Yet many folks in older generations sometimes our own parents and grandparents just can’t grasp that.
Here are some of their responses:
1.
Same goes for finding an apartment/house, finding transportation, etc.
It’s because we don’t have any other options."
Anonymous
2.
“In short: Dont piss on our legs and tell us its raining.
somethingcleverhere
3.
The constant lies about younger generations not working hard enough is such garbage.
Our parents have been mortgage-free for 20 years.
Average annual salary when our grandparents were starting out was 390, and the average house price was 2,000.
When our parents started out, the average wage was 6,000, and the average house was 18,000.
Single people could afford to buy properties.”
How is that relative?
Crippling rent prices make it even harder to save, along with added debt from student loans.
No more final salary pensions, and the retirement age is climbing.
They had it so good and are too stubborn to admit it.
“They don’t get that we can’t just go out and get a job.
‘Go to the place, get an program, and turn it in, in person!
That’s how I did it!’
It’s like they genuinely will go out of their way to avoid acknowledging the world is different.”
“I see older generations saying that minimum wage is a livable wage.
Minimum wage hasn’t kept up with housing markets.
you’re free to’t even buy a decent car with the minimum wage in my state.
Corporations are putting more work and responsibilities on staff but refusing to pay them accordingly.
I would love to see someone from an older generation venture to get by in today’s world.
With corporations cutting jobs to ‘save money,’ we are destroying employees' mental health and security.
Good employees are punished with more work, not rewarded with more pay.”
We’re despairingly behind on retirement savings.
We eat at home all the time to attempt to save money.
How the hell could we afford kids?
And with the astronomical price of daycare these days?
I don’t know how people do it unless they’re super well-off."
adrienoelle2258
8.
“Younger workers have had the ladder kicked out from under us.
It’s wild.”
“In my culture, it’s common to take care of your parents as they age.
Because of this, my mom expects me to support her when she can no longer work.
She has no retirement savings and doesn’t own a house.
All she has to look forward to is whatever Social Security and Medicaid can provide.
What if she has extensive medical issues as she ages?
Will I have to move her into my apartment?
How will that impact my relationship with my boyfriend?
All of these things weigh on me, but she thinks I’ll ‘figure it out.'”
“It isnt the same as when you were young.
In todays world, buying a property is completely unreasonable unless you have generational wealth or get lucky.
No matter what we do, we are on a hamster wheel that leads nowhere.”
No savings, mountains of debt, and no feasible prospects for ourselves.
That is why we are struggling so much as a generation.
“Tip culture (at least in the US).
I like tipping because I know were all just scraping by.”
Try well over 100,000.
In their day, they could do a simple job, and these things were just easily achievable.
“They had the luxury of retiring at 60, and some with very big pensions.
How do they think it feels to have our retirement age increased by seven years?
Presently, no political party speaks out against these voters, wonder why.
“So much of their economy depended upon the unpaid labor of a stay-at-home wife/mom.
It was all sacrificed on the altar of the bottom line.
So telling us that we just need to ‘do as they did’ is so obtuse.
It’s insulting.”
“Just because you’re poor doesn’t automatically mean that you don’t work hard.”
17.And finally, “I worked through high school, college, and grad school.
I have not taken a vacation that I paid for myself in 12 years (thanks, mom).
I have only ever bought used cars.
I have a retirement plan.
My credit score is incredible.
I’m not financially irresponsible.
My wages just can’t keep up with the times.
“What is the end goal here?
Can the world run entirely on the purchasing power of the 1%?
I don’t know, but it feels like we are about to find out.”
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
