September 18, 2019
New survey: the plight of Millennials
A new survey reveals the serious challenges facing the Millennials. Let's empathize with them and understand their plight in context. Rising healthcare costs are a big concern. Apparently, life would have been better had they been born in the 1920s...
- No worry about the cost of healthcare, as there were no private/public healthcare coverage models in place...in rural areas, it was largely a barter system with the town doctor
- No anxiety over which specialist to visit with a suspected torn rotator cuff, as there were few specialty doctors, apart from GP's and all-purpose surgeons. If lucky enough to find a specialist, no X-ray or MRI machines were available to diagnose the injury
- No worries about portability of healthcare coverage, as there was no formalized healthcare coverage
- No worries about the side-effects of chemotherapy, as it wasn't invented
- No parental worry about pros/cons of giving kids vaccinations, and how many booster shots are too many, as they weren't yet invented
- No worry in the 40s about pros/cons of whether to enlist in the military, get a job or attend tech school/college, as the draft was COMPULSORY
- No anxiety over whether to take your next trip to Asia or Europe -- for American males in the early 40s, the federal government made that decision for you
- No worry about debt, as it was almost impossible to get a house loan -- and credit cards, lines of credit and consumer loans weren't yet invented
- No worry about a competitive job market, as there were effectively no jobs created in the free market in the 30s that one could even apply for
- No anxiety over which birth control option to consider -- they didn't exist, save one exception
- Nobody had a "fear of flying" as it wasn't generally commercially available until after WWII
- Retirement wasn't yet a concept, let alone retirement planning
- Few worried about stock market corrections as nobody had IRA's or 401K's
- In the Great Depression, the objective was to find food vs. the stress of finding authentic, organically certified food
- In the Great Depression, 35% of those with "White Privilege" were unemployed, living with a relative, starving, and begging for food and a job
- On a lighter note, nobody got worked up over player antics in the NFL or the NBA, as professional sports wasn't available on TV, because TV wasn't available
A survey excerpt:
Almost four in five (78%) of millennials believe life is more stressful today than for previous generations and cite debt, a competitive job market and expensive healthcare as their top stress factors.