Economically Divided Millennials

You can find a lot in popular culture about the generation of young people
called millennials.Millennials are often described in movies and television
shows as feeling entitled. They act as if they have a right to the good things in
life. Many millennials also are identified as jobless and more likely than other
young people to be living with one or both parents.

The youngest members of this generation are in their middle 20s, while the
oldest are nearly 40 years old. They lived through the Great Recession of 2007
to 2009. Many are weighed down with debt from student loans and have a
hard time finding a good job in their field of study.Some were strong
candidates for such jobs, but instead accepted a lower-paying position. Today,
those decisions and experiences continue to affect millions of millennials.

However, some young adults within the millennial age group have been able to
succeed and done very well. There is a name for these young men and women:
“mega-llennials.”Jason Dorsey is president and researcher at the Center for
Generational Kinetics, a group based in Texas. He told VOA mega-llenials kept
working and tried pulling themselves forward in the work force during hard
economic times.

Dorsey added that mega-llenials are now further ahead compared to the rest
of their generation “because they were still out there, producing...doing what
they could do to make it happen.”There is a big difference between the mega-
llennials and what have been called “me-llennials.” Me-llennials are members
of the generation that have still struggled professionally and are still working
on finding their place in life.

“What we think is fascinating is that the group of people that are most
offended at work by millennials acting entitled are actually other millennials
who do not feel entitled,” Dorsey said. “They think the rest of the generation is
giving them a bad reputation.”A 2019 opinion survey seems to suggest that
may be the case. The survey was a project of the Business Insider website and
Morning Consult, a privately-held technology and media company. It found
that many millennials think they are doing better than others in their
generation.

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It showed that 46 percent of the millennials asked think they are somewhat or
much better off financially than other members of their generation. Only 36
percent thought they are somewhat or much worse off.About 37 percent said
not very good or not good at all when asked how they feel about their finances.
Experts say this shows that the reality for millennials may not be quite as bad
as what they are often told.So why do some millennials do well while other
people in their age group did not?

“What we found is they were more resilient oftentimes in their career,” Dorsey

noted. “They also managed to keep working and building their networks and
did whatever they could to keep pushing themselves forward.”Dorsey added
that millennials are likely to place themselves into one group or the other. He
said that while mega-llennials and me-llennials share many experiences, the
two groups are not likely to see themselves in each other.

I’m Jonathan Evans.