This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/07/its-not-just-you-millennials-share-their-secret-fears
The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| It's not just you: millennials share their secret fears | It's not just you: millennials share their secret fears |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| To many people, 23-year-old Lucy is doing everything right. She has a degree from a top university and is doing her second internship in London – something that would be impossible for many cash-strapped new graduates – in the hope of landing her dream career. But she has a pittance in her bank account and is plagued by worry and guilt over the debt she’s forced in to every month to fulfil her ambitions. | To many people, 23-year-old Lucy is doing everything right. She has a degree from a top university and is doing her second internship in London – something that would be impossible for many cash-strapped new graduates – in the hope of landing her dream career. But she has a pittance in her bank account and is plagued by worry and guilt over the debt she’s forced in to every month to fulfil her ambitions. |
| “Why is it so impossible to find a job? I just want to have enough of a salary to save back something every month,” she said. “I currently have £45 in my current account. I have an overdraft and have to use it every month. My internship is really a full-time job, but they call it that so they can pay me a very low wage. | “Why is it so impossible to find a job? I just want to have enough of a salary to save back something every month,” she said. “I currently have £45 in my current account. I have an overdraft and have to use it every month. My internship is really a full-time job, but they call it that so they can pay me a very low wage. |
| “I have a degree from a university that consistently rates as one of the top 10 in the world. I’d love to have maybe just £1,500 in my bank account; the thought of this makes me feel dizzy with joy and relief,” she says. | “I have a degree from a university that consistently rates as one of the top 10 in the world. I’d love to have maybe just £1,500 in my bank account; the thought of this makes me feel dizzy with joy and relief,” she says. |
| Millennials – people between 20 and 35 also known as Generation Y – have been advised to stay in education and work hard to secure a fulfilling job, which in turn will lead to homes, families and happy lives. But when many of them have gone on to graduate they have found there simply aren’t enough jobs to go around. Young adults have found themselves unemployed and burdened with huge student debts. And the future looks dreary. | Millennials – people between 20 and 35 also known as Generation Y – have been advised to stay in education and work hard to secure a fulfilling job, which in turn will lead to homes, families and happy lives. But when many of them have gone on to graduate they have found there simply aren’t enough jobs to go around. Young adults have found themselves unemployed and burdened with huge student debts. And the future looks dreary. |
| The psychological burden of not living up to expectations can be heavy, yet people feel reticent about sharing their concerns and failures out of shame, guilt, and a worry that others won’t relate. | The psychological burden of not living up to expectations can be heavy, yet people feel reticent about sharing their concerns and failures out of shame, guilt, and a worry that others won’t relate. |
| Lucy is one of hundreds of millennials who told us their secret fears. Here is a selection of their responses. | Lucy is one of hundreds of millennials who told us their secret fears. Here is a selection of their responses. |
| You can read more anonymous secret fears on our messaging group #itsnotjustyou - a rolling stream of contributions by young adults around the world. Add us to your contacts and send us a message: +447867825056.. | You can read more anonymous secret fears on our messaging group #itsnotjustyou - a rolling stream of contributions by young adults around the world. Add us to your contacts and send us a message: +447867825056.. |
| ‘I worry I’ll never afford my own home, or always have to flatshare’ | ‘I worry I’ll never afford my own home, or always have to flatshare’ |
| The overall number of under-35s who own their homes has fallen by 280,000 since 2010. In 1991, a third of Britons aged 16-24 owned their own home. By 2011, it was just one in 10. In 1991, 67% of the 25 to 34 age group were homeowners. By 2011/12, this had dropped to 43%. | The overall number of under-35s who own their homes has fallen by 280,000 since 2010. In 1991, a third of Britons aged 16-24 owned their own home. By 2011, it was just one in 10. In 1991, 67% of the 25 to 34 age group were homeowners. By 2011/12, this had dropped to 43%. |
| Toby, 26, is anxious about the future for himself and his partner. “I’m worried that I, and thousands of people of my generation, will never be able to own our own home. I worry about the effects that this might have on my relationship with the person I love the most in the world. | Toby, 26, is anxious about the future for himself and his partner. “I’m worried that I, and thousands of people of my generation, will never be able to own our own home. I worry about the effects that this might have on my relationship with the person I love the most in the world. |
| “It seems like such a small thing to ask for: a place where I can walk into the kitchen without worrying if the landlord will be there, unannounced, with some flimsy pre-text to snoop; somewhere I can paint the walls whatever colour I want; and a place where, some day, I might be able to have children. | “It seems like such a small thing to ask for: a place where I can walk into the kitchen without worrying if the landlord will be there, unannounced, with some flimsy pre-text to snoop; somewhere I can paint the walls whatever colour I want; and a place where, some day, I might be able to have children. |
