The Worst Generation?

[Wait & See]

I suppose there's always the option not to work. If Y'ers and those who come after tell employers to stick their rubbish jobs, then it will be curtains for the country. Many old folk and no one paying any tax.

I actually do wonder why many young people work for no reward (i.e, minumum wage). A complete waste of time IMO.

[Injin]

"Gen Yers care most about are a) high salaries, and lots of leisure time off the job."

“Surely there could be a crisis if no one budges — where Gen Y says, ‘I want everything,’ and the company says, ‘You’re not getting anything.’”

Looks to me like a generation who want actually paying to do stuff and a work/life balance are being labeled lazy by assholes who want to pay naff all and turn the west into a neo liberal sweatshop.

Might I suggest that the shareholders, banksters and taxmen take a hit, wages rise and condition improve? Just a thought, like.

[LittlePiglet]

“I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words. When I was a boy, we were taught to be discrete and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and impatient of restraint.”"

Hesiod, a greek poet from 700 BC

Seems the oldsters have always liked a whinge

That quote is often used to give the impression that the old always moan about the young.

The extreme age of it (700 BC) makes one think, "OK, so old people have been moaning about the young for the last 2700 years. Therefore, our young people are probably just fine."

But it's funny the assumptions we make.

Just because someone was moaning about the young in 700 BC, doesn't prove that people were doing the same for every year since then.

Nor does it prove that he, or we, are wrong. Maybe 700 BC did see a massive drop in standards?

[Wait & See]

"Gen Yers care most about are a) high salaries, and lots of leisure time off the job."

“Surely there could be a crisis if no one budges — where Gen Y says, ‘I want everything,’ and the company says, ‘You’re not getting anything.’”

Looks to me like a generation who want actually paying to do stuff and a work/life balance are being labeled lazy by assholes who want to pay naff all and turn the west into a neo liberal sweatshop.

Might I suggest that the shareholders, banksters and taxmen take a hit, wages rise and condition improve? Just a thought, like.

No, no. We can't have any of that Injin. What, jobs that are actually worth doing for a reasonable reward. No, no, no.

I always find it laughable how a country expects it's young people to work, yet can't provide shelter at the end of the day.

That is truely pathetic in 2011.

Working a five day week for no return is not a great deal. Any halfwit can see that.

Edited May 5, 2011 by Wait & See

[SHERWICK]

I like to blame every generation for my problems, other than my own.

[Si1]

my direct experience of early-20-somethings in this country is that they are a smashin dedicated hard workin bunch, frankly, just direct experience, they're great, remarkably socially and financially conservative

[crouch]

I like to blame every generation for my problems, other than my own.

Me too!

[muggle]

Time to dust this article off again to counter the OP argument...

The great generational robberyFaisal Islam

Expensive pensions, no hope of getting on the housing ladder, and tens of thousands of pounds of debt just to go to university. Have the under-35s been mugged by the baby-boom generation that went before them?

Many of you reading this will be thieves. And a good proportion of you will be victims. There is no mugging involved, but a new form of wealth exchange, which economic observers are calling generational robbery: the financial phenomenon whereby one generation - the baby boomers - enjoyed a whole range of economic benefits that are now unattainable to those growing up behind them.

If you are over 50, you will recall a blessed carelessness about money in your twenties and thirties that you probably took for granted at the time. You had free university tuition and, if your parents were sufficiently poor, full university maintenance grants. To that, add free dental care; cheap (relatively) houses with gardens; mutualised building societies; statutory retirement at 65 (probable retirement well before then); and final-salary private pensions. You may be unaware of your complicity, or think it unfair to be blamed for the social and political choices made by others of your generation, but the fact is that the under-35s are facing an unprecedented quadruple whammy: expensive pensions, little chance of getting on the housing ladder, a legacy of student debt and high levels of taxation - a combination of financial burdens and concerns that never clouded the youth of their parents.

Consider a 22-year-old graduate. Let's call him Sam. For him, as for his peers, the student debt he left college with was £13,000 (for others today it is closer to £20,000), incurred to repay fees charged at a time when the lifetime payback for having a university degree is decreasing. He is paying for a service that is worth less for him than for the older generation that got it for free and then abolished grants. In addition, the latest wheeze for funding universities is to ask the likes of Sam to donate money to his alma mater. It would be comical to most graduates, were their financial situation not so dire.

With his rent payments, Sam is probably paying off the mortgage of an older landlord who benefited from cheaper house prices. Only a decade ago he would have been four years off becoming a first-time buyer himself; now it is 12 years. Again, his eventual purchase will be a transfer of hundreds of thousands of pounds from young to old. In his tax payments - which will rise by 1.5 per cent of GDP or the equivalent of 4p on income tax in his lifetime - he'll be paying the pensions of a golden-aged era of retirees who stood by as similar pensions were closed to him. Not that he will need much of a pension, as he may be working into his seventies anyway.

