In my case my 20s were a complete mess of drugs and sex. I put work into getting skills, thank fuck, but the rest of my life was a shambles. I hit 30, met the wife, and got shit together.
You're correct that parental help is a huge leg up for some fortunate people. That was never an option for me as my dad did more drugs than I did and my mum was a functioning alcoholic who never managed to keep him in check. Honestly it's a miracle I've done ok - it really did help to have a passion for something that ended up paying well, otherwise I have no idea where I'd be. I know a lot of people who are really fucked though, from my generation - those who, like me, didn't get it done early were fucked (though had I done so I'd have almost certainly lost it all as I was making terrible decisions with women).
The next generation are truly fucked if we don't build a fucktonne of houses very very quickly. Of course it's even worse for them because COVID has bankrupted the government so it's likely they'll not have access to state pension, unemployment benefit (which I've never claimed), possibly even the NHS, so they'll have to fund much more of those out of their own pockets but without the income to achieve that, and with a housing market that excludes them. They're going to be really fucking angry.
Getting the country out of this mess is going to take someone with remarkable skill and imagination, but I can't see that anywhere on government or opposition benches.
Earn a lot less now, but quality of life is better. Consider myself lucky as I live in social housing in London. So only pay £400 a month in rent. Average rent on my road in private sector for same apartment is £1600! 
