By Alana Roche’ |Staff Writer|
“Sixty-eight percent of those questioned believe today’s generation are forced to endure more hardship than young people 40-years-ago,” according to a study commissioned by health retailer Holland & Barrett.
Adult life for the Millennial generation is much harder than it used to be.
“Millennials (whom we define as between ages 18 to 34 in 2015) are projected to number 75.3 million, surpassing the projected 74.9 million Boomers,” according to Pew Research Center.
My mom always tells me she feels sorry that I have to grow up in the Millennial generation.
We are fortunate to have innovative technologies and social media, but we also face issues like debt because of increased tuition costs. We also struggle with unavailable job opportunities and having to live at home longer than expected.
I always thought that as long as you obtain a college degree you are promised a well paying job—however this is no longer guaranteed.
Newsweek interviewed a 25-year-old woman who recently earned her masters, but is working as a waitress while looking for a better job that suits her expertise. She currently lives with a friend.
“It’s hard,” she said.
“They don’t want to pay you extra for your master’s. There are enough people with master’s degrees that they can require them,” she added.
The cost of going to college has increased, according to a Newsweek article by Leah McGrath Goodman.
“Millennials face higher university tuition and student loan debt than ever before, as well as stiffer competition when they enter the workforce,” stated Goodman.
Since the rise in tuition costs, students can be in unmanageable debt.
“Students who took out student loans and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2014 had an average debt load of $28,950, up 2 percent from the year before and 56 percent more than their peers from 10 years earlier,” reported the Institute for College Access and Success.
Despite the Millennial generation having adult life much harder, I do think that there are some things that are easier for us.
The day my dad turned 18 he was expected to “be a man” and move out on his own.
Millennials stay home for longer periods of time because of how costly everything is, especially considering we began our transition into adult life in a recession.
“The largest generation in American history, landed in the cradle during an awful recession, according to The Atlantic.
“I would rather stay home and help my mom than be struggling paying everything on my own,” said CSUSB student Luis Perez.
The Huffington Post calls Millenials the “boomerang generation,” which is defined as “as a young adult who returns to live with parents after a period of living away from home” by dictionary.com.
A viral video on YouTube called “Millennials: We Suck and We’re Sorry” comically talks about the advancements and flaws of people in our generation.
Millennials featured in the video pride themselves for being the “most educated generation,” but apologize for problems like “living on our parents couch for too long.”
Even though it is harder to get a job with a degree, it is easier to market yourself for job opportunities.
My uncle, 32, explained that before you had to drive and drop your resume off, but now it’s so much easier to send electronically.
There are websites like indeed and Facebook that can be used to market yourself for job opportunities.
Since Millennials are aware of the problems faced, we should strive to create better opportunities for the future generations.
I hope Millennial struggles do not discourage future generations from pursuing higher education or better livelihoods in general.
We should make it our responsibility to ensure that does not happen to them.
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