Millennials vs Baby Boomers

[Hillonearth]

While categorising a whole generation as having one set of characteristics seems weird, like many generalisations there's a kernel of truth in there - I see it at home. I'm a classic Generation X-er while my missus is a millennial and when it comes to certain things, I'm a hell of a lot more cynical and sceptical than she is. Whereas my default position when told to do something is "aye, says who?" she tends to adopt the position that people in positions of authority must know what they're doing. It sometimes seems odd when the older generation are a lot more ready to stick it to The Man than the younger one is.

She's fairly atypical of a millennial in other respects though - she decided against going on to university after school and went straight to work. Coming from a fairly affluent area like she did, that was the exception rather than the rule and apparently a bit of a local seven days' wonder. In retrospect she says it was the best thing she could have done - a freakishly large proportion of her contemporaries she keeps in contact with are now over 30, still staying with their folks and working part-time jobs (if at all) because post-degree nothing met with their artificially high expectations of what they were worth...

 

[SlipperyP]

Too many foreigners in this world.

That the problem.

[WeAreElgin]

We DREAMED of a kitchen table.
I think apprenticeships are coming back - I work in IT and in my current company are very keen on recruiting school leavers.  A few of the other companies I've worked in moved towards recruiting school-leavers into IT rather than graduates.  With University education costing more these days then school leavers are going to consider what they can get in terms of jobs.
ETA, I don't think you can characterise degrees as "regurgitating taught knowledge"

Indeed, I joined the IT game when I was 21 with little in the way of experience and qualifications, and I'm now in a solid job with decent benefits.

While there are companies that abuse the apprenticeship system (Poundland?!) there's definitely a lot of scope for young people to completely bypass university and get a foot in the door of a decent industry.

[ICTChris]

45 minutes ago, Hillonearth said:

 I'm a classic Generation X-er while my missus is a millennial

 

Beast

[Hillonearth]

32 minutes ago, ICTChris said:

Beast

 

 

[Gordon EF]

3 hours ago, Hillonearth said:

While categorising a whole generation as having one set of characteristics seems weird, like many generalisations there's a kernel of truth in there - I see it at home. I'm a classic Generation X-er while my missus is a millennial and when it comes to certain things, I'm a hell of a lot more cynical and sceptical than she is. Whereas my default position when told to do something is "aye, says who?" she tends to adopt the position that people in positions of authority must know what they're doing. It sometimes seems odd when the older generation are a lot more ready to stick it to The Man than the younger one is.

She's fairly atypical of a millennial in other respects though - she decided against going on to university after school and went straight to work. Coming from a fairly affluent area like she did, that was the exception rather than the rule and apparently a bit of a local seven days' wonder. In retrospect she says it was the best thing she could have done - a freakishly large proportion of her contemporaries she keeps in contact with are now over 30, still staying with their folks and working part-time jobs (if at all) because post-degree nothing met with their artificially high expectations of what they were worth...

 

Over whole populations, I don't think people are fundamentally much different across generations but different generations do, broadly, live out different parts of their lives in very different circumstances. Although there are always exceptions, I think my grandparents generation do seem a lot more deferential to 'authority' than my parents and mine. It's easy to see why growing up during the war in a time of less social, educational and economic mobility, not to mention far less access to information would result in that.

[Hillonearth]

46 minutes ago, Gordon EF said:

Over whole populations, I don't think people are fundamentally much different across generations but different generations do, broadly, live out different parts of their lives in very different circumstances. Although there are always exceptions, I think my grandparents generation do seem a lot more deferential to 'authority' than my parents and mine. It's easy to see why growing up during the war in a time of less social, educational and economic mobility, not to mention far less access to information would result in that.

I think at least part of it's down to the social background and parenting styles in their formative years; baby boomers came immediately post-WW2, where authority could be seen to have had got them out of a tight spot and was therefore implicitly trusted...chances are they were also children of at least one parent with some kind of military background which may have made for a bit more stringent upbringing.

Generation X came about from the mid-60s into a period when society was fundamentally questioning itself and perhaps that led to their taking things at face value much less, with a tendency to be suspicious of authority. There's a strain of self reliance where at all possible in there too, maybe due to the fact they were the first generation who were liable to have two parents in the workplace and in all likelihood learned to fend for themselves a bit earlier.

