The Kids Aren't Alright [ADMIN WARNING: NO POLITICS]

[Upacurb]

Houses and cars are going up faster than salaries.........

I'm almost 51- and was talking with my Dad this weekend about houses.........he was mentioning how crazy it is that my our family household income is higher then his ever was (inflation adjusted) yet we are not able to comfortably afford a house the same size as his......

I forget the exact numbers but when you put it in an inflation calculator - the house they bought in 1987 for 290K would be worth just over 800K .....

Actual value today .... 2.2 Million ...skipping Starbucks wont make up that gap......

Overseas investors...... Large companies buying up houses as investments......I was on the HOA board for a while and just in our neighborhood a portion of the houses are owned by one company as rental house investments.....

I do have more hope that at least some kids are willing to put in the work......both of our daughters spend more time studying then I ever did and have the grades to show for it.....and they have friends the same way......

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[Upacurb]

taxes have been raised with little to show for it for the areas that matter to the younger generation. Medical care is completely unaffordable for those who cant afford insurance, insurance is unaffordable because subsidies have been gutted for Medicare. Social Security is on track to be effectively non-existent for the younger generations because the older ones decided to drain it to fight their wars in 3rd world countries. Pay is complete crap and the overabundance of poor older generations is squeezing the younger generation for entry level experience that many companies require out of "fresh grads". While older generations are on their 7th or 8th sports car, Johnny fresh out of high school cant even afford a 10 year old Toyota Camry because used car prices are hyper inflated thanks to the older generations "cash for clunkers" idea to save the auto industry. the older generations turned housing into an investment instead of a place to live so now even the most modest homes require over a hundred thousand dollars a year income to afford the house and all associated expenses.

this isnt a "boomers are the worst" thing, its a "the boomers started it and nobody wants to fix it" thing

Dont forget the new trend of outsourcing entry level white collar jobs to other countries ...rich got to get richer somehow.......

 

[Gregs24]

Dont forget the new trend of outsourcing entry level white collar jobs to other countries ...rich got to get richer somehow.......

Why are they outsourcing?

Are US kids getting the degrees employers want?

It seems there is a skills shortage in the US in certain areas, are companies supposed to just stop hiring if they can't get what they want in the US?

My son is an immigrant, he works in Japan because he has skills that are not present in Japan in the area he works.

 

[Upacurb]

Why are they outsourcing?

Are US kids getting the degrees employers want?

It seems there is a skills shortage in the US in certain areas, are companies supposed to just stop hiring if they can't get what they want in the US?

My son is an immigrant, he works in Japan because he has skills that are not present in Japan in the area he works.

It’s not a shortage of qualified applicants…talking to my buddies it’s a few things

You can pay someone them 70% less
If they don’t do a good job … it’s much easier to fire them without worrying about some kind of lawsuit

 

[GeekGT5.0]

Well I have two GenZ sons (one snuck in by a year) and there is no problem regarding their work ethic so broad statements don't really work (although are easy to say)

I actually think it is background more than anything - if you come from a family of moaning underachievers that blame everybody but themselves for their shit lives they tend to have kids the same. It is easy to fall off the over achiever route but very difficult to climb back on.

Comes down to basics like food, water, heat and light. If you haven't got them you work real hard to get them, if you have them without any effort you can easily become complacent.

Have you heard Jim Farley talk on the subject? He can't get fill 5000 trade jobs that pay $120/yr.

https://nypost.com/2025/11/14/busin...0k-per-year-we-are-in-trouble-in-our-country/

And Mike Rowe has been one of the foremost outspoken on the topic, and doing everything they can to promote the trades. But there is something wrong with GenZ, they don't want to do it. There are thousands upon thousands of trade jobs unfilled right now. Oil companies doing big signons, even local plumber businesses here in Houston offering 5k signons.

There might be pockets of GenZ kids that are workers, but it's not the majority. Should watch some of Mike Rowe (from dirty jobs) podcasts on the topic.

It's actually pretty concerning, because once GenX is out of it, and what millennials are doing it, it's going to be a nightmare. The unfilled jobs that GenZ should be filling right now, are not being filled. Could literally go grab a 120k/yr job with ford right now, but they won't.,

And my personal experience with them (i own several businesses) is that they don't want to work. My son in law, store manager of autozone, has GenZ kids bail on work days all the time. They will literally apply, get the job, and not even show up for day 1. Or they show up for a week, and then play the games with HR. if they do show up for work, they are lazy af.