| “The opportunity to raise a family, with just a modicum of security, in a quiet, happy home probably doesn’t seem like much, it might even sound boring to some people. But every day when I look around it feels more and more like an impossible dream.” | “The opportunity to raise a family, with just a modicum of security, in a quiet, happy home probably doesn’t seem like much, it might even sound boring to some people. But every day when I look around it feels more and more like an impossible dream.” |
| ‘Salaries don’t, and never will, reflect the rising cost of living’ | ‘Salaries don’t, and never will, reflect the rising cost of living’ |
| Gemma from Essex is worried about the cost of living and the restraints this will put on her future life. | Gemma from Essex is worried about the cost of living and the restraints this will put on her future life. |
| “My greatest worry is working all my life constantly chasing debt and never being to own a house or have children.“The cost of renting privately is rising, the cost of travelling is rising, the cost of living is rising and yet the salaries don’t reflect this rise. I have chosen to work in the charity sector to fulfil my passion. However, I am worried that with margins very tight saving for a mortgage deposit or to have a child will be out of my reach.“I am worried that capitalism is pushing this and creating a greater wealth inequality gap. It seems unsustainable and to be driving people apart – a recent example is the demonisation of our own NHS service and the junior doctors.” | “My greatest worry is working all my life constantly chasing debt and never being to own a house or have children.“The cost of renting privately is rising, the cost of travelling is rising, the cost of living is rising and yet the salaries don’t reflect this rise. I have chosen to work in the charity sector to fulfil my passion. However, I am worried that with margins very tight saving for a mortgage deposit or to have a child will be out of my reach.“I am worried that capitalism is pushing this and creating a greater wealth inequality gap. It seems unsustainable and to be driving people apart – a recent example is the demonisation of our own NHS service and the junior doctors.” |
| ‘My degree was a waste of time’ | ‘My degree was a waste of time’ |
| The past 10 years has seen more people study for degrees than in any other decade. Some of those who have completed degrees are left wondering how else they might have spent those three or four years. | The past 10 years has seen more people study for degrees than in any other decade. Some of those who have completed degrees are left wondering how else they might have spent those three or four years. |
| Adam, 22, from Portsmouth, is anxious about the lack of graduate opportunities and worries the degree he studied has added nothing to his life but debt. | Adam, 22, from Portsmouth, is anxious about the lack of graduate opportunities and worries the degree he studied has added nothing to his life but debt. |
| “I worry that once I graduate I won’t be able to progress in life as easily as earlier generations of university leavers. I want to find a job that requires a degree. The thought that I could have spent three years studying and accumulating debt to end up in the same sort of retail jobs I was employed in before university or, worse, on benefits is worrying, to say the least.” | “I worry that once I graduate I won’t be able to progress in life as easily as earlier generations of university leavers. I want to find a job that requires a degree. The thought that I could have spent three years studying and accumulating debt to end up in the same sort of retail jobs I was employed in before university or, worse, on benefits is worrying, to say the least.” |
| ‘I’m worried I’m not as clever or special as I thought I was’ | ‘I’m worried I’m not as clever or special as I thought I was’ |
| Compared with many people, 30-year-old Lizzie from London has a rosy life: she is in a relationship and has a full-time job for which she has won an award. But she is secretly disillusioned and feels she can’t talk openly about her fears because, relatively, she’s well-off. | Compared with many people, 30-year-old Lizzie from London has a rosy life: she is in a relationship and has a full-time job for which she has won an award. But she is secretly disillusioned and feels she can’t talk openly about her fears because, relatively, she’s well-off. |
| “I worry that I’m never going to live up to my own expectations. I live in terror that I will wake up on my 50th birthday in a perfectly ordinary house, with a perfectly ordinary family and unremarkable job – living an unremarkable, ordinary, average life. | “I worry that I’m never going to live up to my own expectations. I live in terror that I will wake up on my 50th birthday in a perfectly ordinary house, with a perfectly ordinary family and unremarkable job – living an unremarkable, ordinary, average life. |
| “When we were growing up we were told we could be anything that we wanted to be. I am coming to the realisation that I am just not as talented, clever or special as I assumed I was. I’m not an Instagram celebrity; I don’t go to the most glamorous parties; and I don’t have beautiful kids. | “When we were growing up we were told we could be anything that we wanted to be. I am coming to the realisation that I am just not as talented, clever or special as I assumed I was. I’m not an Instagram celebrity; I don’t go to the most glamorous parties; and I don’t have beautiful kids. |
| “My yearbook from a small Suffolk school reveals one class alone with three kids who wanted to be prime minister. It’s worse for my friends who assumed by now that they’d be famous actresses and find themselves as teachers or salesmen. They have, from the outside, wonderful lives – but quietly they are wondering where it all went wrong. The success of my peers doesn’t feel like affirmation; it feels like a knife made of jealousy in my ribs.” | “My yearbook from a small Suffolk school reveals one class alone with three kids who wanted to be prime minister. It’s worse for my friends who assumed by now that they’d be famous actresses and find themselves as teachers or salesmen. They have, from the outside, wonderful lives – but quietly they are wondering where it all went wrong. The success of my peers doesn’t feel like affirmation; it feels like a knife made of jealousy in my ribs.” |
| Read on: The 30-year economic betrayal dragging down Generation Y’s income |