16 ms·

I'm Gen Z. It's the perception I have but, I don't know if it's accurate. My perception is also definitely biased towards middle class. One other thing is that

I'm Gen Z. It's the perception I have but, I don't know if it's accurate. My perception is also definitely biased towards middle class. One other thing is that I'm not american, which probably makes a difference. To refine things a bit more, it seems like if you got a degree and had a white collar job you were probably going to do decently. Nowadays degree + white collar job is basically baseline. My parents are Gen X with degrees (Eng + Chemistry?) and they seem to have enjoyed their 20s and early 30s, settled down in their 30s and ended up pretty well off without ever really worrying about money. I don't think that strategy would work very well today. The world seems a lot more competitive now than it was 20 years ago, and on average it seems like there are less serendipitous opportunities.

sokoloff 4y ago
In 1970, 11% of American adults held a Bachelor's degree or higher. That figure proceeded as follows: 1970: 11.0% 1975: 13.9% 1980: 17.0% 1985: 19.4% 1990: 21.3% 1995: 23.0% 2000: 25.6% 2005: 27.7% 2010: 29.9% 2015: 32.5% 2021: 37.9% It's not at all surprising that being in the 83rd percentile of most educated in 1980 gave a better life outcome than having the same absolute level of education but relatively then being in the 62nd percentile in 2021. Roughly speaking, your parents' degrees are about twice as uncommon in 1993 (~midpoint of Gen X undergrad graduation) as they would be today. * - https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/tables/dt15_104.10.asp https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/tables/dt15_104.10.a... ** - https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022/educational-attainment.html https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022/educatio...
- subarctic 4y ago
  Not to mention Gen X is known for being a smaller generation than the ones before and after it, which is another factor that would have reduced competition for them in their careers.
  - sokoloff 4y ago
    That effect doesn't look to be huge. US population in millions per birth year (alive today) by generation*: Boomer - 3.7M / yr (70.23M / 19) alive; 4.5M / yr (85.4 / 19) originally born ** Gen X - 4.4M / yr (65.8M / 15) alive Millenial - 4.8M / yr (72.19M / 15) alive Gen Z - 4.3M / yr (68.6M / 16) alive * - https://www.statista.com/statistics/797321/us-population-by-generation/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/797321/us-population-by-... ** - https://incendar.com/baby_boomer_deathclock.php https://incendar.com/baby_boomer_deathclock.php
antod 4y ago
> My parents are Gen X with degrees (Eng + Chemistry?) and they seem to have enjoyed their 20s and early 30s, settled down in their 30s and ended up pretty well off without ever really worrying about money. That probably depends on where they were and what "end" of GenX they were. The early part of GenX was entering the workforce in a pretty nasty recession with high unemployment, high inflation and limited prospects (hence Grunge hehe). The boomers (although probably not those in America to be fair) went through periods like this too. GenZ is experiencing high(ish) inflation and high(ish) interest rates now, but unemployment is still low and wages are still good. It can get much worse, and has done before. Generally though the bad times are shorter than the good times - hopefully that keeps holding true.

sokoloff 4y ago

In 1970, 11% of American adults held a Bachelor's degree or higher. That figure proceeded as follows: 1970: 11.0% 1975: 13.9% 1980: 17.0% 1985: 19.4% 1990: 21.3% 1995: 23.0% 2000: 25.6% 2005: 27.7% 2010: 29.9% 2015: 32.5% 2021: 37.9% It's not at all surprising that being in the 83rd percentile of most educated in 1980 gave a better life outcome than having the same absolute level of education but relatively then being in the 62nd percentile in 2021. Roughly speaking, your parents' degrees are about twice as uncommon in 1993 (~midpoint of Gen X undergrad graduation) as they would be today. * - https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/tables/dt15_104.10.asp https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d15/tables/dt15_104.10.a... ** - https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022/educational-attainment.html https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2022/educatio...

subarctic 4y ago
Not to mention Gen X is known for being a smaller generation than the ones before and after it, which is another factor that would have reduced competition for them in their careers.
- sokoloff 4y ago
  That effect doesn't look to be huge. US population in millions per birth year (alive today) by generation*: Boomer - 3.7M / yr (70.23M / 19) alive; 4.5M / yr (85.4 / 19) originally born ** Gen X - 4.4M / yr (65.8M / 15) alive Millenial - 4.8M / yr (72.19M / 15) alive Gen Z - 4.3M / yr (68.6M / 16) alive * - https://www.statista.com/statistics/797321/us-population-by-generation/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/797321/us-population-by-... ** - https://incendar.com/baby_boomer_deathclock.php https://incendar.com/baby_boomer_deathclock.php

antod 4y ago

> My parents are Gen X with degrees (Eng + Chemistry?) and they seem to have enjoyed their 20s and early 30s, settled down in their 30s and ended up pretty well off without ever really worrying about money. That probably depends on where they were and what "end" of GenX they were. The early part of GenX was entering the workforce in a pretty nasty recession with high unemployment, high inflation and limited prospects (hence Grunge hehe). The boomers (although probably not those in America to be fair) went through periods like this too. GenZ is experiencing high(ish) inflation and high(ish) interest rates now, but unemployment is still low and wages are still good. It can get much worse, and has done before. Generally though the bad times are shorter than the good times - hopefully that keeps holding true.