In large part due to the stagnation of the economy, with decent jobs and affordable housing not readily attainable, millennials in many cases never quite fly the nest. Although it's almost certainly not their first choice, many remain dependent on their parents for much longer - recent changes in parenting fashion have probably played a part as well; a lot of modern parents I know are a lot more protective - almost to the point of being smothering - than I can remember from my childhood.

It's possible the millennial belief that someone will always be there to sort things out is the reason that cynical old Gen-Xers like me find their implicit trust in the system a bit jarring from time to time.

Edited March 10, 2017 by Hillonearth

[The_Kincardine]

26 minutes ago, ThatBoyRonaldo said:

'Millennials vs Baby Boomers' is a pretty simplistic label for a bunch of deep social changes that have been underway for the last century or so.

I have a hefty wager that there's little to no change in attitude but there is a change in higher education expectations and funding.  I'm sure I've said it before but I worked for 4 years after leaving school then went to Uni in London, had my fees paid and had enough of a grant (from the then Scottish Education Authority) to pay for my digs each term and did bar work to fund my social life. This allowed me to be independent of my parents.

My 'millenial' weans have no such opportunity and they either take out loans or, in my case, downsize from a 4 bedroom hoose to a 3 bed flat in order to fund their fees...which isn't actually a great hardship except the two lassies now share a room.

One significant change worth mentioning is that an undergraduate degree is no longer enough...every c**t has one.  I'm thus budgeting for my weans to do a degree then some sort of post-grad qualification.

Edited March 10, 2017 by The_Kincardine

[milton75]

Strangely, prostitutes realise their earnings will go down through time.

Not if they work near Old Trafford.

[The_Kincardine]

12 minutes ago, ThatBoyRonaldo said:

So you get the situation you describe above - people sharing rented flats and even rooms with friends etc well into their 20s and even 30s, as a direct result of housing policies which have made getting out of that cycle very difficult unless you come from money. Then the same middle-aged right-wing commentators etc who support those policies turn around and call those people 'immature' etc and say they need to 'grow up', when at least part of the reason these people are essentially unable to do so is the economic situation they have helped to create.

This was a balance I faced...selling a £600K hoose for a £300K flat (neither are 'plush' down here btw) to fund their education.  Oh and I'm middle-aged and 'Tory' (though doubt I'm that right wing).  What I've done is sell their long term capital to pay for their short-term schooling so when I go to The Big Hoose in the sky they will inherit little.

[Audaces Fortuna Juvat]

36 minutes ago, ThatBoyRonaldo said:

That's not uncommon among 'millennials'. So you get the situation you describe above - people sharing rented flats and even rooms with friends etc well into their 20s and even 30s, as a direct result of housing policies which have made getting out of that cycle very difficult unless you come from money. Then the same middle-aged right-wing commentators etc who support those policies turn around and call those people 'immature' etc and say they need to 'grow up', when at least part of the reason these people are essentially unable to do so is the economic situation they have helped to create.

Hardly new mate - I did this in the Eighties, (as did many I know), mainly because I wanted little or no responsibility, ie; a wife, a mortgage, and was having my cake and eating it by partying and travelling whilst sharing a small terraced house with two mates. I took a while to grow up, but I did eventually, and then I moved out.

What I did not do was expect things to change to suit me, and I certainly did not come from money. 

As many have already said, it is wrong to generalise whole generations, but the younger graduates I encounter appear to have expectations of moving very fast, rather than working their way forward.

[pandarilla]

Interesting stuff here.

I'd definitely add the bit about young people not being allowed to fail. Schools are pandering massively and so many kids are just sitting back doing f**k all (other than 3D pool and snapchat) in the knowledge that someone will eventually tell them what to write to get national 4 - or to pass a national 5 unit.

It's a scandal. Literally telling them what to write as the pressures are so strong from the management in school.

