Millennial's, The Digital Generation, Debt and Edumacation...i am concerned...
I been snooping around a bit the last few days reading up on student loan debt and the millennial generation. Quite shocking. Over 40% do not know the interest rate of their student loans. 36% say they would have rethought college if they had understood student loans. 1 in 10 were actually unaware they had to pay back student loans. The average student debt alone for my graduating class (2003) is just under 20k...still...in theory thats after paying it off for 13 years...
Read a few of the articles for yourself -
http://time.com/money/4283559/millennials-have-no-idea-how-their-student-loans-work/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/winniesun/2015/10/30/halloweenmillennials/
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/021914/money-habits-millennials.asp
https://thecollegeinvestor.com/14611/average-net-worth-millennials/
The millennial generation, followed by the coming digital age are going to be setting the economic norms for the next four decades or so. What exactly is going to come of a bunch of people that buy on credit they can't repay, people that live normally inside of 20k-30k of debt, people that rely on a bigger government to come through with varying financial systems collapse?
My guess is increased power for an elite few, corruption increasing, freedom decreasing, and family values continuing to fail...
You could make a case that the Hunger Games will become a little less fictional...
While their may not be a ton we can do to support the millennial's at this point, outside of give them some financial bandaids, I still have hope that we can help the Digital Generation before it's too late (Generation Z - born somewhere between 1995 - 2010, always had access to internet and social media).
Give Them an Education
By give them I mean bring basic economics into middle and high schools as a required part of the curriculum. What would some basic supply and demand understanding actually do for society? We go off on a 'livable wage' and our need for $15/hour minimum wage...and yes we should aim for livable wages...but what does a $15/hour minimum wage do for our economy? Anyone know?
We make our kids go to school to get edumacated...and for some reason we have missed that whole money thing...
Give Them a Work Ethic - Not an iPhone
What happens when you use netflix and pbskids as a babysitter for your 5-12 year olds? Any parents want to chime in? You potentially destroy their imaginations, will power and any real desire to do anything for anyone other then themselves. My biggest concern with the Digital Generation is that they just don't care. Turning in school work is optional, skipping class is no big deal, actually creating something of value is almost non-existent. It requires effort and it's easier to just post your thoughts about doing it on FB then actually doing something.
Bring Mom and Dad Back
I have this crazy thought. A Mom and Dad are needed to create a kid, and a Mom and Dad are needed to raise a healthy kid.
Unfortunately my only source for this is...well...look around you. I understand their are anomalies...kids that didn't get dealt a hand with a Mom and Dad, and you still make it. Way to go! It took ridiculous amounts of courage, risk and tenacity. But for everyone success story there are hundreds of fail stories...
Our society has got to get back to some basic family values of raising and training our kids. Relying on technology, school teachers, a coach will not work. The digital generation is increasing in apathy, debt, drug abuse, sexual confusion, depression the list goes on...and they are not going to get better on their own...
It's possible we are entrusting the future of our society on a generation and upcoming generation that has no idea how to hold it, or even cares about it...Responsibility and ownership of the future has to fall somewhere....
let me know your thoughts...thanks for reading
I am a millennial myself and paid off my debt. My wife and I had to wait a bit before we started our family, but we are currently happy. I am still struggling with housing but everything else is really good. Got to say @stonemaide hit the nail on the head.
My parents are well off because most of their hours were spent on advancing in their careers. Yet they neglected to spend time to teach me and my sibilings the harsh rules of the real world and instead relied on $20~40k / year for each child schooling to teach them right from wrong.
I see today more of my generation not having a drive to do much and struggling to make ends meet. We been pampered by the generation before us and now that we are not amounting to their greatness we are cast as failures.
What I have learned to value the most is that people's opinion are sh*t and the only way to get stuff done the right way is by doing them myself. Life was never meant to be easy after college as my parents expected because they spend so much money. I stopped accepting their assistance in my second year of college because of their complaint of my poor grades and went alone on my own. I may not have what they expected that I should since I was first in my family to graduate from college, but I am proud that I have a decent job with decent pay. It is not that glamorous after college but hey that is life.
I'm guessing you may be on the early side of the millennial's...unfortunately our work ethic and ability to figure things out on our own is limited...and i think will be even smaller for the next generation...glad you are raising your kids with some brains!
thanks for following along
You are correct I was born in 1983. What tipped you off?
