with increasing automation and the deepening impacts of climate change.
Official election statistics will be released next month but preliminary figures show that 2,383,796 party votes were cast.
Electoral Commission data says 3.77 million people were eligible to vote and 3.55m enrolled.
About 2 million aged between 18 and 49 were eligible to vote compared to 1.7m aged over 50.
Of the 2m, about 1.8m were enrolled to vote. In comparison, only about 10,000 of those eligible in the 50-plus age group did not enrol.
People aged between 18 to 29 are much less likely to enrol than those aged 30-plus.
In this election, enrolment was 78 per cent for those 18 to 24 and 84.2 per cent for those 25 to 29. In comparison, it was 91 per cent for 30 to 34-year-olds, 96 per cent for 35 to 39-year-olds and between 97.5 and 100 per cent for people 40 and over.
Somewhere between 30 and 35 the penny drops that it is important to have a say in how the future is shaped. But it shouldn't take that long.
Younger people contend with outsider status, uncertainty about what they want to do, where to live and whether they can make a difference, to finally feel they have a stake in what's happening.
This is a crucial time for younger people to be - and stay - active in politics. Major decisions will be made on how the country recovers financially. And how the country can build in economic shock absorbers should another disaster hit.
Overseas, the likes of Japan, China, the European Union and Britain are making carbon-free targets, new energy and more self-sufficiency key parts of their economic strategy.
Should the US change tack in next week's election, a Biden administration would join them. In the US, renewable energy options such as wind and solar have become more cost-effective and employ far more people than the coal industry.
Tackling climate change involves a complex mix of bans, laws, financial incentives, new technology and projects.
Labour has enough numbers to govern alone but that will carry risks if the Government is unable to make discernable changes with job-creation which also benefits the environment. The Greens would benefit from any backlash.
Dealing with the Greens in a constructive way would demonstrate foresight, a sense of unity - it is always better to be generous in triumph - and widen the input of ideas.
A decision from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is expected by Friday.
