Have you ever had that one relative who you just could not please no matter what you did? You might have been spending too much time on your phone, no matter that you were checking in on your friend who was visiting the doctor that day. You might have been too entrenched in your computer, forget the fact that you were reading a book, would your relative had minded if you were reading a paper copy? Let's not forget them nagging on you for not having a job, ignoring the 50+ applications you sent out and that some people are just not hiring, it obviously means you are lazy. If you have ever had this experience, be with a relative, a professor, an employer, etc., then this article is for you. This is an address to those people who might try to put you down for your generational differences and don't understand the challenges that we as millennials face.

Millennials refers to what is known as the Generation Y, those born roughly around the early 1980's to the early 2000's. If you are in college right now, chances are you are a Millennial. Congratulations. Unfortunately for all of us, Millennials carry a stigma with them that older generations have for us. For example, a 2013 Time's Magazine headline was, "The Me Me Me Generation: Millennials are lazy, entitled narcissists who still live with their parents. Why they'll save us all."

The last subtitle might be indicative that not is all that it seems, and despite the fact that the newest generation is lazy, inept, technology-driven, and selfish, they just might be able to get their heads out of their phones long enough to help change the world. As you can probably imagine, Millennials such as myself do not appreciate titles such as these, and as such, responded in the most "me, me, me" generational way that we could. Photoshop.

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It is common for people to consider this Millennial generation as a group of people solely focused on technology, with poor communication skills and bad work ethics. In fact, if you type in a Google search bar "Generation Y are," some of the top results you will get are, "Generation Y are lazy," "Generation Y are unhappy," and "Generation Y are idiots." Forbes' online site contains an article titled, "20 Things 20-Year-Olds Don't Get," containing helpful advice for Millennials such as, "Social media is not a career" and "You're talented, but talent is overrated" and "Speak up, not out." With advice such as this, it is a wonder that more Millennials are not joining the market at this very moment. The fact is, many Millennials are judged based on untrue facts.

For example, many older generations would claim that Generation Y are lazy. This might be suggested by the low representation Millennials have in the labor market, and there is a reason for it. Based off an article from CNN, the percentage of young workers stuck in low-paying jobs is at 44 percent, a 20 year high. These jobs don't require a higher education degree, and so Millennials are stuck in jobs that are keeping them in student debt, and are not even using the education they paid for. Another article demonstrates how the unemployment rate for young people was at a 20 year high of 13 percent in 2013, when the unemployment rate for other workers who were not college students or right out of college was at 7 percent. Furthermore there are just not as many jobs available for Millennials. After the recession started, many of the Baby Boomer Generation (those in their 50s and 60s) stayed in their jobs instead of opting for retirement due to the financial instability of the time. The number of jobs held by Baby Boomers from 2007 to 2013 grew by 1.9 million or 9 percent. In comparison, jobs for Millennials in the same period 0.3 percent or 110,000 jobs. The White House itself issued a report stating, "Yet perhaps the most important marker for Millennials is that many of them have come of age during a very difficult time in our economy, as the oldest Millennials were just 27 years old when the recession began in December of 2007. As unemployment surged from 2007 to 2009, many Millennials struggled to find a hold in the labor market... Today, although the economy is well into its recovery, the recession still affects lives of Millennials and will likely continue to do so for years to come."

What all of this is coming together to say, is that Millennials are not lazy or self-centered or narcissists. Well, of course there are some individuals that fulfill those attributes, but it is unfair to label an entire generation of people in this manner. What could be seen as laziness in not having a job, can be explained by the poor job market and high unemployment rates for our generation. What could be seen as self-centered attitudes can be attributed to the need to watch out for one's own self in an unstable and rough environment. Some may call us narcissists due to our consistent presence on social media and the prevalent fashion of taking selfies. Honestly though, social media is just this generation's new advancement in communication and connection. In the time of Baby Boomers, it would be very difficult to maintain a relationship with someone living half-way around the world, not to mention expensive. Today, Millennials are able to act and connect in a global manner and are able to maintain a much more international mindset towards current events. Technology is something that is always advancing, and the generation that grows up with it is going to the be the one most invested in it. Such as when Baby Boomers were growing up with their tv and radio shows, the Millennials today have the same investment. It is also important to note, that Baby Boomers are not as phobic of technology as perceptions might have us believe. Baby Boomers are just as capable of adapting and using today's technology as those who have grown up with it, it is just more common to see Millennials with it in public.

There is more that could be said on this topic; many put blame on Millennials for the debt crisis that the United States is going through right now, despite our limited time in actually having a direct effect on the economy ourselves. Some blame Millennials for global warming, even though we were not even born when scientists started talking about it more seriously in the 1950s. If you don't want to listen to me or anyone else of my generation, than take it from a Baby Boomer himself, Stephen Colbert:

Every generation goes through a phase in which those who are older will attack the younger generation for their differences. Technology will develop, social manners will change, and the next generation will not act the in the same manner that the generation before did. That is just the way of development and progress. It is important in moving forward, that we embrace differences and changes, and not belittle an entire generation for the manners in which they do things differently. Remember that there are real people attached to the title Millennials, who don't appreciate being treated as inferior for the way in which they were raised and act to survive in the present society. From my generation to yours, thank you.

Further Reading

"Millennials" - The Guardian

"4 Economic Facts to Shut Up any Baby Boomer Saying Millennials are Lazy" - Inverse

"Perception vs. Reality: 10 Truths About the Generation Y Workforce" - Quint Careers

"Winning the Generation Game" - The Economist

"The 5.4 Percent Unemployment Rate Means Nothing for Millennials" - Huffpost Business

"The Many Reasons Millennials Are Shunning Cars" - Washington Post

"That 20's Life: We Are Millennials, The Not As Lazy As You Think Generation" - MTL Blog

"15 Economic Facts About Millennials" - The Council of Economic Advisers - whitehouse.gov

In case anyone was curious about why I chose this topic to write about, it was due to the following Youtube clip. As a warning, it does contain expletives.