You might’ve done everything ‘right’ growing up: you studied hard, got the degree you wanted, worked your butt off. But even if you did everything that your parents told you to do, success isn’t guaranteed. Heck, sometimes, a comfortable middle-class lifestyle seems out of reach. And there you are—well-educated, with a strong work ethic—unable to find even a low-income job to pay your rent. And it isn’t all your fault: the world has changed.
These and other struggles that millennials, especially working-class ones, face are documented on the ‘Lost Generation’ subreddit. It’s an online group, founded in 2009, in the wake of the previous financial crisis, that has nearly 262k members and calls out capitalism, income inequality, and how unfair the system can sometimes be. We’ve selected their top posts for you to see, dear Pandas. You’ll find them below, as you scroll down.
Some of you highly-educated Pandas will have noticed that the subreddit’s name refers to the Lost Generation that was in early adulthood during World War I. The term refers to how disoriented, wandering, and directionless many people in the postwar period felt. Feelings that some millennials (aka Gen Y) and members of the younger generations embody as well.
Bored Panda reached out to Eddy Ng, the Smith Professor of Equity & Inclusion in Business at Queen’s University, for his insights on how the financial crisis of 2008 restructured the economy and affected millennials, as well as the fact that the Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated inequality. Bored Panda also had an in-depth discussion with the head moderator of the r/lostgeneration subreddit, u/Adahn5. Scroll down for both exclusive interviews.
#1 Vanilla Wafers Are More Than Half Of What Minimum Wage Workers Earn In An Hour
Image source: bipolarspacecop
#2 They Are Villains
Image source: thebowedbookshelf
#3 Workers Deserve Better Than This
Image source: Smoke_Me_When_i_Die, jo_leeeee
#4 Don’t Forget Their Morning Routines
Image source: xena_lawless
#5 Just Work Hard And You’ll Succeed
Image source: john_brown_adk, DanPriceSeattle
#6 A Choice?
Image source: AWizardIsYou
#7 The Struggle
Image source: Manealendil
#8 Precisely
Image source: lukerussert
#9 Pay People What They Are Worth!
Image source: Lucky_Strike-85, DanPriceSeattle
#10 Mad Max Hours Who Up?
Image source: ApartheidUSA, David_Moscrop
#11 One Law For Them, Another For Us
Image source: john_brown_adk
#12 Translation: Ok Boomer
Image source: YuriRedFox6969, thegallowboob
#13 But Did They Really Try Making Coffee At Home?
Image source: whotookconfeti, HighyieldHarry
#14 Just Make It Illegal
Image source: Active-Ad-233
#15 We Have Been Conditioned To Ask For The Bare Minimum
Image source: snoogenfloop
#16 I’ll Give You Something To Cry About
Image source: infamouszgbgd
#17 I’ve Been Trying To Explain This To My Parents For A While
Image source: LaLaRobotica, Seglegs
#18 How It Started, How It’s Going
Image source: coffeeblossom, bocxtop
#19 3rd Party For 2024?
Image source: kergami
#20 Being A Millennial Rules
Image source: Cyclone_1, lolennui
#21 It Isn’t Adding Up
Image source: libbybakalar
#22 Gatekeeping Through Irresponsibility
Image source: BeardedManKid
#23 Less Yachts More People Able To Afford Food And Have A Roof Over Their Heads
Image source: aristhought, danadonnelly
#24 Six Dollars
Image source: Manealendil
#25 Explains A Lot
Image source: whydoyouflask, RandiJoDalton
#26 Mission Impossible
Image source: peterstefanovi2
#27 How Capitalism Cause Generational Gap
Image source: Active-Ad-233
#28 I Think This1% Are Unaware Of Other People
Image source: Ch_Anderson, eeberquist
#29 Mission Accomplished – Covid-19 Edition
Image source: yuritopiaposadism
#30 I Feel Motivated
Image source: virtualtowel5, not_brielle
#31 Political Evolution Of Millennials
Image source: derivative_of_life
#32 Surely A Coincidence
Image source: silence_is_goldwyn, ryanaboyd
#33 Hindsight Is 20/20
Image source: iota1atg, Steffanoodle
#34 Have You Realized Skills Of Average Person Have Increased But Wages Still Remain D Same!?
Image source: iota1atg
#35 Every. Election
Image source: cannibaljim
#36 Not To Mention The Debt
Image source: codedblood, TakeForGrantd
#37 Minimum Wage Earners Can’t Afford A Two-Bedroom Rental Anywhere
Image source: free-whitebird, ncjustice
#38 Family Dependent Surpasses The Great Depression
Image source: Active-Ad-233
#39 Workers’ Passion Shouldn’t Be Exploited For Profit
Image source: Mary-Trustyn-Wise, existentialcoms
#40 The Dream Killer
Image source: iota1atg, existentialcoms
#41 Worker Shortage Is A Corporate Pr Spin For Capital Strike
Image source: Pleasant-Force
#42 Our Sad Reality
Image source: waltermitty2020
#43 Go To College, They Said. Get A Job And Buy A House, They Said
Image source: saps233
#44 When I Magically Become An Adult In 3 Month
Image source: Active-Ad-233, TheGrimSnark
#45 Anytime Now
Image source: muckitymuck, CyberSnark
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