It seems like millennials have borne the brunt of a serious blame-game, accused of having ruined industries and generally being #theworst. However, millennials have definitely fought back against negative assumptions about their generation, which includes people ranging from 22 to 38. Unfortunately, some still think that poking fun at millennials will end well.
Take it from @HashtagRoundup, an account that tweets out a hashtag and encourages followers to reply with a creative answer; recently, @HashtagRoundup asked its followers to tweet #StrugglesOfAMillennial.
Although some of the responses teased the generation for being “spoiled” and “self-obsessed,” soon responses from truly fed-up millennials began pouring in, calling out their reality.
Basically, the struggles of a millennial are worse than people realize, and it’s unfair that people still want to mock the whole generation. Here’s why:
Student Loans
Trying to pay for college can be ridiculously difficult and the number of millennials who are struggling with student debt is mounting. According to the Harvard Kennedy School, two in five millennials have student debt, and 71 percent of millennial respondents reported that financial concerns impacted their decision on when and where to go to college.
#StrugglesOfAMillennial Paying off student loans by the time they retire. pic.twitter.com/EFCEyKyIaY
— Women Don't Owe You Shit☮️❤️☮️❤️ (@WeedSmokinDevil) July 10, 2018
Millennial student debt is even starting to impact older generations. Research from the Urban Institute has implied that rising loan debt among those who are 50+ can partially be attributed to parents and grandparents taking out loans to help their children finance their education.
Unemployment
Additionally, a significant number of millennials are unemployed or underemployed, meaning they’re doing work that is below their education level. A lack of stable employment means, naturally, a lack of steady income, and millennials can often find themselves falling further and further into debt.
“Bachelor’s required, Master’s preferred. Starting at $15 (no benefits)” #StrugglesOfAMillennial
— Bad Bitch July (@JolieJanet) July 10, 2018
In fact, a survey conducted by The Globe and Mail, a Canadian newspaper, found that, of the millennial-aged respondents, 21 percent of them were working more than one job in order to make ends meet.
The same survey found that one-third of the millennials polled were also having to work a job in a field outside of their degree. The economic situation is serious enough that millennials will take any jobs offered to them, even those they were not necessarily trained to do.
After years and years of negative commentary surrounding the entire millennial generation, I think it’s safe to say that little of the stereotypes about the group hold true. There’s no way that such an expansive, diverse generation could all be selfish, lazy and entitled.
In fact, data points to another picture entirely: Millennials are just as hard-working, there’s just a new, uneven playing field.
So it might be cute for older generations to post memes knocking the millennial generation, but it’s really just a cover for the fact that the millennial generation (and the generation after them, too) are facing difficult issues created by previous generations’ actions, leading to the severe debt and unemployment issues millennials face today.