If Sam wants to become a homeowner, he'll have to work fast. The first rung of the housing ladder is rapidly disappearing. Indeed, with mortgage terms being extended to 30, 40 or even 50 years, it is questionable whether the ladder exists at all. More of those struggling to buy property today should expect to stay much longer in the first flat they struggled to buy than previous generations. High house prices are not creating wealth - they are merely redistributing it to the old and rich from the young and poor.

Demographics show the root of the problem...

http://www.newstatesman.com/life-and-society/2007/03/generation-pensions-housing

The current generations are screwed. Some boomers get it. Most do not.

[Injin]

Time to dust this article off again to counter the OP argument...

http://www.newstatesman.com/life-and-society/2007/03/generation-pensions-housing

The current generations are screwed. Some boomers get it. Most do not.

They'll be screwed right up until the moment inflation or default* wipes it all out. By putting off the day of reckoning it's been much harder to cope with.

*Yeah, right./

[arrgee1991]

The current generations are screwed. Some boomers get it. Most do not.

I can't see how the current under 30s will be able to fund the pensions of the current over 50s, who could live for another 30 years beyond retirement without excessive government borrowing or very high taxes. Public sector/state pensions will have to be reduced in order to keep the country going. And it's not just the UK it is the case in most of the west.

Edited May 5, 2011 by arrgee1991

[NEO72]

You sound like such a Capricorn

[Injin]

I can't see how the current under 30s will be able to fund the pensions of the current over 50s, who could live for another 30 years beyond retirement without excessive government borrowing or very high taxes. Public sector/state pensions will have to be reduced in order to keep the country going. And it's not just the UK it is the case in most of the west.

They can't, you are right.

Sticking the young in debt is just a way of getting another decade and change before the inevitable rebalancing. House prices should have been gently falling for at least ten years, not going to the moon. In fact everything the older generation hold should have been getting gently cheaper as they have to sell up to fund being old.

Instead it's all gone on a skydrive and will come crashing back down all at once. Sad, really.

[scottbeard]

I'm not sure the poll is fair - is it Gen Y who have overinflated ideas or do young people always do?

I'd need to see a poll that asked the baby boomers and Gen X what they thought but done back when THEY were young and idealistic...

[Executive Sadman]

Its not a generational think, its a leftist thing. typical traits of leftism (lack of personal responsibility, feeling of entitlement, herd mentality and lack of individuality) have been growing over the last 50 years.

Even the conservative party is no longer conservative.

Buy land, gold and silver. Sit back and wait, and watch the left starve to death as the results of their big inflationary government bear fruit.

[steve99]

What about the 1980's and all those bloody yuppies. Gen X'ers were kids back then. Look at the state of the way boomers behaved during that wonderful decade. We learned from them in the 80's.

Disgraceful to blame X when they were brought up and influenced by boomers. lol. You couldn't make it up.

80's yuppies were less than 1% of the population, the first tranche of the modern 'city' worker which, by appearances at least, are now 1/3 of the entire work force, ie drinking 5 quid bottles of beer in 'Bar's rather than pints in pubs, spending 50 quid on a 'normal' night at the pub and maybe 100+ at a so called night club. Most boomers then were low paid workers who had to take sandwiches to work and limit them selves to 2 pints a week while saving up for several years for a house deposit. All this of course influenced by rolling recessions and unemployment.

As for worst generation,,, I would say history will see GenX as the generation that had the absolute best start, chances, education and a good leg up the property tree while at the same time enjoying lots of holidays, technology, cars etc etc and to top it off will be seen as the generation that in thier lifetime used the absolute most energy per capita that at anytime previous or in the future, as a result, even those now in their early 40's cant get to grips with a recession nor a life removed from easy peasy finance and spending. Gen Y maybe would be worse but probably wont have the chance, I see them, when they sober up, living more like the average 70's 80's recession prone so-called Boomer generation, ie having to take at least a portion of life up the ar*se..

[Self Employed Youth]

I was born in 87, I expect higher wages due to technological advances and a smaller pool of workers in the UK relative to the size its population.

I work for minimum wage, so I can also expect higher wages as I work myself up the career ladder. (relative to other UK workers).

I do expect UK living standards to fall slightly as living standards improve in poorer countries.

I don't even want that much reward for working. Just some food in me and my families bellies, a house in which to raise a family, and work and a wage sufficient enough to do so.

My granddad was a teacher, my grandma dropped 5 kids. His wage fed 7, and bought a house for 4 times wage which is now valued at 10 times a comparable teachers wage.

I don't even want to buy a house, a council house would be fine.

I worked in the food factory and one man made enough food to feed 300, but your wages were only enough to feed one or two. That factory is now closing and production is being moved into a new purpose built factory that will employ less people. One man will make enough food to feed 500.

