Young Americans have many financial obstacles placed in their way. Many older Americans like to chime in and blast younger Americans as being weak and complaining too much but the facts tell a different story. Millennials do have it economically tougher. Quality of life is up (for all) but the standard of living is getting harder to keep up with. To achieve that middle class lifestyle that baby boomers achieved with very little education and in many cases a blue collar job now requires a two income households and mountains of student debt just to get there. It is also the case that young Americans are now living at home in record numbers because of economic necessity. Millennials are the most employed generation in food services and the military. What does that tell you?
Millennials and occupational choices
It is expected that younger Americans will largely take on some sort of jobs. But the number of Millennials in the military and food services tells you something deeper. Keep in mind that at one point, manufacturing would have had a big opening for young workers as it did with the baby boomer generation. So the options for many are: food services, military, or go to college to try to get into the middle class.