Millennials: the Generation of Stereotypes

Emily Kinzig
Nov 3 · 4 min read

Millennials- the generation born between 1981 and 1996, stereo-typically known for their profound laziness, entitlement, and large amounts of debt. Why is this generation associated with so many negative stereotypes, and are they valid- or not?

Millennials are likely the most studied generation to date. Their generation has one of the largest cohorts in history, carrying over 80 million people. The characteristics and statistics of the generation varies through the years, as many social, political, and economic changes occurred over time. Many tragic events have shaped this generation, such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks, school shootings like Columbine, the 2004 Southeast Asian tsunami, and hurricane Katrina. Political, economic, and organizational influences include the 2000 election, the impeachment of a president, the recession and the fall of Enron to name a few. Millennials are known to be social-minded and optimistic, despite the generation going through these many tragedies.

Large developments in the technical realm were made during the era, molding the generation to be technically savvy and connected. Millennials were the first generation to adopt social media as a main form of communication. Described as optimistic, collaborative and digital pioneers, millennials gravitate towards putting both their personal and professional lives on display. While being the first generation to experience social media made them proficient, it also came with the cost of learning that what they post can have life-long consequences. Millennials often fit the stereotype of being “glued” to their phones, with around 80% of them sleeping with them! Though being brought-up with technology has made them more disconnected to the real world at times, it has lead them to be better at marketing and online entrepreneurship.

Many things have come to define and shape the millennial generation. One of the greatest stereotypes of a millennial is that they are lazy, and undetermined to work for what they want. This may come from their baby boomer grandparents before them, who are known for being ambitious workaholics. However, there is some statistical truth to the stereotype. Over 13% of millennials have “boomeranged” back to living with their parents. A great portion of millennials were just coming into adulthood during the great recession, which split the generation down the middle. The recession created a domino effect that put millennials on a slow path to wealth accumulation, and financially behind the generations before them.

The weakened job market lead to entrants taking jobs that were not a good match for them, and lead to increased dissatisfaction in the job market. Research suggests that even after recovery, college graduates who enter the workplace during a time where the economy is weak, they will continue to experience a relative wage loss for at least 15 more years.

Today, we can see a distinct difference in financial habits between the older and younger portions of the generation. The oldest millennials caught the eye of the storm and took the greatest hit from the recession. They are still recovering from the recession, making them the slowest cohort to recover. Meanwhile, the youngest millennials caught the tailwind and were able to learn from the others mistakes. Overall, millennials faced a tougher job market and wage stagnation, which ultimately made it increasingly hard to pay accumulating student-loan debt. 36% of millennials say they depend on financial support from their families, and approximately 20% of millennials now live in poverty.

Nearly half of millennials are worse off than their parents, becoming a nearly “lost generation” in terms of financial stability and wealth accumulation. According to a 2018 report by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, in 2016, millennials had wealth levels 34% below where they would have been if the financial crisis hadn’t occured. According to Jillian Berman of MarketWatch, the financial crisis helped fuel the rise in student-loan debt, which currently exceeds $1.5 trillion nationally.

The crisis “created a perfect storm of high unemployment, stagnant wages, and the declining value of American homes [which] meant that families had fewer resources to use to pay for college,” she wrote.

Millennials are the first generation to be handcuffed to insane levels of student debt. Unlike baby boomers, money is less important to millennials. Despite the great need for money, millennials will jump between jobs if they feel that it will make them happier. In fact, 43% of millennials expect to leave their current jobs in the next two years because they feel something else would make them happier. This has created their reputation for being undetermined and less dedicated, leading to the ultimate stereotype of being entitled to getting what they want.

Millennials have a greater delay on life-milestones due to financial problems, and are the first generation to have lower life-expectancy predictions than their previous generation. Millennials seem to fit the stereotypes set before them in the ways of being technically savvy aspiring entrepreneurs who are struggling to pay off their heavy-weighted student-loan debt. However, many are determined to find happiness, work hard, and crush their own stereotype of being lazy- because they’re not.

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SOU Senior ❤️ Promised my heart to my American soldier💍 personal: @emilykinzig

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