DEBUNKING The Boomers | Millennials and Gen Z Have A TOUGHER Path Today Compared to The 70s And 80s

[billywilliams]

I'm Gen x and moved out at 18 years old. I was able to afford a small apartment, food, utilities and a used cash car making $5.00 an hour as a cashier in a grocery store. The young people today are upset because they're basically getting screwed.

[TheBlackBrickStudios]

I love how boomers talk like this as if they WEREN'T the generation that was buying new electronics, cars, and jewelry every month. Like, Jesus, rampant consumerism didn't just pop into existence with Y2K...

[snaggiz]

24x the price for a house is insane. No wonder this generation feels like they’re priced out of life… BECAUSE THEY ARE.

[jeffl]

In 1991, I made $4.25/hr at 18 yo. With that, I could afford an apartment (with roommate), car, insurance, and community college. Still had a few bucks left over for entertainment.

Today, my kids are 22 and 25. They made $20/hr and $18/hr respectively. Both still live at home, because it's not enough money to afford rent unless they live in a dangerous neighborhood. Young people are getting hosed.

[WhatWhy]

The Great Gaslighting of 1980-2020 will go down in history or be forgotten to the ashes.

[ziqi]

Is it just me, or are boomers exceptionally bad at math even by American standards?

[everu]

Don’t forget how cheap college was. In 1988 at my junior college in Texas, 5 classes costs $150….books $350.
Now I have a great job paying well. Poor kids now.

[internet_warlord]

Funny thing is they don't realize that if smartphones and game consoles exist back then, they would have all of those gadgets AND still be able to buy a house.

[Cryptic]

"And we won The Great War! You kids would be speaking German if it wasn't for us!" -- Bob, born 1953, literally never been in a fight or fired a weapon in his life.

[Ridz]

An iPhone and an Xbox shouldn’t prevent you from getting a house

[tibedog]

I make $26 an hour, have 810 credit score, and can barely afford a $150k home loan. But good luck finding a $150k house that doesnt need 60k in refurbishing to make it livable.

[cuhweenuh]

Not to mention, they were all able to find a job that WANTED to keep them until retirement. My most recent employer just laid a bunch of us off after 4 years of going above and beyond and their explanation? “You didn’t do anything wrong, we just had to eliminate your positions due to projected sales for next quarter. We’re sorry, but here’s 2 weeks of pay and a good reference to the temp agency we work with” we are worth nothing to them anymore

[tygerion]

That $1.40 in 1970? Due to inflation, that's equivalent to $10.99 in 2023.
Minimum wage now is just 7.25, which is about 25% less.
Let that sink in.

[azareii]

Gen Z has the most access to conveniences of any generation.


Convenience is not and will never be a substitute for security.

[allenwelden]

Look, they are the same generation that told my generation that we just need to "Pull ourselves up by our boot straps". After paying for housing, healthcare, insurances and I'd love to be able to buy some boots!

[ThomasEWalker]

Corporate investors are literally taking a massive hunk of the most affordable houses to rent them, which is making the situation mostly not recoverable.

[Brolly]

"we aren't asking for yachts or mansions"

Bro THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING to people in my personal life. If you work 40 hours a week, you deserve to live comfortably, enough to pay bills and utilities, food. And what is left could be spent, or saved. I don't want a yacht. I just want enough for a decent living. Even FDR said this is what the minimum wage should be. An amount that can buy the average worker a comfortable living.

[Gregsclafani]

I love how they say it wasn't easy back in their day, yet when you actually do the math... It was pretty easy!!

[wnnfs]

Ain’t no way this commenter said that Xboxes are why we can’t afford rent.

[soulshadoww]

I’m a 68 year old Boomer and my heart bleeds for our young people. With student loans, high ass rents and low salaries I wonder how you young people even care any more. And the government wonders why the birth rate is crashing.