From a report in The American Prospect:
Rising debt, un- and underemployment, and dim job prospects have forced many Millennials to postpone the key decisions that historically marked entry into adulthood. Nearly half of the 25- to 34-year-olds surveyed said they’ve put off purchasing a home; 29 percent say they’ve delayed starting a family; and 26 percent still live with their parents.
These decisions have long-lasting effects. Someone who is forced to delay purchasing a home until their 30s will likely not have that house paid off by the time they retire in their late 60s. Those who have to put off starting a family will still be paying for kid-related expenses until their late 50s or early 60s (or later, if their own children are unemployed and living with them in their 20s).
Millennials’ parents, the Baby Boomers, were able to buy their first homes and start their careers and families in their late teens and early 20s, right out of high school or college, with little or no debt. They had jobs with good benefits, and often had traditional pensions, which made saving for retirement easier. The jobs Millennials are taking today don’t typically come with a traditional pension, forcing them to shoulder nearly the entire burden of saving for retirement themselves.
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We’ll manage, I reckon. I think we’ve learned quite a bit from our parents’ achievements and mistakes.
Message to boomers: please quit telling us how hard you’ve worked and how kids today are spoiled. And recognize that for all the good your generation has done, you’ve also made some mistakes. Maybe as you reach retirement age you can start correcting some of them. You have clout, you have money – put it to good use: start cleaning up the environment, start investing in a livable community for your children, etc.
If you have free time because you’ve retired, you can help. If you’ve climbed the corporate ladder and have input in your company’s direction, you can help. If you have experience from your youth with social justice movements, you can help.
You guys did some pretty awesome things in the 60s and 70s. Don’t be “the man” that you so staunchly fought against back then. Help us move past the consumerist age towards a society where family, community, and nature are valued above the latest SUV or big-screen TV.
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Ageism is still as easy as ever.
Your comments are spot on. Unfortunately, things like “The Dumbest Generation” are still getting airplay. (http://www.amazon.com/Dumbest-Generation-Stupefies-Americans-Jeopardizes/dp/1585426393)
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Not sure why this issue is only now getting play. This didn’t start with the millennials. I’m a on the boomer-gen x cusp and with the burden of student loans to finance my post-grad degree, I was close to 40 before I bought a home…
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The Millenials will inherit the Boomer’s wealth, but many will have no one on which to pass it. So its more an issue of timing within a life, rather than have/have not between generations. And choice; what’s preferable; to be a poor young adult, or a poor senior?
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Like Augstin says, boomers make mistakes…some have lost, some do not save intelligently. The new 65 is 80. A bit extreme.
http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/16/retirement/age/index.htm?section=money_pf&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fmoney_pf+%28Personal+Finance%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo
It works both ways –boomers willing to listen to millenials and millenials willing to take some advice.
In the end, an adult works and finds their own happiness. Holding another party totally responsible for one’s own happiness or financial situation long-term is going to stall a person’s self-development.
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