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Millennials prioritize entertainment and free time more than boomers as well. Millennials also start families later in life. These are the values boomers taug

Millennials prioritize entertainment and free time more than boomers as well. Millennials also start families later in life. These are the values boomers taught that money doesn't buy happiness. So this is not really shocking to see that they are not in the same place monetarily. I would view this is at least some measure of success. The boomers were able to teach a value system they believed was better than their life.

throwaway2016a 10y ago
Anecdotally, most millenials I know who are waiting to start a family are doing it because they can't afford to, not by chose.
- elmerfud 10y ago
  All the comments show my point. These are the values that were taught by the boomers. Ask a boomer, were they ready for a family when they got one? No, but it was the thing to do, so they did it, made it work, and life was hard. Go back and look at the old childhood photos and you'll see what I mean. These people clearly weren't ready for kids in our modern sense of being ready. This is a quite complex subject, but the simple view is priorities. There is a priority of short term thinking with millennials focused around instant gratification. That's not to say that it's wrong but it is a priority which has and effect on how life plays out. An easy example of this is how everything is described as a "hack" and not a "grind". Boomers, whether they knew it or not, were more long term focused. Part of it was a function of the world of the time. You had to wait for the Sears catalogue to come in the mail. You don't have a credit card so you make layaway payments etc... You just had to focus farther out. They scarified a lot of short term and gained a long term benefit. Sadly most, including this article, equate education with motivation. It's not the same thing. Going to college because you don't know what to do next and mom says go doesn't mean that the education will give you a leg up in life.
  - candiodari 10y ago
    Do you think a focus on instant gratification is anything new ? I mean you clearly do, but it seems such a weird point to make.
    - tmuir 10y ago
      The internet has shown us how wonderful instant access to the world's information can be, and we've decided that everything is better with internet. Its an extremely coherent point to make, in my opinion.
    - elmerfud 10y ago
      The focus on it isn't new, but the ability to realize it in a way never before is.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
- aczerepinski 10y ago
  Agreed. Pre-school costs $15k/year where I live. There are an awful lot of careers in which that would be a tough pill to swallow. Maybe one parent stays at home with the kid... but then you're a single income family and housing prices are no joke either.
im3w1l 10y ago
Millennial are choosing to be lonely, poor, and own no house and car. They are choosing to be more anxious and depressed.
- Pfhreak 10y ago
  What a peculiar thing to say.
  - candiodari 10y ago
    I think the point is to be sarcastic. Everytime somebody points out that people are worse off, any fact used to support that argument is immediately used to support the thesis that in fact everything is better. Less money - more spending - good, or as GP put it "Millennials prioritize entertainment and free time more than boomers as well" This of course assumes the problem is the choices boomers are making. Just so we're clear: people choose to work in Amazon fulfillment centers. Hell, boomers PAY amazon for transportation to work here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYUJjpIxkCU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYUJjpIxkCU (seriously, when will congress bring down the hammer on companies charging employees ? It is always, always and again after that used to exploit the lowest workers). If you prefer to see this in government stats : https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS12600000 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS12600000 and -worse- https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNU02026625 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNU02026625 and https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNU02026628 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNU02026628 From most graphs I get the impression this is the situation. Since Obama came to office there has been the GFC. I think it would be fair to say that US employment has recovered about half the losses it endured during the GFC, taking all statistics together. That does not, to me, sound like a good result at all, and at least for me, is a big part of the explanation that Trump got elected. For most people employment is worse than when Obama came to power (of course he should probably not be blamed for the GFC, but still, he's got the top job. He bears some responsibility) Similar argument: More debt - more spending - good Those sorts of arguments. Truth is the economics for the vast majority of the world's population have steadily worsened since about 2000-2001 (worldwide average). Silicon Valley and in fact most huge cities are an exception.
Mikeb85 10y ago
It's not exactly by choice. Most millenials (myself included) would love to be in better financial condition. But we carry more debt and make less money than our parents did despite being better educated. We emphasize entertainment and free time because it's all we have left in otherwise dreary economic circumstances.

throwaway2016a 10y ago

Anecdotally, most millenials I know who are waiting to start a family are doing it because they can't afford to, not by chose.

elmerfud 10y ago
All the comments show my point. These are the values that were taught by the boomers. Ask a boomer, were they ready for a family when they got one? No, but it was the thing to do, so they did it, made it work, and life was hard. Go back and look at the old childhood photos and you'll see what I mean. These people clearly weren't ready for kids in our modern sense of being ready. This is a quite complex subject, but the simple view is priorities. There is a priority of short term thinking with millennials focused around instant gratification. That's not to say that it's wrong but it is a priority which has and effect on how life plays out. An easy example of this is how everything is described as a "hack" and not a "grind". Boomers, whether they knew it or not, were more long term focused. Part of it was a function of the world of the time. You had to wait for the Sears catalogue to come in the mail. You don't have a credit card so you make layaway payments etc... You just had to focus farther out. They scarified a lot of short term and gained a long term benefit. Sadly most, including this article, equate education with motivation. It's not the same thing. Going to college because you don't know what to do next and mom says go doesn't mean that the education will give you a leg up in life.
- candiodari 10y ago
  Do you think a focus on instant gratification is anything new ? I mean you clearly do, but it seems such a weird point to make.
  - tmuir 10y ago
    The internet has shown us how wonderful instant access to the world's information can be, and we've decided that everything is better with internet. Its an extremely coherent point to make, in my opinion.
  - elmerfud 10y ago
    The focus on it isn't new, but the ability to realize it in a way never before is.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
aczerepinski 10y ago
Agreed. Pre-school costs $15k/year where I live. There are an awful lot of careers in which that would be a tough pill to swallow. Maybe one parent stays at home with the kid... but then you're a single income family and housing prices are no joke either.

im3w1l 10y ago

Millennial are choosing to be lonely, poor, and own no house and car. They are choosing to be more anxious and depressed.

Pfhreak 10y ago
What a peculiar thing to say.
- candiodari 10y ago
  I think the point is to be sarcastic. Everytime somebody points out that people are worse off, any fact used to support that argument is immediately used to support the thesis that in fact everything is better. Less money - more spending - good, or as GP put it "Millennials prioritize entertainment and free time more than boomers as well" This of course assumes the problem is the choices boomers are making. Just so we're clear: people choose to work in Amazon fulfillment centers. Hell, boomers PAY amazon for transportation to work here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYUJjpIxkCU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYUJjpIxkCU (seriously, when will congress bring down the hammer on companies charging employees ? It is always, always and again after that used to exploit the lowest workers). If you prefer to see this in government stats : https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS12600000 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS12600000 and -worse- https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNU02026625 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNU02026625 and https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNU02026628 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNU02026628 From most graphs I get the impression this is the situation. Since Obama came to office there has been the GFC. I think it would be fair to say that US employment has recovered about half the losses it endured during the GFC, taking all statistics together. That does not, to me, sound like a good result at all, and at least for me, is a big part of the explanation that Trump got elected. For most people employment is worse than when Obama came to power (of course he should probably not be blamed for the GFC, but still, he's got the top job. He bears some responsibility) Similar argument: More debt - more spending - good Those sorts of arguments. Truth is the economics for the vast majority of the world's population have steadily worsened since about 2000-2001 (worldwide average). Silicon Valley and in fact most huge cities are an exception.

Mikeb85 10y ago

It's not exactly by choice. Most millenials (myself included) would love to be in better financial condition. But we carry more debt and make less money than our parents did despite being better educated. We emphasize entertainment and free time because it's all we have left in otherwise dreary economic circumstances.