<p>[wait</a> but why: Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy](<a href=“http://www.waitbutwhy.com/2013/09/why-generation-y-yuppies-are-unhappy.html]wait”>Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy — Wait But Why)</p>
<p>Gen Y = the “snowflake” generation</p>
<p>I agree with many of the comments to this article – cost of college, cost of living, tight job market – this generation does NOT have it easy, even for a GYPSY who “decides she’ll try a lawn without flowers in someplace like Cleveland and see where it gets her.”</p>
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<p>The problem is that there aren’t enough of those average, good enough jobs for this generation to settle into and accept as their lot. There are either the coveted high level positions for which there is intense competition and for which a young person truly does need to be special, or else lower tier jobs which wouldn’t fulfill anyone’s dreams and which didn’t even use to require a college degree but now do.</p>
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<p>I think you’ve hit it, GFG. It’s part of the widening gap between upper and lower classes–the demise of the middle class. </p>
<p>And never mind the “lower tier jobs” which now require a college degree (but at least pay somewhat above minimum wage). What about the proliferation of minimum wage jobs in the fast food and chain store industries? No way to attain the middle class by doing those, but in many areas that’s ALL there is.</p>
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<p>Well, I generally don’t care for generalizations BUT I do see continually inflated opinions from young people about their post-college expectations particularly surrounding salary ranges. I’m not exactly sure where they “get” the salary information they throw out but I know my oldest was somewhat surprised by his starting salary back in 2011 and it was pretty smack on as a starting salary for his industry and his raises are within range to high end of range for his industry. He’ll get where he needs to be by thirty I suspect, but how different is that form our generation. I don’t think that is all that different from “our generation” who entered the workforce in the late seventies and didn’t really escalate salaries until the go-go eighties. If anything it’s parents who entered the workforce in the go-go 80s that might have a different perspective that influenced their kids’ expectations.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that joke before but the only place I’ve seen evidence of it is on CC.
;)</p>
<p>I’ve seen this several times over the last week. Biggest pet peeve? “Gypsy” is an incredibly racist term, especially when used by non-Romani people. It’s not that bad here in the States, but go to Europe and it’s the equivalent of the n-word. </p>
<p>Like all articles that try to generalize my generation, it really just looks at extreme cases and tries to generalize. Obviously, I only have my experience but my dad says that his generation was FAR more spoiled and entitled than my generation is. Meh.</p>
<p>@romani, if the term “Gypsy” is so offensive to u, then why do u use it in your CC handle? How is that different than having a handle w the “n” word in it?</p>
<p>romanigypsyeyes–I don’t understand either.</p>
<p>And by Europe do you mean Great Britain? Or does the word gypsy show up in languages besides English?</p>
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<p>…for anyone. So the question becomes, what do we do about it? </p>
<p>(The answer is political, so I’ll stop here.)</p>
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<p>In the US, most people don’t know that “gypsy” is actually a reference to an ethnic group. However, in Europe, it is a derogatory term for the Romani people, who are widely despised there (in contrast, most people in the US probably don’t know that Romani people exist).</p>
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<p>I’m sorry, I really disagree with this. (That is, the idea that Americans don’t know what those terms mean. Okay, probably fewer are aware of the term Romani.) I’d like to see some proof. </p>
<p>I’ve known the meaning of Gypsy and Romani since I was in elementary school. I think that many others have, too.</p>
<p>If you want to get into insulting terms, try “tinkers.”</p>
<p>It was not that long ago that I remember seeing the term “gypsy” printed in a respectable common mainstream magazine in the US. Neither the article nor the magazine as a whole had anything to do with any ethnicity or ethnic issues at all (the term was used in the article to describe dishonest businesses).</p>
<p>This usage had no content related to the more common and to some problematic use of “gypsy”. Also pretty well done.</p>
<p>I think there is truth in both the cartoon and in the critics’ arguments. </p>
<p>I do marvel at a 26 year old I know (not my own) who, with just a B.A. and a year and a half on the job, is concerned that his 80+ k salary is lower than his peers, and feels he’s just not making what he should. Seriously? The average American family of four has an income just under 60k. FAMILY of FOUR-- not single 20 something a few years out of college.
One result of many of us having our kids late is that they missed out on our struggling years. They came into the picture when we could afford them, unlike our parent’s generation.<br>
I do agree that work is harder to find, and it’s certainly true that much of our manufacturing is gone and never coming back. But, I know very few unemployed young adults. My kids’ friends are all working (or in grad school), most full-time. Unfortunately, I know a lot more middle-aged unemployed, who lost their positions due to downsizing, phasing out or corporate shuffling. One comment said that the boomers should get out of the way and make room for new blood, but I’ve seen a 120K 50 year old person let go while the company re-configures the position a few months later and hires a young person at half the salary. I imagine it happens a lot. </p>
<p>I’d like to see real tax incentives for companies that stay here and hire Americans. Companies taking their jobs overseas is not the only problem, but it’s a big one.</p>
<p>Gypsy is not a racist term in Europe unless you want it to be one, in which case you’re starting a fire in a forest that was fine before you lit the match. Gypsies exist not only in Europe but in South Asia as well, and no one would think twice about calling a people group by their proper name there.</p>
<p>Honestly,I have yet to take part in this because I’ve still got some time until I graduate,but isn’t all this because of “competition”? as a child my mother always told me to do the best I can and try to be better than most children;I believe that’s why everyone wants to get into Ivy League or other top 20 schools because it gives them an edge.
As 19 year old I often ask myself what’s going to happen to me,and if the major i’ve chosen is going to help,but probably most of my problems are my fault.</p>
<p>I thought the article was spot on and have sent it on to my kids. They are working and earning their living (rent, food and transport) but at low paying, non degree requiring jobs and somewhat disillusioned as a result.</p>
<p>I think this article definitely reflects part of the problem, but not all of it. </p>
<p>My experience is that my friends who are recent college grads are not finding work that they could not have gotten without their college degree, even having done pretty well in school and being hard-working, decent people. Examples - a person with a degree in early childhood science education, substitute teaches and and works at Sears. Another with a degree in business economics works part time stocking shelves at Petsmart. Others with less practical degrees (French, art, psychology) are working at Kohl’s, working at a thrift store, and waiting tables, respectively. I ran into two top students from my high school, both cashiering at JC Penney with degrees from a relatively well-ranked public university (not sure in what, though). </p>
<p>Not to mention, my husband has been out of work for some time, and is applying to everything he can conceive of applying to and isn’t getting any offers. Unfortunately, because I am in graduate school he is rooted to a commutable radius and we are in a really economically depressed area. With many of the recent graduates from my PhD program getting stuck adjuncting making around 20k a year, honestly I’m not feeling too optimistic for our future together. I am wondering if I will even potentially be in the economic position to start a family while I am still biologically capable of doing so. </p>
<p>So yeah, I’m quite sad. I sure was raised with the belief that I could do whatever I set my heart to, but along with many of my peers I felt that I have worked hard and set relatively realistic goals and have yet to reap any of the benefits. I’m not looking for a high-powered career with a six figure salary. I just want to know that while I’ll still be able to have children I will have a career with enough money to modestly raise a family without my children having to go without like I had to. And at this point, I’m seriously worried I’ll never have that.</p>