Almost every 20 something I know had roommates, even if they could afford to live without them.
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1 thing we’re doing is forcing both of our kids to do is read a Suze Orman personal finance book. D24 has been reading one this summer. Our thought behind this is that while getting a degree in something that will allow you to support yourself post-graduation is of primo importance (for us, anyway), you could be making big bucks and still end up struggling financially if you don’t know what you’re doing in terms of handling money, your finances, & how to plan for how to pay for the stuff you want to do later on (i.e., buy a house).
NONE of that was advice that DH or I got from our parents.
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Most of the interviewees acknowledged that they were not a financially secure as their parents had been at their age. Only the youngest Millenials remain in their 20s; the rest are 30s and up to age 41, so not really surprising that they might expect to afford home ownership and children at that stage, as their parents did. While I am sure people of all ages have financial concerns, this seemed to be the first generation in a while experiencing downward mobility.
The Gen Z kids have more limited and perhaps realistic expectations.
So a couple of differences between them and gen x and older boomers i see.
- student loans on average seem bigger than previous generations - every generation with loans bigger than the one before
- older gen x who graduated before tech boom had a very hard time finding jobs. It was the era of “teach in Japan” + clerks movie drifters. Did not have the ultra low COL of boomers or hot job market of millennials.
- living style differences - felt like we gen x ate out less frequently and partied at houses over clubs.
- boomers probably had the most buying power out of the 3 generations
- millennials are the best informed due to internet.
I am in this generation and remember feeling really stressed graduating into a recession. For a long time, my husband and I were a little miffed that we weren’t 5-7 years older as the Boomers waves had faded and we got stuck with a lot of the demographic changes that didn’t work in our favor.
The idea of being entitled was foreign to us. Just not raised that way. We were raised to work hard, keep working and keep your nose to the grindstone. Do not complain.
It worked out well for us ( and others who were about the same age). Not always but eventually. We took chances and some worked and some didn’t. Things are cyclical so if you have a good job and eventually do the things you need to do ( spend less than you make, make good real estate choices, save a little and plan), eventually you’ll do fine. I don’t think that has changed.
We live in a high cost of living area, so the biggest hurdle was our first house. Still is for most. Today, many kids also struggle with huge loans that were taken out without any thoughts of the monthly payment and the likely income. I think in years past, many of those kids would not have gone to college or would have done more secure college degrees like nursing, accounting, etc.
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Economic conditions when each generation entered the labor force:
- Early boomers:
- Economic growth, with larger share of gains to labor.
- Unlucky men got involuntary military service in an unpopular war.
- Beneficiaries of the great state university expansion.
- Late boomers:
- Economic bumpiness, though still with large share to labor.
- Had inexpensive education before entering the labor force.
- Generation X:
- Economic bumpiness, but more growth than before, but starting a trend of gains going more toward capital.
- Increasing cost of education before entering the labor force.
- Millennials:
- Economic growth until the great recession cut off careers before they started or after only a few years after starting, gains continuing to accrue more toward capital, and markets trending toward oligopolies.
- Increasing cost of education before entering the labor force, with increasing educational credentials needed for more types of jobs.
The greatest difference is between these 2 eras when having a college degree at all was a big deal versus (IMO) it seemed that for the oldest gen x it was the 1st time that college educated people had to get menial jobs.
My understanding is that significant numbers of college educated immigrants and also college educated African-American folks have had to work in menial jobs in previous generations as well. However, your overall point about the economic bumps faced by college educated people of generation x and later seems true. I’m no historian though. I had to google it just now to realize that my siblings and I are part of generation X. Had no idea.
Yes, definitely. I am no historian either.
Not what I’ve observed. But maybe you are in a high cost of living area or the students have lower salaries.
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We are in a high cost of living area, but not lower salaries. Then again, we also live in area where people marry and have kids later…
My observations are consistent with @sushiritto’s. At a company where I had a stake, a prospective angel investor asked the CEO if she could set up an internship for the investor’s high school age son (the CEO declined because she didn’t have time to baby-sit and the kid had no interest). An early stage VC who runs an incubator asked one of the founder of a portfolio company (and to whom the investor had been very supportive) to give the VC’s high school age son an internship, which he did. The kid was terrific. But, these investors were trying to get their kids both experience but also resume entries for later. [Both Stanford-adjacent companies].
Another friend who is a biotech VC helped his MD daughter get a really good position at a biotech company when she moved back to our area. There was never any question about her competence, but he was able to introduce her to several companies that might be interested in someone like her.
Back in the dark ages, my dad was a brilliant theoretical physicist at a very well-known research laboratory. He was extremely highly regarded [the head of MIT’s Physics department told me that my father was one of the smartest people he’d ever met and I feel the same way] and a fixture at the laboratory. When I was in HS, I had learned a lot about coding before that was common. I don’t recall but suspect that he gave me the names of people to write at the laboratory. I got hired at the research laboratory for two high school summers to write software. One of the boss’s said, “I’m hiring you because you have good genes.” [Interestingly, I am the only one of four sibs who was really strong academically and certainly in math/CS.]
ShawSon loves living with other folks. He is in a high cost / high salary area. He is getting married this summer and moving (ShawD and her former BF were among the roommates in the house he had rented) but he and his fiancee are looking for a place where the two of them and one or two friends can live together. They could easily afford a place on their own.
ShawD has moved back to our area (also high COL but not as high and high salaries but not as high). She needs to get a roommate to have an apartment near where she works.
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Well-known? Yes. High-prestige? Not really. University of Wisconsin at Madison, which, although a solid school, it’s not like Williams College or Dartmouth, where you can major in Art History and be highly recruited for investment banking.
It’s impressive to see someone who followed their passion despite the naysayers. Attending a university that others may dismiss shows real resilience, especially when you found a calling early in your college career that has clearly shaped your path. Majoring in something considered “impractical” by many only highlights your dedication to a cause larger than yourself. Now, working for a non-profit serving victims of domestic violence, you’re not just talking about social justice – she is living it and making a tangible difference in people’s lives. That takes courage, commitment, and compassion.