An open letter to all journalists, researchers, or curious boomers who all seem to be baffled as to why millennials are more depressed than previous generations
We’re broke and the world is falling apart around us. I’ll elaborate on each contributing factor.
We’re broke: Wages are not keeping up with the cost of living. If we can find a job, it’s usually minimum wage, and more than half of the money we earn goes to rent and bills. Wonder why millennials aren’t buying/killing x, y, z? We don’t have the money to buy that thing or do that activity. Sorry fabric softener.
College was a lie: Most millennials were told that going to college would ensure that we would be in better standing than if we didn’t and that taking on loans would be fine because our increased income would make them easier to pay off. Since that isn’t the case, now, most millennials are straddled by crazy amounts of debt that prevent them from buying cars and houses.
We still feel like children: Because of the aforementioned economic issues, we can’t take the steps in life that are considered to be things adults do. A lot of us are still financially dependant on our parents for either housing or stray bills because our low wages or debt keep us from moving on to the next stages in life.
Political unrest: Because we’re “snowflakes,” or we care about the planet and each other, we’re at a fundamental disagreement with how the political climate is developing. We can see the suffering that companies inflict on workers and the environment. We see policies that are meant to keep a system that is not working in place. We see politicians who are beholden to banks and companies and not the populous.
We’re unable to seek medical help: Most of us don’t have insurance, so we are forced to grin and bear it if we are hurt or sick. This also applies to mental illness. If we can’t seek treatment, our health is only going to decline. This is seen by how our generation is predicted to be the first where we don’t live as long as our parents.
Social media is not causing depression: If anything, we are escaping to the internet to ignore how bleak our lives are and how dire circumstances have gotten. Sure, it’s stressful to see the world implode in real time, but we can laugh at our problems together (see: memes).
We have lost faith in the system: We know no one is going to save us and that change cannot come from the inside. The only options are that things are either going to get worse or everything is going to collapse.
The fact that you conduct study after study and write think piece after think piece and still can’t figure it out means you have never talked to an actual millennial. Sure, this is all anecdotal, but we’ve got a lot of anecdotes to share.
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