A Response To (Yet Another) Generalizing Article About Millennials

Prepare yourselves for a shock: a 45+-year-old journalist wrote yet another pessimistic-depressive article about either:

a) the laziness of Millennials, 

b) the unemployment rate of Millennials, 

c) the unemployability of Millennials, and/or 

d) the harsh, terrible future ahead for, you guessed it, Millennials... 

Really groundbreaking stuff, I know! 

I apologize for the sarcasm, but really, how many articles does one country need about the downfall, moral incompetence, or lack of financial stability facing one age group? It seems that journalists are too often falling into the temptation to wax poetic about how things used to be "back in my day," about the quality of work performed by fellow baby boomers and how the youngest generation of adults cannot possibly hope to be as successful as they have been.

Give me a break.

On March 26 Annie Lowrey, an economics reporter for the New York Times, published an article entitled, "Do Millennials Stand a Chance in the Real World?" As if the title didn't already hint at the author's predilection for doom and gloom, the article that followed clearly answered that question in one word: No. 

According to Lowrey, Millenails are materialistic. Millennials have long-lasting psychic and financial scars having come of age in a recession period. Millennials walk around with a chip on their shoulder, wondering why they are facing such as income gap. (This being a marked change from the "use it up, wear it up, make it do, or do without" mentality of the young during World War II.) Millenials are boring, showing "declining alcohol use, declining drug use,... declining sex."All of these attributes make the generation unprepared for the financial stresses and realities facing them in the real world.

As a member of the Millennial generation, I find this article and these assumptions ridiculous on many levels. First, Millennials are not the only materialistic generation; America on the whole has a materialistic culture. My grandfather did not buy that sports car because he's "using it up, wearing it out." The only thing he's wearing out is the road. Second, I certainly don't feel scarred by the recession, merely conscious of the importance of money and proper spending. Third, the only chip on my shoulder is a defensiveness for my generation as a whole against authors and journalists like Lowrey. Finally, I find myself to be pretty thrilling. I acknowledge that this could be personal bias, though. 

All kidding aside, I was exceedingly annoyed by the low quality of this article. It doesn't take much to create and propagate stereotypes about another generation, and it takes even less to use one study as evidence for all of the author's assumptions and gross over-generalizations. 

I agree that many new or recent graduates these days are facing high rates of student debt as well as the challenge of finding paid work. Many companies are looking to hire for unpaid internships (a topic discussed by Courtney Ridenhour earlier this month), which do not help graduates make strides toward paying off debts or bills. Many still choose to take these opportunities, though, seeing them as a gateway into permanent employment. The effectiveness of this employment strategy is still to be seen. There are also rising costs of living and stagnating wages to be considered. Still, I do not fell that Millennials are any less equipped to faced these challenges than other generations.  Highly educated, the generation knows the value of money having seen family and friends deal with the challenges of a bearish economy. 

Millennials are consistently reported as being optimistic about their future regardless of these issues. It is an optimism that I feel will carry the generation through these times, an optimism similar to that of children of the Depression and baby boomers. See, Lowrey? We aren't that different, after all.

Ashley Astolfi