Great Recession may leave a lifelong mark on Gen Y
If you’ve known someone who came of age during the 1930s — a grandparent perhaps — you know that the Depression had a lifelong effect on people’s attitudes toward debt, the stock market and government social programs. As a father of three young adults in their late teens and early 20s, I’ve been wondering how the Great Recession will shape them.
According to a recent paper by Paola Giuliano of UCLA and Antonio Spilimbergo of the International Monetary Fund, it will have profound effects. The authors look at Americans’ responses to questions on the General Social Survey, based on what the economy was like when the respondents were between the ages of 18 and 25.
We find that individuals experiencing recessions during the formative years believe that luck rather than effort is the most important driver of individual success, support more government redistribution, and have less confidence in institutions.
Because of these two contradictory impulses — the affected groups want the government to intervene more in the economy, but they don’t trust the government — the political implications aren’t clear. However, as the members of Generation Y begin to play a bigger role in our economy and our society, we shouldn’t forget that they came of age during the Great Recession.
(7 votes, average: 3 out of 5)
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David Nicklaus has covered St. Louis business for more than 25 years. His column appears three days a week on the Post-Dispatch business page. 
Gen X, How do you get them out of their Mom and Dads bedroom, free meals free electric, free rent. I guees uncle sugar should take care of them the rest of their life.
Top gun, are you aware Gen-X “The US Census Bureau cites Generation X as statistically holding the highest education levels when looking at age group (bloc): US Census Bureau, in their 2009 Statistical Abstract. (Also see Education Statistics Canada, 2001 Census.)”
Or that Gen X ers are in their late 20s 30s early 40s … christ dude … think before you post.
mm so what if they’re in their 20′30′ or 40’s they still live w/mommmy n da da!!!!!
Gosh, as a GenXer, I guess I should stop sending my mom a check every month to help out and demand that she assume my mortgage and take care of my wife and kids.
And boomers: if your grown kids are hanging out in your *bedroom*, it might be time to reassess your life and how you raised your kids.
If you have a Gen X child still living at home, I have to ask where you went wrong. The same holds for Gen Y if they have completed their education and are capable of working. In my opinion, most kids who don’t value the independence that comes from a decent education and work-ethic are suffering from lack of direction, encouragement and perhaps discipline from their parents.
Of all my many boomer friends who have kids, absolutely NONE have Gen X kids still at home. Some of them have Gen Y kids who are in school or who have just graduated and are having trouble finding jobs in this economy.
If you have dead-beat kids, just look in the mirror to see who is to blame. If they bother you, then kick them out already and quit complaining.
‘STLM’…..very well said. You are a good son. I hope my kids will do the same for me some day….if I need it. Hopefully, I won’t. Luckily, I avoid debt and save for retirement, which are two more life skills I am teaching my kids…after they go to college and get decent jobs. One down and one to go. Parents have responsibilities beyond the basics of feeding, clothing, etc.
This is the same generation that has their parents negotiate salaries for them at job interviews, has their parents come in with them at job interviews. 2o years in the employment industry has shown me that generation y is the weakest generation this country has seen. No comparison to the WWII generation or my generation the baby boomers. And why are these kids like this? Their Generation X “helicopter parents” because they hover over their kids and hand everything to them.
As a Gen Y-er, I definitely don’t agree with this article. My friends and associates that fall in this age group also do not agree with government intervention and believe that hard work and dedication will get you where you want to be. I think the only visible mark that this recession will leave is the lesson learned to live below your means and to save, save and save some more.
That’s funny. I’m a GenXer. Not only do I not live at home, I own my home outright (no mortgage). I paid for it with my own money, which I earned the old-fashioned way–with a job. And I maximized it the old-fashioned way–by being very careful with it.
Top Gun, your stereotypes don’t apply to everybody.
It’s also laughable that someone here thinks GenY are the children of GenX.
GenY are the children of the younger post-war boomers.
Love the idiotic stereotypes. Everyone else’s generation stinks, eh? Grow up.