Millennials are commonly stereotyped as lazy narcissistic freeloaders that demand way too much and are absolutely incompetent. The list goes on and on about assumptions of millennials being stuck to their phone and complaining that life is unfair for them. However, they're simply a product of their environment — dubbed the Digital Age.
Now of course we can’t blame boomers for everything that has affected the economy. As many people know, boomers have ruined the economy, again because of how they grew up. They were born after World War II ended, meaning there were many jobs available to them, without needing a college education or much work experience. Of course the enormous population of baby boomers allowed them to fill those jobs, however they refuse to give up their jobs now, leaving little to no high paying jobs for the following generations.
What does that leave them with exactly? Well, getting a job is arguably more competitive than it was before. A joke that is thrown around quite often is that not even a Bachelor’s degree is enough for a high paying job, but unfortunately that’s quite true. A lot of jobs require work experience, however since boomers leave little space in the workforce, barely any spots are left for millenials to take their place. Many college students are left unemployed for years after college, they are unable to qualify for the job requirements people demand of them. Because of this, a lot of graduates have no choice but to stay home, it’s nearly impossible to live without an income, and on top of that student debt to pay.
Now of course we can’t blame boomers for everything that has affected the economy. As many people know, boomers have ruined the economy, again because of how they grew up. They were born after World War II ended, meaning there were many jobs available to them, without needing a college education or much work experience. Of course the enormous population of baby boomers allowed them to fill those jobs, however they refuse to give up their jobs now, leaving little to no high paying jobs for the following generations.
What does that leave them with exactly? Well, getting a job is arguably more competitive than it was before. A joke that is thrown around quite often is that not even a Bachelor’s degree is enough for a high paying job, but unfortunately that’s quite true. A lot of jobs require work experience, however since boomers leave little space in the workforce, barely any spots are left for millenials to take their place. Many college students are left unemployed for years after college, they are unable to qualify for the job requirements people demand of them. Because of this, a lot of graduates have no choice but to stay home, it’s nearly impossible to live without an income, and on top of that student debt to pay.
Which leads to another “problem” about millennials, they leech off of their parents by living at home. Yes, there are cases of this, but more often than not millenials stay home to assist parents who have lost their jobs, help off mortgages, take care of medically ill parents, etc. Buzzfeed provides stories of these people in their article “We Can Finally End The Myth Of The Lazy Millennial”.
Even so, the biggest misconception the older generations have is that millenials are not hardworking. Comparison is the thief of joy, and boomers are robbing their successors’ of their happiness. A classic line many people hear starts with, “Back in my day…”. Superficial first glances at people that are on their laptops or phones are perceived as not knowing what socializing is anymore. However, the people of this day and age are merely taking advantage of what is available to them; why would someone purchase a flip phone when a smart phone with many available functions? To ignore the rise in technology is simply stunting change, something that naturally happens as time passes.