Dear Editor,

Are Millennials really ruining everything?

  
The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and Los Angeles times have covered "millennial" topics time after time again in almost always a negative light.  So what's the real deal with Millennials?

1. Why are there books written to help employers and companies draw work boundaries for millennials?  
2. Why are there books for older generations to better understand the strengths/weaknesses of millennials and how they think?
3. Why is the millennials generation reduced to simply entitled snowflakes who love avocado toast, house plants, and other things they can't afford?

The millennial generation is being blamed for the downfall of many companies, busineses, fads, etc, but are they really behind these alleged downfalls?  

Millennials are just like any other generation of people in that their work habits, spending habits, and investment habits vary largely based on the economy and ideologies in which they were born into.  Millennials were born into radically changing times in U.S history.  They were often the people at the forefront of: same-sex marriage movements, LGBTQ+ rights, marijuana legalization, the Great Recession, 9/11, etc.  

Interestingly enough, older generations are often highly critical of Millennials simply because of their "newfound hippie ways".  Do these "hippie ways" refer to Millennials redefining the work force; Or redefining marriage and traditional household roles; Or maybe it refers to Millennials being the most accepting/tolerant generation to those who are different than oneself.  In any case, Millenials are being scrutinized because of their actions while that generation is struggling the most in today's current economy. 

Millennials are graduating college with the most debt and yet one of the lowest employment rates of previous generations.  Jobs are simply harder to find for Millennials when they are swimming in debt, over-qualified with college degrees, and battling the housing crisis.  Because millennials are facing economic struggles, they are also starting families and buying houses much later in life.  This is due to Millennials wanting to be financially secure, and not reaching this state until later in life because of the aforementioned struggles.  

So before you reduce Millennials to simply a lazy, entitled generation, think about how their struggles are drastically different than yours because of their different upbringing.