the lost generation and peter pan.

millenials. generation y. echo boomers. peter pan generation. many terms have been coined to define those currently ages 18 to 29 who don’t live in china. the rapid rate of change in china since 1970 has caused generations to be classed by decade. anyway, i wasn’t born in china, so my peers and i fall into this peter pan generation, or whatever you want to call it. the rapid and pervasive rise of communication technologies happened in our lifespan, making us easy early adopters and shaping the way in which we function in all aspects of society.  our parents were the baby boomers, and i’d like to take this opportunity to apologize on behalf of millenials everywhere to our parent generation. right now. i’m apologizing. in general. let me explain.

we’re the most educated generation. 40% of us are enrolled in post-secondary education. 50% of those currently in school would like to earn a graduate or professional degree afterward.

we’re the least married. 1 in 5 of us are, which is half, yes half, the rate of our parents’ generation at our same age. of interest (and perhaps correlated), we are also the least religious generation, with 25% of us being without organized faith of some kind.

we entered the job market during the recession. 37% of us don’t have a job. and the job market is in decline 0.9% between 2006 and 2010.

inflation. from 1915 until 2010, the average inflation rate in canada was 3.26%. ya, that doesn’t mean anything to me either. to put things into perspective, a $100.00 basket of consumer purchases in 1915 would now cost almost $2,000.00. in 1950, a new home cost $8,450.00, a new car cost $1,510.00, a loaf of bread was 12 cents, and an average annual salary was $3,210.00. today, 60% of millenials say they don’t make enough money.

so, whether us unmarried, godless, highly-educated kids still live at home or have moved out, 36% still rely on financial support from our families. blah.

i’m a university graduate and working full-time. i do not live at home and pay rent in an urban centre. i – here it goes – rely on financial support from my family. and it’s frustrating. we are a generation of man-babies. of peter pans and lost boys who can’t grow up. ugh. statistics aside, there are a batch of twenty-somethings that have never existed before. a group caught in between independence and dependence. forget teen angst. what about the ten years after? for those living at home, money is saved, but parents are caught supporting another adult. and surely rooming with the ‘rents puts a bit of a damper on the social life. for those who have moved out, rent is expensive. it’s impossible to save when rent eats up half of your paycheck. and for those of us still in school, well, school’s expensive too. and our parents, unlike any parents had to before them, are footing the bill to varying extents.

it’s a bit of an identity crisis. on one hand, there are adult responsibilities millenials face daily. like, we’re supposed to be grown-ups. there is no such place as neverland, right? on the other hand, my bank account still looks like a student’s and i’m unmarried, so no dual-income action happening. not to mention the godlessness. gah.

this vid expresses the feelings of polarity well – click here to watch.

k *

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