The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Y Generation has a bad rep
The other day I overheard a gentleman saying, “that is the problem with your generation, you are all lazy.”
This seems to not be uncommon, in fact my generation, the millennial or the Y Generation, seem to have quite a lot of negativity surrounding it. The millennials refer to anyone who was born between the early 1980s and the early 2000s. We have received nicknames such as, the “Peter Pan” generation, because we refuse to grow up, and the boomerang generation, because we move back in with our parents. To me, these are unfair titles with little depth. My generation has had its fair share of obstacles to overcome.
With the start of the millennial you can see a few trends became more popular. You see a great rise in the importance of education. More and more young adults found themselves continuing their education after high school. With my generation, a college degree became more of a necessity. This also left many with a lot of debt, also known as student loans. These loans begin repayment six months after the student graduates or stops attending school. For someone right out of college this can be extremely overwhelming. But not to worry, with a degree comes a great career that is just waiting for you. Right?
This also is not exactly the case. According to the book, “The State of Workparents. ing America,” (published by the Economic Policy Institute) “in 2008 and 2009, the U.S. labor market lost 8.4 million jobs, or 6.1 percent of all payroll employment.”
This was the biggest employment contraction since the Great Depression. Now let’s think, what is also going on around this time? Most of those in the millennial generation are now getting out of school and looking for jobs. But now there are no jobs and the job market is saturated. People who have experience in their careers have now been laid off and are desperate for work. This means, they are willing to work for lesser pay. Now college graduates are not only competing with each other, but they are also competing with those who have far more experience and a greater advantage. So now my generation has a ton of debt, which with that kind of installment debt, you’re not going to get approved for a mortgage or a high line of credit. They have no money, and no job. This leads to moving back in with your Not by choice, but by necessity. Let’s also not forget that things have become increasingly expensive. For those who need a statistic to compare, in 1970 a gallon of milk was $1.15. Today a gallon of milk is almost $4.
The New York Times wrote an article about how the Millennial generation is the “Me Me Me” generation because we are narcissistic. We are the generation of technology. So, therefore, we no longer can spell on our owns, write long hand, or do simple math. This is not the case, yes technology is a big part of our generation, but it has also become a big part of the world in general. Technology is helping us move forward and create and make developments that are improving our way of life. But, my generation can still handle writing with a pen and paper, it’s just no longer necessary and most professors require work to be typed.
But for those who say my generation is narcissistic, perhaps it is because my generation refuses to accept things. We have taken a stand against inequality and discrimination and have taken strides to stop body shaming and the idealization of what a perfect body is. We have stood up against bullying and replaced it with acceptance and understanding and have opened our hearts to allow love to be just that love, no matter what race, ethnicity, or gender.
No, I do not believe my generation is self-centered, I believe my generation is self-loving. The world is changing and we are the ones fighting for the change. Yes, there are those who are lazy and entitled in my generation. But there are those people in every generation. They are not who should represent us as a whole. Instead, look at my generation for the positives that have been done and for the obstacles we have all been faced with and are determined to overcome and change for the better so that the next generation doesn’t have to face the same struggles we did.