I'm not trying to ignorantly blanket statement the GenZ generation, but there is something going on with that generation and it's not good. It could (already is?) become a very big problem for the USA.

 

[smurfslayer]

US outsourcing it by and large a factor of cost. Companies look at mature employees, making mature salaries and assess that they can hire someone from overseas, whom they can pay 1/5th what the going price for the same work in the US and it's a surface level, simple choice.

It often works well enough, but it's very field dependent. Thank goodness for those tiny hands assembling iphones, right?

This kind of outsourcing doesn't always go overseas, sometimes companies will outsource large swaths of employees to "service providers"; companies themselves who will keeps some key people, let the rest go and replace them with n00bs.

 

[Cz_Ziemniak]

A big reason so many young people are in crippling debt and unemployed is because they get bullsh^t degrees that are useless in the real world. If its not a STEM degree, its not going to be terribly helpful.

With that being said, the cost of living and being able to afford a house is very difficult nowadays when 1/2 of your paycheck goes towards rent.

I know people paying as much as 2,000 a month.

 

[agreywolfe]

A big reason so many young people are in crippling debt and unemployed is because they get bullsh^t degrees that are useless in the real world. If its not a STEM degree, its not going to be terribly helpful.

That's the wishful thinking of a decade ago, there's Harvard and Brown STEM grads who can't even get a job. In today's economy, not even STEM is worth it anymore here.

 

[Gregs24]

A big reason so many young people are in crippling debt and unemployed is because they get bullsh^t degrees that are useless in the real world. If its not a STEM degree, its not going to be terribly helpful.

With that being said, the cost of living and being able to afford a house is very difficult nowadays when 1/2 of your paycheck goes towards rent.

I know people paying as much as 2,000 a month.

There are plenty of other good degrees such as law, accounting, finance and nursing but yes there are also some pretty useless ones when it comes to a future career.

 

[Cz_Ziemniak]

That's the wishful thinking of a decade ago, there's Harvard and Brown STEM grads who can't even get a job. In today's economy, not even STEM is worth it anymore here.

Highly depends on which college you go to.

There are some colleges that may as well guarantee a job.

Pretty much every one of my friends including myself got a job either directly out of college, or within a few months.

 

[Cz_Ziemniak]

There are plenty of other good degrees such as law, accounting, finance and nursing but yes there are also some pretty useless ones when it comes to a future career.

Business degrees are very hit or miss lately. Its an oversaturated market currently, has a certain reputation.

Some friends made use of it, other are struggling. It really really helps to have a niche, rather than getting lost among the riff-raff. One bud speaks Korean, and was able to get a job at a Korean bank.

 

[Gregs24]

That's the wishful thinking of a decade ago, there's Harvard and Brown STEM grads who can't even get a job. In today's economy, not even STEM is worth it anymore here.

They will be able to get a job overseas no problem.

Of course the US economy is bound to be having an effect compared to Europe

Why STEM skills are Europe’s next competitive edge

STEM_Education_Strategic_Plan_COM_2025_89_1_EN_0.pdf

STEM crisis or STEM surplus? Yes and yes - PMC

 

[Gregs24]

Business degrees are very hit or miss lately. Its an oversaturated market currently, has a certain reputation.

Some friends made use of it, other are struggling. It really really helps to have a niche, rather than getting lost among the riff-raff. One bud speaks Korean, and was able to get a job at a Korean bank.

Exactly - the more skills you have the easier it is to find a job.

I never forget years ago on the S550 forum somebody told me that 'edumacation was a total waste of time' - in his case he may well have been correct!

 

[LouG]

all i know is GenX here, and we are just facepalming for what the future holds. GenZ just doesn't have it, zero ambition, entitled, won't learn something on their own. Like man we're screwed. We learned cars because we love cars and wanted to do stuff with them (race). When i was in highschool autobody, auto mechanics and shop class was maxxed out. Now, they are barely anyone there.

If there's any hope, it's that each following generation seems to rebel against their parents.
That's if enough Gen Z's can work out how to have kids.

 

[Cz_Ziemniak]

If there's any hope, it's that each following generation seems to rebel against their parents.
That's if enough Gen Z's can work out how to have kids.

Theres so many reasons people my age are not having kids, and they're honestly very valid.

Both social and economic.

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