American greatness was long premised on the common assumption was that each generation would do better than previous one. That is being undermined for the emerging millennial generation.
The problems facing millennials include an economy where job growth has been largely in service and part-time employment, producing lower incomes; the Census bureau estimates they earn, even with a full-time job, $2,000 less in real dollars than the same age group made in 1980. More millennials, notes a recent White House report, face far longer period of unemployment and suffer low rates of labor participation. More than 20 percent of people 18 to 34 live in poverty, up from 14 percent in 1980.
They are also saddled with ever more college debt, with around half of students borrowing for their education during the 2013-14 school year, up from around 30 percent in the mid-1990s. All this at a time when the returns on education seem to be dropping: A millennial with both a college degree and college debt, according to a recent analysis of Federal Reserve data, earns about the same as a boomer without a degree did at the same age.
[...] Like medieval serfs in pre-industrial Europe, America's new generation, particularly in its alpha cities, seems increasingly destined to spend their lives paying off their overlords, and having little to show for it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 07 2017, @03:53AM
They should be living in Texas, driving trucks, going to school only for STEM or skilled trades, watching who they sleep with, considering a prenuptial agreement before marriage, and wearing a gun on their belt.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday February 07 2017, @04:18AM
I completely can't tell if that's sarcasm or not. Every bit of it is sound advice but we do get some serious nutters around these parts who'd disagree about what color the sky is just because you said it was blue.
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Tuesday February 07 2017, @09:25PM
Of course. Up here where it is snowing and we'll have freezing rain tonight they sky is grey.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 07 2017, @04:52AM
Oooh! Oooh! Can I try? Let me try!
Oh dear. Not living in Texas.
I have a van for transporting people, but a truck for everything else. That's OK, right? I get at least half credit?
I went to school for STEM. Yay! Point!
I got smart and didn't stick it in the crazy. Just YOUR MOM! Booyah!
Didn't get a prenup, but did consider it. I'll take that point. We were equally broke, and your mom was totally jealous so she didn't get us a gift. Bitch.
Gun on my belt? Yup, still there.
Four and a half out of six? 75% ain't bad! What do I win? A night with your mom? Sorry, already had that. Both ways, amirite?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 07 2017, @05:00AM
Hi, Dad!
truck = 18 wheeler or another vehicle requiring a commercial driver's license
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 07 2017, @05:11AM
Real men just tow a trailer behind the John Deere, or Massey Ferguson.
Advanced real men hitch up a couple of percherons.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 07 2017, @08:55AM
I always transport several tons of machinery wherever I go. The truck, tools, guns, trailer, boat, RV, 4x4, quad bikes, 200 gallons of gasoline, generator, concrete mixer.
Without all that you're just not manly.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 07 2017, @06:11PM
Only manly if you are carrying all that around in a duffel bag!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 07 2017, @11:18PM
from the fortune file: "Some men are so macho they'll get you pregnant just to kill a rabbit." (Maureen Murphy)
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday February 07 2017, @09:57AM
Yup, I do a prenup every time, never regretted it!