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It's good to see a study that quantifies what we have suspected for a while now: millennials aren't doing as well as their parents were at any given age. This i
by enraged_camel 8y ago
It's good to see a study that quantifies what we have suspected for a while now: millennials aren't doing as well as their parents were at any given age. This is why certain "life thresholds" such as getting married or buying a house are delayed, sometimes significantly.
The annoying thing is that this is typically blamed on imaginary negative traits that millennials possess, such as laziness or spite borne out of feelings of entitlement. Whereas the fact is that Boomers had it really, really good, having grown up during an age of unprecedented growth, especially in contrast to the rest of the developed world, which was recovering from World War 2. That's the main reason they have done so well economically: America's rising tide has lifted all their boats. Unfortunately, this has come at the expense of subsequent generations, who now have to live with, and pay, their debt.
- twoodfin 8y agoOr on average they stayed in school longer than their parents, which tends to delay everything, including high earnings years.
- enraged_camel 8y agoMaybe, but it's worth noting that college is tremendously more expensive today than it was back when Boomers were attending it. We're talking an order of magnitude or more. edit: not multiple orders of magnitude
- beaconstudios 8y agoalso, more people are attending college. College didn't used to be something everyone went to. With the proliferation of student loans, universities have no reason to keep fees down.
- asdff 8y agoLiving wage jobs are much harder to secure without a college degree, full stop. I read a headline today that in the Inland Empire, 50% of jobs do not pay a living wage.
- refurb 8y agoMultiple orders of magnitude? So 100x or 1000x? I don't think so.
- giardini 8y agoenraged_camel says>"college is tremendously more expensive today than it was back when Boomers were attending it..." Especially when you're - unable to understand cumulative interest (slept in math class), - unwilling to take advantage of cheaper state and community colleges and trade schools, - unwilling to avoid careers with little to no viable economic future (women's studies, fine arts, politics, history, English,etc.).
- dreamdu5t 8y ago> who now have to live with, and pay, their debt. No you don’t. You don’t have to pay your parents debts. Not sure what “debt” you are referring to?
- rsync 8y ago"No you don’t. You don’t have to pay your parents debts. Not sure what “debt” you are referring to?" I can think of lots of debts that boomers incurred that will need to be paid (or absorbed) by subsequent generations. - A vietnam war whose costs changed our economy and lead to the end of the dollars convertibility. - A transition to urban life without investment in public transportation leading to a half century of malinvestment and disjointed transport infrastructure. - Failure to invest the time and thought into learning how to eat and walk when you don't live on the farm anymore. Three square meals a day combined with driving everywhere has lead to an obesity and diabetic crisis.
- dreamdu5t 8y agoNone of that is debt. You didn’t pay anything for the Vietnam war, and I’m not sure what you’re trying to say about urbanization and driving, but it has nothing to do with debt.