Work ethic and ability to solve problems do not happen over night. Our generation expects gratification when we seek to do a task but in real life a lot of times we will not get any. We certainly been brain washed as most of our years were spent in school were we did not have a choice. The sad irony is school does not teach solving real life problems so a lot of us really were not prepared for the real world.
The way I see it is the older generations created what we have today and if Millennials can not deal well in it then we should pull up our sleeves are work harder to make it worth our wild. The government digging into bigger debt, over use of entitlements, jobs not being hired because of labor skill shortages, there is not enough and crime rate on the rise. We have our duty to fill in these voids and failures so that we make it better for the next generation. I do my best each day not to place blame but to move ahead and make better for myself and my family.
you referenced paying of debt, being married and having kids...sounds eerily similar to myself...1984 - married a bit younger but same deal...out of debt, trying to make a difference in the world...trying to see the wholes of the coming generation and help be part of serving them...we will see out it goes
Geez. Such a loaded topic. Agree with everything in here. I could rant loudly about any number of hot buttons in here.
I will only say two things:
#1: Education is first the responsibility of the parents. Not some system. (although a healthy well rounded system would be a great idea, and a novelty!)
#2: If we as parents don't have our finanical shit together because we are suffocating in debt ourselves, how can we be a decent example to our kids?
Wow, responsibility? Accountability? And a whole lot of internal energy.
loaded indeed - lots of this falls on us as parents to take respsonibilty...and yes get out of our own debt to help our kids develop a work ethic and some financial awareness...thanks for your input
I wish I had something insightful to add to your discussion, but you and the other two who commented have hit the nail on the head, perfectly. I agree completely. I do want to add that on a personal level for parents while raising their kids.... please be with your kids and spend time going and / or doing things with them. Not on the phone or computer, but on the floor playing cars and trucks or playdoh. Movie nights at home and game nights with the entire family are some of the things that are remembered the most. I don't remember what I got for Christmas as a child, but I do remember when my mom let us help her bake cookies. The way I see it with my son is that (he is 7) I only have 11 more Summers or Christmas's with him until he's either gone to college or "too cool" to hang out with mommy and daddy. Eleven is not a lot of time left, knowing your heart will be leaving for bigger horizons then. Thanks for posting this, it is so nice to know there are others who feel the same way as my husband and I do.
Wow, great post. I wish I could upvote it like 20 times. I completely agree (although I have been known to let my kids watch Netflix so I could have a break). I think the schools have done a horrible job (I am a former teacher and now homeschool my kids). Society in general is geared toward entertainment. We now live in Panama and the DAILY wage for most Panamanians is $8 (from what I hear). Most of the time you can get a guy to work with his machete in your yard for about $20 a day (if you're a gringo). I don't know where this $8 total comes from because that's crazy low. We were told contract workers are around $20-40 a day. Anyway, yeah $15 an hour is crazy. I agree that kids should be working instead of just being handed stuff. Our son (9) now mows our lawn with a push mower and it takes him quite a few hours. He makes $10 and it's on the side of a hill. And he's so happy with that sweaty $10 when he gets it. Thanks for this post!
got my 7 year old trying to start a dog dookie business...slow going...but that $5 a lawn rate is worth it!
That's a pretty good deal for the home owner...not so much for your kid having to scoop poop. ;) Lol.
haha - i deduct a quarter for every missed poo...hes pretty sure he needs to buy a tablet - so trying to help him get there...he's found better success negotiating with his mom...
Interesting thoughts, and lots to be concerned about, hopefully we can at least effect our own families and those that are around us in a positive way, but even that is difficult to do with the onslaught of influences that suck most in like a strong riptide.
gotta start at home!
As usual I love your content and totally agree with you.
When you come out of high school you have been taught many things that may help in your career but not many things that can help you with the other faucets of life.
Not just students loans but car loans and mortgages and RRSP's (I think that are 401K's in the states). Understanding filing tax returns, the list can go on.
#dadlife doing it - thanks for commenting!
Very nice article. upvoted
I have written an article about millennials that goes against the normal type of articles that are out there.
There is a shift taking place with millennials where they are creating their own businesses online.
Would love to get your thoughts on it.
Millennials as Entrepreneurs
Thanks you rock.