Self-absorbed, narcissistic, shallow, and lazy. It seems like a pretty common thread throughout history that our elders often thought very little of the generation that was to succeed them. And while history continues to prove that entire generations of people aren’t completely useless, the same age-oriented stereotypes will continue on. After all, who would have thought the jazz rockers of the 50s would ever grow up to be our accountants, or the weed smoking hippies of the 70s would come to be our doctors and educators?
There’s not much data on why this opinion seems almost innate in prior generations. According to Dr. Silvia Knobloch-Westerwick of Ohio State University, “Living in a youth centered culture, they[older generations]may appreciate a boost in self-esteem. That’s why they prefer the negative stories about younger people, who are seen as having a higher status in our society.” For millennials, the trend is certainly not spared on us.
But do the figures really reflect the reality of the situation? The US Census Bureau reported an astounding 15% of millennials move back into their parents’ house. Does this mean we’re lazy and only looking to live on our parents’ dime?
As a millennial, I can say with certainty the answer is no.
Millennials, in fact, have jobs.
To point the finger at millennials for being underemployed and unemployed is simply ignoring the rest of the United States economy and other statistical data. The overall unemployment rate for young workers between ages 18 to 34 peaked at over 13% in 2010, according the US government. And while these numbers are pretty egregious, they point to a different crisis other than a lazy generation, namely, the Great Recession. What you found was the highest college attendance rate in all of American history, with 61% of millennials attending college in the worst economy since the Great Depression. This meant that hundreds of thousands of college graduates found themselves with a quality education, but no where to actually utilize it. Many were forced to move back into their parents’ house merely because of the lack of opportunities that presented themselves.
Now that companies are hiring again, millennials comprise the largest portion of the workforce and are estimated to make up 46% of it in 2020. From a more pragmatic view, no companies wanted to hire someone with little to no experience, and in order to get experience you needed to work. This circular failure delayed many millennials in actually starting their intended careers.
Social Media does not equate to Sociopathy
As millennials we were the first generation to be fully integrated to computer technology at a young age. It’s likely many millennials will have had access to the internet longer than they haven’t and so for older generations having multiple social-media accounts seems odd and unnecessary. 75% of Millennials have an account on a social networking site, compared with only half of Generation Xers. Social media has, over the years, proven to be not only a valid and used means of communication, but a crucial key in the dissemination of news. The ability to share content and have content go “viral” means that there are a lot of different opportunities, financially, socially and politically if you use social media correctly.
As time goes on and social media becomes more integral in the way that we live our lives, the old thought that it’s merely a place to postulate your personal ego will fade, and the innumerable benefits of it will come to the forefront, if they haven’t already. What was once thought to be a haven for narcissists and a total waste of time has become a useful and widely used multi-billion dollar tool that gives the user the ability to show his independent thought and opinions.
Because it’s Different Doesn’t Mean it’s Lazy
Many of my articles have demonstrated that millennials tackle things in different ways in comparison with prior generations. Our saving habits, our career and life goals, even the way we interact socially. Because of the higher level of integration of technology into our work, millennials often try to improve efficiency of old methods and structures. While this ultimately does eliminate some work, the goal is to not do the least amount of work, but to do work in the smartest way possible.
Like many sweeping stereotypes, the idea that millennials are all lazy is a very narrow view. Perhaps instead of constantly examining and proclaiming the next generation lazy, while ignoring our own failures, we should be looking to promote and highlight the positive attributes of the next leaders of our world.
