It's been said that every generation has been better off then the previous , except this coming generation?

Question

What do you think and why ?

Answer 1

This is a really simple question from my point of view. In the past, there has always been job growth in manufacturing and related industries. This is no longer true. All the manufacturing jobs are leaving America for foriegn soil where the labor is a fraction of what it is here, and they are subsidized by many of those other countries. Due to the deals made to American companies, the processes used are transfered directly to many countries, in exchange for a quick profit. Future wise, those processes will soon be owned by foriegn companies and American companies will slowly be fazed out and we will then be a third world country. Since we are seeing less high paying jobs available our youth, they are moving into lower paying service jobs. In the past 28 years the majority of jobs created have been in the service industry. Next time you look at job growth look at what kind of jobs. Manufacturing growth is very small, while service growth is large. Service jabs are low paying by thier nature. Some states are raising minimum wages to try to compensate for it, but that only leads to wage driven inflation. This in turn, negates any wage increase within a couple of months, and discourages employers from awarding merit pay increases. You still have to run the same payroll percentages, so the only choices are to raise prices, freeze wages, or cut jobs. Raising prices cuts customer base, so the only viable choices involve employee or wage cuts. If you bring in other industry that traditionally pays larger wages, employees naturally migrate to those after they have established a work ethic The service jobs are then left for those entering the job market for the first time.
As you can see, with the loss of higher wage jobs, the chances for finding a well paying position are gone. That leaves lower paying jobs available for everyone, making the future earnings severly limited for those entering the job market, not just now, but for the rest of their lives.

Answer 2

Every generation has worked hard to get by. Our generation has different challenges and more complicated ones because the world is bigger and more complicated than it was 50 years ago.

The people who survived the Great Depression saw true widespread poverty in the US and Canada. People literally starved. Then they fought in a war for survival for 5 years.

They suffered and persevered and did not give up, and created the best standard of living in the world because they were the recipients of "outsourced" European jobs.

Europe did not die when they lost jobs to the Americas, nor will The Americas die as the jobs migrate to new markets.

Maybe we are just a bit soft, and expect a little too much. At least we have way more options than the poor souls living in the developing world.

We will adapt. It is the human way.

Plus we (but not me) will be a generation of inheritors...

Answer 3

The kids who are born after 1990 will be much different and better than previous generations because they have the privilege of using the internet only when they were 6 or 7 years old.

Answer 4

It's MY generation so it's better. ;)

Haha. Seriously... evolution happens so that the most fit survives. I mean I don't know where the "except this coming generation" came from because well, this generation hasn't had the chance to prove itself. We will only know the answer to this in the future. Right now, all *MY* generation can do is do its best. Besides, we can only work with what the previous generations has provided us, right?

Answer 5

Economic growth is correlated with technological progress.

Holding all things constant, assuming technological progress (which admittedly goes in fits & starts), the next generation will be better off.

Savings rates of the younger generations are higher than in previous years (especially with the inception of 401k and IRA amounts) although younger people also tend to carry more debt.

In short, it depends on how quickly public saving can be turned around by eliminating the budget deficit.

Answer 6

Economically we are screwed, completely. We come out of University with thousand pound debts, then we pick up a mortgage to leap on to the ever unattainable property ladder.There is an in balance of old to young people at the moment and not enough young people to support them. We will have to work until we are 70 and will have a poor retirement plan.

Socially we are screwed. With our parents and ourselves having to work harder and longer, we will have less time for social relations. Children will become more and more depressed and have more and more social problems, these will be passed on in some way to their kids eventually as well.

The only people beinifiting will be the rich, who will become richer and fewer. The way things are going one company is going to own the world.

Answer 7

I agree, when my parents were my age they already owned homes and had a pretty respectable retirement savings. Now myself, I can't afford to buy a house, and probably never will be able to since the cost keeps going up but my salary stays the same., and all I have for retirement is a 401k that is iffy at best.

Answer 8

no genereations knows about science most than previous but they know humanities less than previous

Answer 9

Do you mean better off financially?

The only thing I have heard is that they are going to have to support so many baby-boomers through Social Security that it may go bankrupt. Don't know how true that is.

Answer 10

I think each generation has slowly but surely been going downhill. This one is pretty much rock bottom when it comes to values if you ask me.