To paint this in starkly generational terms seems counterproductive. No one that I know (in my "Generation X" circle) thinks that your employer is your "friend". Companies will often play that up when you get out of college, but it is obvious to anyone with a brain that companies do not hesitate to sacrifice employees at the first sign of dipping profits. I'm not putting a value judgement on that, but you don't need to be a "Millenial" to realize that only you are responsible for your career.
My point is that these are structural changes in the work force. They will affect different age groups differently, but to pretend that it is somehow due to the "Generation" they are in is ridiculous. Those labels just encourage lazy thinking.
It's tradition. Every generation complains about the next one and worries their children will be the first to not do as well as their parents. Most of the complaints and worries are standard and have been for some time. I remember in university reading articles by mid-19th century parents complaining about kids not reading enough because the kids were spending all their time going to plays...
There are ancient Roman texts complaining about the kids those days. I believe even Socrates complained about younger generations. Complaining about the next generation is really as old as human civilization.
Unemployment numbers throughout the developed world strongly reveals a generational bias.
Add in age related benefits and median income by age, and it is undeniable that the older generations suck the productivity and wealth from the younger like vampires.
This is highly prone to speciousness. A 5 year old may not have benefited from a system as much as a 50 year old...but how much of that is a reflection on the fact that they've only been in the system 5 years?
Long term benefits are part of the negotiation. That some have been around long enough to realize those benefits while others are still working towards seeing them vested is not an indication that one is draining from the other.
Unemployment sucks for younger generations in the developed world because we just had a huge economic bust...of course it's easier to keep a job then to get a job. You've already proven yourself.
Accordingly to the world's stock markets things couldn't be better, but it hasn't changed job prospects for today's youth.
Central bank easing has helped those with assets, which is predominantly the older. Obamacare helps also the older, in fact today's youth pay an outsized subsidy to the old even though they are the least able to afford it.
Today's youth are also the most indebted, college was remarkably cheaper for previous generations but now that advantage is gone.
Politics tells the same story, the congress and judicial instituions are packed by white haired babyboomers making policy predominantly in the interest of the old.
Regulations help the large established companies to the determent of the small and new.
I'll take these two, they're basically in that they discount opportunities for youth and their burden:
> Accordingly to the world's stock markets things couldn't be better, but it hasn't changed job prospects for today's youth.
> Today's youth are also the most indebted, college was remarkably cheaper for previous generations but now that advantage is gone.
This is largely media hype with regard to recent graduates. Yes, the total amount of debt has gone up. However, college graduates salaries have gone up as well. And the total number of college students burdened with debt disproportionate to their salaries (compared to earlier generations) has gone down. Further, virtually all the focus on rising tuition costs focus on the nominal cost of tuition rather than the actual cost paid by the median student (which is far, far less).
In fact, it's households with the lowest debt that are most likely to be classified as in financial hardship.
> Obamacare helps also the older, in fact today's youth pay an outsized subsidy to the old even though they are the least able to afford it.
This is a well trodden topic. Youth not paying into the system was a primary factor in driving up costs for everyone...costs that everyone eventually pays and that we must carry as a society. Further, 80%+ of all insurance is provided by the employer. If you're employed, nothing changed as far as your "burden" and if you're not you most likely qualify for subsidies.
As far as our representatives all being gray haired matrons. This has always been the case. Not sure what's changed here.
>"To paint this in starkly generational terms seems counterproductive."
.. which you proceed to do in the next sentence.
>"They will affect different age groups differently, but to pretend that it is somehow due to the "Generation" they are in is ridiculous."
I don't know if you're going out of your way to contradict yourself, but for all intents and purposes "generations" and "age groups" are the same thing.
It sounds to me like he's challenging the conceptual idea of a generation, which to be fair is a kind of difficult line to draw. Instead, he's saying that if you're 20-25, regardless of generation, you'll see things one way. 25-35 another, etc.
It really depends. As an early GenX, I find the generational boundary quite stark. I have more in common culturally with people 15 years younger than me than I do with people 5 years older (late Boomers).
My point is that these are structural changes in the work force. They will affect different age groups differently, but to pretend that it is somehow due to the "Generation" they are in is ridiculous. Those labels just encourage lazy thinking.