The Cheapest Generation

[madviking]

I'm mostly worried about the 0.5 kid.

 

[Ajidica]

Solution: You get the top half, Owen gets the bottom half.

 

[madviking]

I can definitely live with that.

 

[ELITEOFWARMAN8]

.25?

How would that work exactly?

 

[madviking]

He has 2.5, I have 2.5, two halves make a whole.

 

[Quackers]

I would like to see anybody of any generation in any country buy a new house or a new car at age 18. What a useless thing to say IMO. I think those purchases are only feasible in the late 20s, unless your funded by JollyRoger's sugar.

 

[IdiotsOpposite]

I would like to see anybody of any generation in any country buy a new house or a new car at age 18. What a useless thing to say IMO. I think those purchases are only feasible in the late 20s, unless your funded by JollyRoger's sugar.

Except Generation Y extends up to 35-year-olds, who STILL aren't buying a new car or a new house.

 

[Patroklos]

The article is making an assumption that just because old consumer habits are being abandoned that new ones are not being taken up. It alludes to it a bit at one point, that physical processions may simply be replaced by other forms. How much does a modern twenty something spend on electronics/phones/video games/gadgets/etc. than twenty years ago?

Agreed. I don't think it's coddled. It's just called a hard life. I don't see everyone going bankrupt because they are weak. Because they just don't have the money to pay their bills.

Wait, you think millennials have a hard life?

 

[downtown]

Wait, you think millennials have a hard life?

If they don't know, they're going to have a very hard future.

 

[Joecoolyo]

You guys are arguing from different premises here.

Either said generation spends less on housing and car ownership as result of having to economise due to simply having less overall than previous generations or they do so as a result of having a different set of values which means they may possibly spend more on other things than previous generations have.
It may very well be a combination of both (i presume it is). But since those two factors come with very different following arguments it seems worthwhile to sort this out first.

Yeah, I think there's definitely two things at play. First, the millennials probably don't want the same things as their parents. Second, they probably couldn't afford them either way.

The first is cultural, and it comes and goes. Us Millenials seem to love urbanism in a way that our parents did not. The second is a consequence of rising costs of living and thirty years of stagnant wages.

Yep. I don't think it isn't due to lack of desire. It is due to economic issues. But I think it has been occurring far longer than this generation. The previous generations since the 50s tried to still do it by both parents working. Now, even that no longer works.

Suburban sprawl was largely a result of affordable homes being located further away combined with access to fairly cheap personal transportation. All that is changing now.

Didn't we just have this thread in a slightly different form? You know, about how the suburbs were supposedly disappearing?

The article is making an assumption that just because old consumer habits are being abandoned that new ones are not being taken up. It alludes to it a bit at one point, that physical processions may simply be replaced by other forms. How much does a modern twenty something spend on electronics/phones/video games/gadgets/etc. than twenty years ago?

My opinion is some weird mish-mash of these posts. Basically boiling down too:

-The economy is a tad slower now (though that doesn't mean it won't recover)
-We don't aspire for the same things our parents did (house in the burbs, 2 cars, etc.)
-We buy other junk, like smartphones, and computers, and other fun stuff like that

 

[Patroklos]

If they don't know, they're going to have a very hard future.

I wouldn't call it "hard," very few of them will be waking up before dawn to trudge out into the fields and do manual labor for 12 hours a day. There aren't any hoovervilles being set up, and none seem tol lack for smart phones or X-boxes.

Just to be clear, the last generation didn't have a hard life either.

 

[emzie]

Cheap? I read it as practical and efficient.

 

[illram]

If that's a trend, good. Urbanization and/or less dependence* on cars is a more sustainable model anyway. Besides, car manufacturers will just make cheaper cars or figure out a way to market to adapted demand. I'd say in general the economy should adapt to demand rather than fostering long term artificial demand to prop up outdated or unsustainable markets anyway.

*(you do not necessarily need to be "Urban" to not be dependent on a car, but it is easier to develop a model where you are not dependent on a car if you live in a denser area)

 

[GoodGame]

On the flipside, what if it leads to more farm homesteading? The main counter to that might be environmental problems (mean surface temperature increases).

 

[IdiotsOpposite]

I love the people who tell me I have such an easy life, when I'm calling up the student loan people right now to get a deferment, because my minimum wage job isn't giving me enough hours. Sure, I might not have it QUITE as hard as an immigrant farmer, but it still leaves a sour taste.

 

[Patroklos]

I love the people who tell me I have such an easy life, when I'm calling up the student loan people right now to get a deferment, because my minimum wage job isn't giving me enough hours. Sure, I might not have it QUITE as hard as an immigrant farmer, but it still leaves a sour taste.

First world problems...

 

[IdiotsOpposite]

First world problems...

Still problems, bub. We can't all be as secure in our life as you.

 

[Patroklos]

I am a millennial, and I (like pretty much anyone) have had to deal with my share of financial issues. That's called life. But not a hard life.

 

[Yeekim]

In fact yesterday when me and my girlfriend broke up

Sad to hear that, bro. But being a free man once more comes with its own perks!

 

[History_Buff]

On the flipside, what if it leads to more farm homesteading? The main counter to that might be environmental problems (mean surface temperature increases).

Well, I would think the fact that nobody really wants to do that would nip that trend in the bud