Why Young Adults Feel Lost in Their 20s

It is no longer a secret that our generation ( I was born in the 90s) is more confused than the previous generation. My grandfather was financially stable by the time he was just 20 and he started a family later when he was just 21. My dad was financially stable and owned a house by 25. It was actually common for people in their 20s to be stable than the opposite, back then, people were responsible by the time they were just 16. Nowadays, 30 is the new 16. What changed?

Writing as a millennial myself it is natural to take a defensive position because I don’t own a house, not even a car yet in the 60s people our age basically had life figured out. Looking at different angles, there things that keep popping up- things like, “millennials are just damn lazy!” and “you are a spoiled generation”. The only way to know the truth is by examining the facts. Here are some:

1. The world is harsher than it was 50-100 years ago. In all honesty, your grandparents were born during the greatest economic boom of all time. The economy was booming after world war 2, and almost everyone had a nice cushy job and able to save as currencies around the world were less inflated. So it was easy for your grandparents to save and invest, banks readily gave loans and life was generally easy.
2. Our parents and grandparents worked hard, we are kinda lazy. Its hard to accept this but it’s true. Remember our folks had to go to the fields to work on crops early in the morning then run/walk 20kms to school, that build a strong work ethic in them. They grew up knowing that hard work pays, anyone who didn’t work was deprived of food; this taught them that they had to work for a living. Fast forward to our generation, we are lazy- that’s the general truth. We are much more fulfilled in celebrating other people’s success on Instagram than to work hard for our own success. I am in my 20s and frankly speaking, my grandmother has more grit and work stamina than I do- she’s a machine, a damn bloody machine that just keeps going. I cannot match her. If I had my grandmothers work ethic in today’s world, trust me hamundibate (you won’t catch up with me).
3. We are entitled. Yes we are. We are that generation that got medals for participation and that fostered a sense of entitlement. We think we deserve this and that just because we think the world owes us everything. We rather complain than going out there and hustle. We rather watch mum and dad go to work and bring back the beacon than working up early in the morning and hustle. Mum and dad will be gone soon and what are going to do?
4. The system is rigged. The honest truth is: if you don’t know someone, it’s hard to make it even though you are an honest hard worker. Jobs get advertised when they have already been filled by a relative or friend, now its about nepotism rather than ability- no wonder why our economy is tanking. I do know of people who made it regardless of the system and that means we too can make it even if the system is rigged.
5. We do things for clout. Instead of saving to invest money, we buy things we do not need, to impress people we do not like with things we barely afford. That keeps us living paycheck to paycheck and before we know it, we are 40 with nothing to show than filtered pictures on Instagram.

It is important to note that these are my observations and they reflect my opinions. Let’s have a discussion, comment below.

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