> Is this true? My impression is that many of the problems in regards to young people having trouble in the labor market have to do with the fact that for the m

> Is this true? My impression is that many of the problems in regards to young people having trouble in the labor market have to do with the fact that for the most part they are more free than their parents to pursue their interests rather than "survival". I live in one of the world's richer countries (The Netherlands) and anecdotally I'd say it's both true and not true. It's true in the sense that most people I know in the 20-35 range, usually non-STEM university bachelor's and sometimes master's, struggle to get by. They live in shared flats (kamers, WG's), often spend a sizable chunk of their time doing menial jobs to survive, and I'd say many of them manage on a student-level income (which I'd say is quite a bit below median income, possibly poverty-level). There's often quite a bit of depression or general malaise about this situation, as they'd prefer to work full-time, make a little more money, have a little more stability and have some sense of progress (whether in the sense of meaning or promotion), and in some cases would like to have children but feel they are not stable enough to start a family. I'd say this is significantly worse than at least the past generation (or two?). On the other hand, some of this seems to be by choice: they'd rather 'organically' operate in survival mode over just taking a job that, after a year or so of menial and pointless busywork, possibly but not certainly provides a promotion to something more meaningful. They go for a 10 euro Spotify and a 10 euro Netflix account, and a shared flat in the city, over a more financially prudent non-city, non-mass-and-convenient-entertainment situation in part by choice: how would they really know if this makes them happier than, say, a more rural alternative? Some of the latter could just be a case of 'making the best of a shitty deal', but I get the impression that, at least for this generation, it's to a significant degree ideological. Ultimately all that only makes the whole situation seem worse to me, on balance. Things are generally shitty for young people, even if you account for 'shifts in thinking' (that confuse the older generations), but somehow there's little collective action to make things better. If you want to change things, the 'accepted' avenues are self-employment or starting/joining a startup, completely disregarding civil society or political activism, and, to a degree, the idea of doing something collectively rather than following only the exact and singular configuration of your particular self.