It isn't the work ethic
Jan 29, 2024
The reason Gen Z and millennials are “getting angry and entitled and whiny,” Scott says, isn’t because they’re any less willing to work than previous generations, but because they’ve got nothing to show for it.
“What’s sh-tty is, we’re holding up our end of the deal,” Scott says. “We’re staying in school. We’re going to college. We’ve been working since we were 15, 16 years old…doing everything that y’all told us to do so that we can what? Still be living in our parents’ homes in our late twenties?”
It's so strange when Boomers say that the younger generations are lazy. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand the cold math which illuminates the ugly reality.
An example from a different era:
- Time: Early 70s.
- Profession: Barber
- Income: $20,000
- Loans: From dad and friends
- Price of house bought: $55,000
- Loans paid off in 3 years
An example from last year:
- A professional couple making $200,000
- Looking at house near Toronto
- Price of house: ~$1.2 million
- Bank refuses loan!
So, a barber working alone could afford to buy an average house fifty years ago in Canada. Today, an educated and credentialed couple working full time while making 10 times the income of that barber can't even get a mortgage!
The same applies in the US:
To afford the median-priced home of $433,100, Americans need an annual income of roughly $166,600. However, the median household earns just $74,580, according to the brokerage Home Bay, and entry-level positions pay around half of that.
Incomes have been stagnant while the housing market has exploded. Decades ago, one income was enough for a nice house. At the turn of the century, two were needed. Now, a couple busting their butts looks at tiny condos.
Oh, and we haven't even looked at student loans, food prices, car expenses, the rising cost of health insurance, ...
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