When Chlöe Swarbrick said “OK Boomer” to Todd Muller in Parliament recently, it became the catchphrase of the latest generation gap – and carries with it a whole lot of baggage. Generation gaps are nothing new, but this one between Millennials (born between 1980 – 1994) and Baby Boomers (born during the ‘baby boom’ of post WW2) seems to be worse than ones in the past.
So, why are Millennials so grumpy? Here we outline their main issues, and suggest things we can do to bridge the divide.
Climate change
Far more than any previous generation, Millennials are concerned about climate change. It’s what Chlöe Swarbrick was talking about when she was interrupted by Todd Muller. Unfortunately, those who are the most vocal climate change deniers tend to be from the boomer generation.
It’s part of why many millennials (and Gen Xers!) are directing their anger towards our generation. The way they see it, the environmental damage we’re dealing with now was done under our watch, even if most of us were individually doing our best to reduce, reuse, recycle.
Millennials and homeownership (or not)
Homeownership is at its lowest ebb since the 1950s. In the 1990s the number of Kiwis owning their homes spiked at almost 74%, but by 2013 the rate had dropped to 64.8%. This recent graph shows just 19% of Millennials owned property in 2013 while 75% of boomers own their homes.
When Boomers were saving for the family home, the average house cost two to three times the average wage. Now our houses are more than six times the average income, and are some of the most expensive and unaffordable in the world. There are other barriers besides price that keep Millennials out – the 20% deposit, for one. So even though interest rates are at an all-time low, Millennials still have a big uphill climb to homeownership.
Debt, debt and more debt
A major barrier to homeownership for Millennials is student debt, while most of us got our education free. It’s not just education that drains their resources either. The neoliberal economics of the mid-80s, also removed many low-cost or fully subsidised essential services like health care, power, public transport and even basic foods like bread and milk. So, while we started from nothing – and worked our butts off to get anywhere! – Millennials see themselves as starting with less than nothing.
Where do Boomers go from here?
We get a lot of the blame for the world’s ills, lumped as money-grubby and ignorant, but many of us have always lived frugally and with a very light environmental footprint. No second cars for us! Many, many of us are struggling to make ends meet with Super and are only getting by because we own our home and worked hard all our life to pay it off. Parents with property and resources have also been instrumental in paying for education, and helping children into their first homes, too. That may be a good proportion of the 19% of Millennials who have managed to get on the property ladder.
So, that anger against Boomers? It’s unfair. But getting angry in return isn’t going to help anyone. Here’s are some ideas of what to do instead.
Avoid the labels
You may have heard some older people saying, “Millennials are entitled and spoiled; they think that the world owes them a living” and so on. As soon as we put labels on people and lump them into groups, we create the divide. It only encourages prejudiced assumptions that keep us from communicating as individuals. And that’s what we all are: individuals. We don’t all agree; whether it’s with our own age group or with our children or grandchildren.
Listen, and recognise their concerns
If the younger people have a harder time than their parents did, paying for education, landing a job and buying a house, it’s no wonder they’re looking for someone or something to blame. We of the older generation don’t have to accept all that blame – we’ve been to our share of demonstrations against the Establishment, after all – but we do need to listen, and recognise the realities that our children and grandchildren face. We face some of them too.
Try to understand, rather than educate
When people feel unfairly treated, they really just want to be heard. Shrug off the impulse to fight back against the anger, and approach discussions with curiosity. Remember that understanding their view doesn’t mean you have agree — all it means is that you understand how this other human being sees the world. That’s the start of real collaboration at a micro level, which is the only way to change things in a big way.
Find good places to talk
Think about where you’re chatting to people, too – make sure you have time to talk and that you’re both in the mood for constructive conversation (instead of already mad!) Social media is the worst place to have these kinds of conversations!
Work together for solutions
Finding solutions to the world’s stickiest problems will be a messy process with steps taken forward, backwards and sideways. But to have any hope we’ll need to find some common ground, mutual respect and a way to have constructive conversations. And we need to remember that, fundamentally Boomers and Millennials all want the same thing: a world where our children and grandchildren have the essentials they need, in a world that is safe and healthy. The only way to get there is together.