A house can be built in well under a 1000 hours, yet you'll have to work a 1000 hours a year to buy it, for 25 years, then sell it to pay for your 'care' (somebody on minimum wage to wipe your ****).

I recommend people respect the youth, because in 20 years we will be the politicians, managers etc. and in control of your taxation, pensions, savings etc. If we perceive the previous generation to have 'done us over', we'll be sure to repay the favour.

[Ruffneck]

Maybe alot of the driven success type younger folks have already left the UK.

Most of whats left is coloured immigrants on the dole and moronic chavs in it for the benefits.

[Brave New World]

my direct experience of early-20-somethings in this country is that they are a smashin dedicated hard workin bunch, frankly, just direct experience, they're great, remarkably socially and financially conservative

Majority of that age group i know want to work hard (good product of UK Aspiration-think), are well educated - Masters are the norm but are completely unrealistic when it comes career expectations. Obviously not their fault but they are massively naive and have been conditioned through education to expect the great hollow Labour dream.

By and large they are awful with their money and are the ultimate bovine consumers of celebrity linked tat. However that can also be applied to my age group late 20s early 30s - it is just that they have had more time in front of the media pushers of celebrity and consumption.

[onesmallstep]

I am desperately trying to get my kids to avoid taking on debt, which with the conlibs tuition fees is proving difficult, I think a lot of the better younger generation are going to opt out of the roundabout for a while.

[dissident junk]

I think Generation Y is far too broad - according to Wiki mid 70's to 2000's. I was born mid 80's, too late to buy an affordable home, where as someone born in the late 70's hovered them up and caused many of the problems in the housing market today.

Some one born in the late 70s has only just hit their 30s. For these people to have caused many of the problems in the housing market, they would have had to been buying in the mid to late noughties when they were in their mid to late twenties -- and, by that time, many of them were already priced out.

Indeed, I am in my mid 30s, born in the mid 70s, and many in my generation were priced out as the bubble started inflating when we were in our mid twenties and had only just got our first jobs and had student loans to repay. I was only 25 when the house price explosion really hit in 2001 and just went up and up and up -- I had only started my first decent job a year beforehand.

[juvenal]

. Maybe 700 BC did see a massive drop in standards?

Certainly did. Half the roundhouses in our village were wrecked when the aurochs stampeded. After a sh1t harvest, our ox cart was repossessed...

Edited May 8, 2011 by juvenal

[crash2006]

What about the 1980's and all those bloody yuppies. Gen X'ers were kids back then. Look at the state of the way boomers behaved during that wonderful decade. We learned from them in the 80's.

Disgraceful to blame X when they were brought up and influenced by boomers. lol. You couldn't make it up.

I agree it was teh boomer look at their attitude in the 80s i want it all, or have they forgotten all about it, they are the ones that benefited.

[winkie]

I was born in 87, I expect higher wages due to technological advances and a smaller pool of workers in the UK relative to the size its population.

I work for minimum wage, so I can also expect higher wages as I work myself up the career ladder. (relative to other UK workers).

I do expect UK living standards to fall slightly as living standards improve in poorer countries.

I don't even want that much reward for working. Just some food in me and my families bellies, a house in which to raise a family, and work and a wage sufficient enough to do so.

My granddad was a teacher, my grandma dropped 5 kids. His wage fed 7, and bought a house for 4 times wage which is now valued at 10 times a comparable teachers wage.

I don't even want to buy a house, a council house would be fine.

I worked in the food factory and one man made enough food to feed 300, but your wages were only enough to feed one or two. That factory is now closing and production is being moved into a new purpose built factory that will employ less people. One man will make enough food to feed 500.

A house can be built in well under a 1000 hours, yet you'll have to work a 1000 hours a year to buy it, for 25 years, then sell it to pay for your 'care' (somebody on minimum wage to wipe your ****).

I recommend people respect the youth, because in 20 years we will be the politicians, managers etc. and in control of your taxation, pensions, savings etc. If we perceive the previous generation to have 'done us over', we'll be sure to repay the favour.

Good post...many truths in that.

[the coming storm]

Two things jump out from this article.

“Even if they fail miserably at a job, they still think they’re great at it.” A truer word never spoken! Gen Y just do not accept that they could ever be at fault, it's ALWAYS someone else's fault.

Poor s0ds.

Yes this seems to be mindset of generation Y, and to some extent generation X. They take responsibility of nothing, always looking to contribute the minimum while demanding the most. There basic mindset is to cheat the system - provide as little value or real work and to create false work, and go around with a delusionary opinion of themselves - e.g typical candiates on the apprentice. perhaps Generation Y are just a reflection of the our sick society.

[crouch]

I recommend people respect the youth, because in 20 years we will be the politicians, managers etc. and in control of your taxation, pensions, savings etc. If we perceive the previous generation to have 'done us over', we'll be sure to repay the favour.

Won't "the previous generation" then be you?