Do millenials really have it bad?
Posted on May 6th, 2008 – 10:44 AMBy Kara McGuire
Two new reports on 18-29 year-olds came out today from public policy groups Demos and American Progress.
The message that came out of the joint press conference the two just held is that the younger generation is strapped, that they are progressive and willing to pay higher taxes for things such as universal health care and cheaper college tuition, and that the government needs a new deal.
Tamara Draut, who also wrote a book about the topic a couple of years ago called “Strapped: Why America’s 20 and 30-something’s Can’t Get Ahead,” blames lower wages and the rising cost of college and housing for the “fragile” state of young Americans, who will be lucky if they can “work or educate their way into middle class.”
She backs the points up with stats galore, all which can be found in the report. I encourage you to take a look.
For example, since the 1970’s, the median earnings for young workers ages 25 to 34 have declined for men and women at all education levels except for young women with bachelor degrees—those wages have increased by 10 percent.
Student loan debt is “dampening the ability to build assets and even make jump to home ownership,” said Draut. The average grad leaves with nearly $20,000 in student loan debt; in Minnesota it’s $23,375.
And four in 10 in this generation spend more than a third of their income in rent compared to 18 percent of 18-29 year-olds in 1970 and 30 percent in
I’m a member of Gen-X. And while I listened to the call, I was reminded of an entire genre of slacker fiction by authors such as Douglas Coupland that came out. The stories starred disenfranchised young adults who also complained about poor job prospects and other financial woes.
And while I glanced through the report I was struck by how much other age groups have also lost ground. Grandma’s with too much credit card debt? Sadly, yes. Is economic suffering really divided by age?
What do you think? Do you feel as if the deck is stacked against the under-30 set? Are you a poster-child for these reports, or exactly the opposite?
8 Responses to "Do millenials really have it bad?"
I think some things are harder and some aren’t. I definitely believe that housing and student loans are more expensive for millenials. On the other hand, many are choosing much nicer housing than they need when fresh out of college, and college loan repayments are certainly not oppressive. I think the hardest thing the millenials have going for them is the fact that they were raised in a culture of excess. They have don’t remember when a 42″ flat screen TV or high-speed internet access were not necessities. Perhaps a little economic downturn could teach them the art of penny-pinching, in which case they’ll be able to spread their money further..
This is a bit slanted since I work in journalism, a field that notoriously underpays, but last year I was paying 50% of my after-tax income on housing alone. Plus, my company didn’t help me pay for my move, so I had that debt on me. It was pretty dire for me. And it wasn’t just that I chose a fancy place–I live in a nice apartment where I managed to negotiate the rent down $400. My co-workers lived in much crappier places, for only about $100 less than I paid.
With my new job, I am paying about 30% less in rent, but it’s still about 25% of my post-tax income.
That is just my anecdotal experience.
I absolutely believe that the younger generation has it tougher that us baby boomers did. I had suspected that the increase in rent/housing has grown much greater than the increase in wage, but never had the facts until now.
And what about the dependence on costly electronics that are needed to get by these such as computers, PDAs, etc. And that’s not counting all the fun stuff that the kids don’t have to buy, but feel like they need to. I don’t believe we had so many of these needs/choices in the old days.
The under-30 somethings I know (and I am just a year older than them, so I know a lot) do not have the deck stacked against them. If they are having finical trouble, it is due to poor planning on their part. I know people under 30 who paid their own way through college and are living off of their current paycheck with no difficulty. I also know people who had their parents pay for college and when they finished, they racked up a bunch of debt buying new cars, nice clothes, and a new house because it was a “need”.
I will not deny that housing can be a problem, especially in places with a high cost of living, however, beyond that, their is no excuse for the high debt level or the sense of entitlement.
Ah, I do miss those old Gen X movies…Singles, Reality Bites, Beautiful Girls, and on and on….
Pick a year, any year, and you’ll probably find the deck stacked against the 20-30 somethings. Go back 20 years, go forward 30 years, probably the same.
Blogs like yours do help the current crop, so keep up the good work.
Try being a 20 something in the 40’s. You weren’t worried about jobs and rent, you were trying to stay alive! 200,000 of them ended up dead in Europe and the Pacific. The 50’s? Korea! 60s? Vietnam! Sure there’s a war on now but it’s an all volunteer force no draft. Most twenty somethings today don’t know sacrafice. Skip the fancy electronics, trips and club hopping. Live somewhere you can afford and get a second job to cover expenses like the rest of the world does. The biggest problem Millenials face is that they were raised by boomers.
I’m in my 20s, with a college degree. I can only speak from my own experience and that of talking to people I know, most of whom are also in their 20s with degrees. I can’t say “it’s worse” because I’ve never been a Gen-Xer or anything else. Looking at the linked report, it seems that my experiences aren’t out of the ordinary. Here are a few observations:
- Breaking into the workforce is really, really difficult. Even with internship experience or summer work experience, there are many, many jobs that are looking for 2-4 years of work experience, which makes getting those crucial 2-4 years tough. This means that you end up taking lower paying jobs or part time jobs out of your field, while working unpaid internships in your field.
- By and large, when you do break into the workforce, your job will not provide you with any sort of health coverage. Obviously this adds to your out-of-pocket expenses.
- Rising prices for gas and food affects everybody, but us young folks simply have less money to spread around.
- Student loans are a big problem. Once again, there simply isn’t that much money to be spread around.
Most of the issue boils down to having a really difficult time getting those first few jobs and getting a bit of work experience. I know quite a few people who have done things like move in with their parents simply because the jobs that they were able to get don’t pay enough for them to live with the rest of the basic expenses they have.
I’m a 22 y/o single male, I don’t make massive money, (about $1,200 a month) but I live on my own, can pay all my bills, have money saved away for emergencies, etc. I think it all comes down to managing your money, I don’t live in excess, I have a television, a computer, and a car. I payed for all of these things in cash. Some people are just not mature enough to take responsibility for their life in general. Anyone complaining about not being able to “live” on their current wage/job needs to step back and look at what they are spending all their money on. If you have to choose between smoking weed and eating, I hope you have enough common sense to choose the latter. Most “kids” these days don’t have enough common sense to find their way out of a paper bag, let alone manage their own finances and set a budget for themselves. Everyone just needs to learn to be responsible, they should offer a class like that at the U of M.
