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posted by martyb on Monday May 27 2019, @06:52PM   Printer-friendly
from the it's-all-the-millennials'-fault dept.

The World Socialist Web Site, publication of record of the ICFI (SEP), on May 24th released a report about the grim situation many millennials face:

The stock market is booming, and President Donald Trump is boasting at every turn that the unemployment rate is lower than it has been in five decades.

However, the working class, the vast majority of the population, is confronting an unprecedented social, economic, health and psychological crisis. The same processes that have produced vast sums of wealth for the ruling elite have left millions of workers on the brink of existence.

Perhaps no segment of the population reflects the devastating consequences of these processes so starkly as the generation of young people deemed the "millennials," those born roughly between the years 1981 and 1996. More than half the 72 million American millennials are now in their 30s, with the oldest turning 38 this year.

A recent exposé by the Wall Street Journal noted that millennials are "in worse financial shape than prior living generations and may not recover." The article, "Millennials Near Middle Age in Crisis," [paywalled] concludes by stating that people born in the 1980s are at risk of becoming "America's Lost generation."

Selected bullet points from the WSWS article:

  • Millennials have taken on 300 percent more student debt than their parents' generation. [Source: The College Board, Trends in Student Aid 2013]
  • By 2014, 48 percent of workers with bachelor's degrees are employed in jobs for which they're overqualified. [Source: Labor Economist Stephen Rose, published by Urban Institute.]
  • The number of workers in the United States participating in the gig economy is expected to triple to 42 million workers by 2020, and 42 percent of those people are likely to be millennials. [Source: Freshbooks]
  • Between 1978 and 2017, according to the EPI, CEO compensation rose in the US by 1,070 percent, while the typical worker's compensation over these 39 years rose by a mere 11.2 percent.
  • In the 40 years leading up to the recession, rents increased at more than twice the rate of incomes. [Source: Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.]
  • One in 5 millennials say they cannot afford routine healthcare expenses. Many of these millennials are uninsured because of the cost. An additional 26 percent say they can afford routine health-care costs, but only with difficulty. [Source: Harris Poll]
  • Men and women in their thirties are marrying at rates below every other generation on record. [Source: The Atlantic, "The Death (and Life) of Marriage in America"]
  • It is predicted that most millennials will not be able to retire until age 75. [Source: NerdWallet analysis of federal data]

The report concludes, "Far from becoming the 'Lost Generation' predicted by the Wall Street Journal, this generation of workers carries within it an enormous source of revolutionary potential."

[Ed. Note. I debated whether or not to run this story given the partisan source for the article, but the list of references suggested it was more than a simple opinion piece. So, are things really as grim as portrayed here? I'm too old to be a millennial, but have both personally experienced as well as witnessed many others facing the same trends listed here. Where do things go from here?]


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  • (Score: 2) by NotSanguine on Tuesday May 28 2019, @12:27AM (11 children)

    Whenever I encourage an American to emigrate, you always give the whole "friends and family" excuse, but frankly it's not that big of a deal.

    I said that "it's not something to be taken lightly."

    I did mention that I am moving forward to ensure that I *can* do so if I choose, right? Perhaps your family isn't important to you, but mine (a large group of really wonderful people) is to me.

    What's more, I have an affinity for my home and would like to make it a better place. Not just so I'm better off, but so all of us can be.

    That said, I've done quite a bit of traveling around the US and around the world. There are many countries which have wonderful places to live. There are many places in the US (and other countries) that are horrible places to live. I may well move out of the US, but it won't be without reservation. Sure, I can always come back, but I have a rent stabilized [nyc.gov] lease that has me paying half what my neighbors do, in one of the most expensive (and fabulous -- you should come visit) places on the planet.

    In any case, I appreciate your point of view, and if I didn't concur in some respects, I wouldn't even be considering moving out of the US.

    --
    No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
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  • (Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Tuesday May 28 2019, @12:59AM

    by PartTimeZombie (4827) on Tuesday May 28 2019, @12:59AM (#848357)

    You're quite right. I'm not that close to my family, although we get on fine, we're just different people really.

    I have been to New York, and you're right, it's an amazing place.

    As that great philosopher Huey Lewis once asked: "Where else can you do half a million things, all at a quarter to two?"

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 28 2019, @01:46AM (9 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 28 2019, @01:46AM (#848372)

    Rent controls are fail and Ireland has a dipshit, globalist taoiseach that makes de Blasio look sane. Consider moving to a red state instead.

    • (Score: 4, Funny) by NotSanguine on Tuesday May 28 2019, @02:35AM (8 children)

      Consider moving to a red state instead.

      I'd rather have my tonsils extracted through my ears. Mostly because of people like you.

      I've traveled all over the US and have lived in a bunch of red states. About the only thing you have going for you is Waffle House, and that's not nearly enough.

      --
      No, no, you're not thinking; you're just being logical. --Niels Bohr
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 28 2019, @03:21AM

        by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 28 2019, @03:21AM (#848394)

        I've lived in red states (TX, MO, AK) and blue states (CA, NY and briefly in WA).

        Go to a party in a blue state, "What do you do?" is the question. In the red state, "Who do you work for?"
        The difference is subtle but reveals a lot.

        Blue states were absolutely fabulous, IF you have a lot of money to throw around. Red states are fabulous if you value your space and cheap food.
        It's ironic to the core.

        Something is seriously fucked up in this country.

      • (Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Tuesday May 28 2019, @06:09AM (4 children)

        by Runaway1956 (2926) Subscriber Badge on Tuesday May 28 2019, @06:09AM (#848423) Journal

        Not agreeing or disagreeing - but that's a helluva funny line!!

      • (Score: 2) by The Mighty Buzzard on Tuesday May 28 2019, @10:17AM (1 child)

        Man, you're seriously underrating the Waffle House.

        --
        My rights don't end where your fear begins.
        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 28 2019, @12:10PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 28 2019, @12:10PM (#848473)

          > seriously underrating the Waffle House.

          Never been to one. A quick Goog suggests that they don't serve real butter or real maple syrup.

          Without those ingredients, there's no point in even considering a waffle/pancake restaurant.