Generation Y has been told we’re responsible for a lot of things: an abbrev8ed language for txting, the sexualisation of society, and the rise of a consumer culture. But who is making these offensive claims? These days it feels like our conservative accusers are using their mortgages, superannuation, free tertiary education and family values as footholds for their moral high ground.
The baby boomers were hippies in the seventies, but the economic boom at the turn of the century created more jobs and wealth. The prosperity turned these love-loving tie-dyed crowds into conservatives, tut-tutting about ‘youth today’. When the dollars began to pile up, they conveniently forgot their free-love, low-impact lifestyle. Trouble is, their lifestyles were financed by credit and motivated by credit. Buying things they couldn’t afford with money they didn’t really have has lead to the current ‘credit crunch’. And now, as Western economies are crumbling and wealth is vanishing, the role models for Gen-Y are looking less appealing. The threat of a recession was not brought on by our generation, but it will have a big impact on our future.
Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Glenn Stevens believes the recession has been approaching for the last year. However, few people are willing to go on the record to announce its arrival. Treasurer Wayne Swan said that although Australia will be affected by the global financial crisis, he does not expect us to slide into a full-scale recession. Of greatest concern to most Australian economic commentators is the shrinking job market. Job advertising has fallen nearly six per cent since September, according to reports in the
Australian Financial Review. This is bad news for Gen-Y – apparently we enjoy the luxury of job-hopping whenever we please.
What would a recession mean for Gen-Y? A time to shine!
As the developed world dips into a recession, it is Generation Y’s time to shrug off the stereotypes. As the conservatives grieve their superannuation, it’s time for us to prove we’re willing to learn the value of a hard-earned buck – assuming we didn’t already know how far a dollar can go on eBay…
Neuroscientist and baby boomer Anne Riches specialises in interpreting neuroscience in terms of social effects on generations. Riches tries to understand us in terms of our different fears. Our parents are driven by a fear of losing employment, their homes and not being able to fund their retirements. We, on the other hand, are not yet interested in home ownership and we’re certainly not imagining our comfortable retirement. Our fears are more concerned with relationships and appearing modern and stylish.
Anne Riches explains that the neural patterns stored in Gen-Y brains do not consider a recession as a major problem. Instead Gen-Yers see plenty of job opportunities and cheap travel options. We don’t worry because we’ve grown up confident that we can have the luxuries our parents have flaunted. Riches made these comments in April this year. Our brains are now very aware that the economy is changing, but let’s not forget we are the generation that lives for today. Living in the moment is not a bad thing.
Since Riches’ criticism, the
Guardian has run a story asking how Gen-Y will cope facing this recession. Journalist Tracy McVeigh writes, ‘[t]hey are young, confident, affluent and have no memory of tougher times. But Generation Y now faces its first recession and a future very different to the one it expected … If the credit crunch becomes a full-scale recession, no one will get a bigger shock to their aspirations than this pampered, techno-savvy generation.’
McVeigh is one of the many critics who look down on our generation. But I reject the label ‘pampered’ and I strongly object to the idea that our aspirations centre on the accumulation of stuff. Sure, we’ve got a lot of stuff our parents didn’t have at our age, and maybe we’ve got a few extra stamps in our passports. That doesn’t mean we can’t handle a recession! Thankfully, Dr David Twigg, a business lecturer in the UK, has come to our defence.
‘Anyone born after 1983 is not really used to considering anything other than wealth, but students are much more determined to build up a broad skill base; they’ll work hard to get it and demand we provide the teaching. They will be successful no matter what; they are independent self-learners who are better equipped than any previous generation.’
But the biggest achievement of Gen-Y so far – and we have not peaked yet – is the new ideal of work/life balance. Life for us includes our lives and the lives of the global community. We are more aware of global issues. ActNow is testament to the fact we care more about what really matters than anyone gives us credit for. Tracy McVeigh reported that we don’t know the difference between a debit card and a credit card, but she has misunderstood us. We don’t want higher credit limits on our credit cards, we want credit for caring about what really matters in life!
How do I know this?
Colebatch, Tim, ‘A whiff of worse to come’,
The Age, 4 Nov 2008, (p. 1)
Glynn, James, ‘Hardship in Australia reflected in dour reports’,
The Wall Street Journal, 4 Nov 2008 (p. 10)
Gold, Martin, ‘Taxpayers owned an explanation’,
Australian Financial Review, 4 Nov 2008 (p. 63)
Levinson, Meridith, ‘Five reasons Gen Y may survive recession layoffs better than Gen X boomers,’ 1 November 2008,
www.cio.com.au/article/265766/5_reasons_
gen_y_may_survive_recession_layoffs_better_than_
gen_x_boomers?pp=2
McVeigh, Tracy, ‘The generation facing its first recession. How will they cope?’
The Observer, 12 Oct 2008,
www.Guardian.co.uk
‘RBA boss supports deposit guarantee,’ 21 October 2008,
http://news.sbs.com.au/worldnewsaustralia/
rba_boss_supports_deposit_guarantee_560461
Riches, Anne, ‘Is Gen Y afraid of anything? Are you afraid of them?’ April 2008,
www.refresher.com/mindfulnetwork/articlelive/articles/69/1/Is-Gen-Y-Afraid-of-Anything/Page1.html
‘Time for Rudd to come clean’,
Australian Financial Review, 4 Nov 2008 (62)
