[malvosenior]

There were many generations that were worse off than their parents in American history. I don't know about you but I'd rather have not fought in a war, so any generation prior to a major war was better off than the one that followed. I think what you mean to say is: it's harder to live up to late 20th century mass media defined standards for individualism and hedonism. It's not really that surprising that such a thing wasn't infinitely scaleable.

[2000andlate]

Nope, I mean they actually have less spending power than their parents, and that’s new: https://www.npr.org/2018/11/30/672103209/why-arent-millennia...

[malvosenior]

That report only looks at the 20th century generations, so I don't know that your original statement holds they're a generation "that for the first time in American history is expected to be worse off than their parents".

It is also very dubious in its methodology. This is as close as that study gets to looking at raw, unmanipulated data:

"To begin, we compare annual labor earnings of full-time workers who worked more than 30 hours per week (or 1,560 hours per year). As shown in the top row of the table, average real full-time labor earnings of male heads of all households declined between 1978 and 1998 and then rebounded over the next 16 years. On net, real average full-time labor earnings for males increased 10 percent between 1978 and 2014. However, younger male workers appear to have been left out of the labor earnings increase. Specifically, the real average full-time labor earnings of a millennial male household head in 2014 were about the same as those for a 11 comparable male Generation X household head in 1998 and over 10 percent lower than those for a comparable male baby boomer household head in 1978."

"For female heads of all households, real average full-time labor earnings increased moderately between 1978 and 1998 and between 1998 and 2014, reflecting, in part, rising female educational attainment. However, the median labor earnings of female millennial household heads in 2014 were about 3 percent lower than those of comparable female Generation X household heads in 1998."

"For families, the data show that real income of married couples grew, on net, from 1978 to 2014; this trend is seen in the sample of all households and in the sample of households headed by individuals younger than 33 years old and likely reflects the rise in the female labor force participation rate and the increase in the prevalence of dual income households. However, the net growth of real family income was smaller for young married couples than for married couples of all ages during this span of years."

Aside from earnings and debt, for massive swaths of Americans there's been no better time to be alive than 2019. Violent crime, racism and sexism are at all time lows. Health care is expensive but much better than the past. Food is cheaper and there are healthier options.

My original point is the strongest though. There are no wars. I'd rather be in debt than have my arms blown off in combat or have to kill people, all against my will because I got drafted.