My wife had a Dr. Phil Prime Time show on the other night, and the topic was how hard it is for Gen Z people to get by these days. They had a couple on who are your typical "do all the wrong things" folks (have a baby in high school out of wedlock, have a job that you quit for a more fun but lower paying job, etc.). They said that their rent had doubled over the past 2 years (not sure how that happens) and with the price of food, they don't have insurance because while it's available, it comes out of their pay for their portion of it. They were Dr. Phil's example of doing it wrong.
Then they brought in this young woman who graduated from college and was able to buy a house a couple of years after college. She worked at her job and lived with her parents saving most of her money. She indicated that she made many great sacrifices, like not joining her Gen Z friends on out of country vacations, not going out to eat many times per week, not buying designer clothes or a new car, etc. and she said the biggest sacrifice was on weekends she would just hang with family at home. She apparently is a Gen Z hero! Dr. Phil said the "stunning" statistic is that over 80% of people in America live paycheck to paycheck.
What occurred to me when I was watching this is what defines you as a hero now is what almost EVERY young person did during the time my generation was in their 20s in the 1980s. Before we were in our mid-40s, we didn't even dream of having a vacation out of the country. For the first 10 years after I got my Masters, I think we ate out maybe once a month, and it was usually the Valentino's buffet. I got my first new car when I was 48 and even though we have a good amount of money now, I still buy most of my clothes at Walmart.
I really didn't know many people who were a lot different than us, especially people with kids. Frankly, I don't think there were any fewer people living paycheck to paycheck in the 1980s, 1960s, 1940s, 1920s, than now, and in most cases probably more. Now that we have money, it puts all of this back in focus.
It seems to me one of the biggest problems that a lot of Gen Zs have is that for some reason, they were raised with an expectation that they wouldn't have to struggle to get rich or to get by, that somehow when you graduate from college, you're set for life. They're pissed off that they can't have everything now. Boy, we seem to have done these kids a real disservice if that's the case.
Then they brought in this young woman who graduated from college and was able to buy a house a couple of years after college. She worked at her job and lived with her parents saving most of her money. She indicated that she made many great sacrifices, like not joining her Gen Z friends on out of country vacations, not going out to eat many times per week, not buying designer clothes or a new car, etc. and she said the biggest sacrifice was on weekends she would just hang with family at home. She apparently is a Gen Z hero! Dr. Phil said the "stunning" statistic is that over 80% of people in America live paycheck to paycheck.
What occurred to me when I was watching this is what defines you as a hero now is what almost EVERY young person did during the time my generation was in their 20s in the 1980s. Before we were in our mid-40s, we didn't even dream of having a vacation out of the country. For the first 10 years after I got my Masters, I think we ate out maybe once a month, and it was usually the Valentino's buffet. I got my first new car when I was 48 and even though we have a good amount of money now, I still buy most of my clothes at Walmart.
I really didn't know many people who were a lot different than us, especially people with kids. Frankly, I don't think there were any fewer people living paycheck to paycheck in the 1980s, 1960s, 1940s, 1920s, than now, and in most cases probably more. Now that we have money, it puts all of this back in focus.
It seems to me one of the biggest problems that a lot of Gen Zs have is that for some reason, they were raised with an expectation that they wouldn't have to struggle to get rich or to get by, that somehow when you graduate from college, you're set for life. They're pissed off that they can't have everything now. Boy, we seem to have done these kids a real disservice if that's the case.