[effeffsee_the2nd]

wee tangent here but how many folk in their 20s got hit by their parents? im closer to 30 and it was about 50/50 in my friends group. i never got beaten or anything just twatted in the back of the head and only when i deserved it.  seems like its almost unheard of now? i have cousins who are now in their mid 40s and going by their accounts corproral punishment was pretty much universal when they were kids

[pandarilla]

wee tangent here but how many folk in their 20s got hit by their parents? im closer to 30 and it was about 50/50 in my friends group. i never got beaten or anything just twatted in the back of the head and only when i deserved it.  seems like its almost unheard of now? i have cousins who are now in their mid 40s and going by their accounts corproral punishment was pretty much universal when they were kids

There's far less violence all round, and although there are some issues with discipline and respect, I think most folk agree that less violence is a positive thing.

[The_Kincardine]

6 minutes ago, pandarilla said:

Interesting stuff here.

I'd definitely add the bit about young people not being allowed to fail. Schools are pandering massively and so many kids are just sitting back doing f**k all (other than 3D pool and snapchat) in the knowledge that someone will eventually tell them what to write to get national 4 - or to pass a national 5 unit.

It's a scandal. Literally telling them what to write as the pressures are so strong from the management in school.
 

I know you teach but I don't recognise this based on going to a few Parents' Evenings a year with my three.  My impression (very limited, 3 kids and 2 schools) is that the teachers are thoroughly professional.  They are also very honest each time I speak to subject teachers.

I know I'm sounding like a teachers' fanboy but I really haven't a bad word to say about my kids' education.

6 minutes ago, effeffsee_the2nd said:

wee tangent here but how many folk in their 20s got hit by their parents? im closer to 30 and it was about 50/50 in my friends group. i never got beaten or anything just twatted in the back of the head and only when i deserved it.  seems like its almost unheard of now? i have cousins who are now in their mid 40s and going by their accounts corproral punishment was pretty much universal when they were kids

My ex is Swedish and when our eldest was born she declaimed that no corporal punishment should be handed out.  Now that was fine.  Our eldest was just the easiest-going wean imaginable and, at 18, is simply, the nicest girl.  My son, though, was an awkward wee fucker and is still an argumentative shite (no idea where he got that from).  Twice I had to intervene to stop my ex from hitting him and to remind her of her Scandi values.

Me?  I never raised a hand to any of my three...not should I.

[itzdrk]

11 hours ago, Ross. said:

I would agree to an extent that many millennials seem to have a strange idea over what constitutes a career. I know a lot of people who assume that if you have a degree, you find a job, you do that job and then every 6 months to a year you get a promotion because that's how careers work. Most don't seem to realise that most of a career is doing stuff you don't want for the same wage at the same level until you get bored and move to a new employer.

ETA: This seems to be far more prevalent amongst the younger millennials. I'd say those born around '89 and later.

Stretch that back a year to cover me.   Im absolutely a milenial by description.  

[pandarilla]

My ex is Swedish and when our eldest was born she declaimed that no corporal punishment should be handed out.  Now that was fine.  Our eldest was just the easiest-going wean imaginable and, at 18, is simply, the nicest girl.  My son, though, was an awkward wee fucker and is still an argumentative shite (no idea where he got that from).  Twice I had to intervene to stop my ex from hitting him and to remind her of her Scandi values.
Me?  I never raised a hand to any of my three...not should I.

It's the nature of the new system in Scotland. Teachers are fairly professional yeah - but the pressure to get everyone an achievement is pretty overwhelming.

It takes a strong teacher to say no.

[The_Kincardine]

33 minutes ago, pandarilla said:

 

It's the nature of the new system in Scotland. Teachers are fairly professional yeah - but the pressure to get everyone an achievement is pretty overwhelming.

It takes a strong teacher to say no.

 

This surprises and disappoints me.  You're one of a few teachers on here who seem like decent blokes.

Blame the utterly abject and inept SNP.  I do  

[pandarilla]

This surprises and disappoints me.  You're one of a few teachers on here who seem like decent blokes.
Blame the utterly abject and inept SNP.  I do [emoji6] 

You're just spoiling for an argument here. [emoji1]

[The_Kincardine]

1 minute ago, pandarilla said:

 

You're just spoiling for an argument here.
 

 

Ha!  I bet that's a surprise to you!