Generation Gap Boomer v Millennial !!!

100% , high expectations that only some will manage in life !

I blame the internet , too much information to worry us , we used to use books , now its all on our phones !

I think the news is so much more available & hard to ignore , hence the worrying . I agree with what you say . Life is a doddle compared to the 1900's , 10's ,20's , 30's , 40's & 50's etc !

Worries are different now.
And diverse - on the one hand there's climate change, violent society, along with housing and employment issues
While on the other hand there is the frivolous (to me at any rate) lifestyle posters on social media. I would have completely failed as an Instagram parent.

Agree with Lizzie60 there.
I think my parents especially my mum had a lot of her time taken up with the practicalities of looking after us and the home.
I think a lot of pressure is put on people (and they put it on themselves) now re social media telling them how to look after their children and what they should be doing, eating and what they should be wearing whilst doing it whilst maintaining a perfect home and nails at the same time.

I picked those 2 generations as they relate to myself & my children !

Well put Katie59

Our expectations were quite limited, for most work at 16, marriage, family, as the years went on we have exceeded those expectations. Now expectations are high, goals difficult to achieve, extended education to 18 has done nothing to prepare students for employment and half the graduates are not doing graduate work.

There are plenty of jobs but nobody wants to do the boring repetitive work that entails, their expectations are higher, they want exciting creative employment, sorry guys life ain’t like that. Now migrant labour is going to be restricted maybe that will change.

There is always a generation gap; sometimes relatively small, sometimes quite substantial. Different times, different experiences – but why should it be Boomers versus Millennials? The generation gap doesn't have to be a battle – at least, not all the time and once the younger generation is past adolescence.

I think anyone who is around 60 is lucky to have lived their productive life pre - Covid & had their youth pre - climate change concerns , I really do !

dragonfly46

I think our AC have more to worry about than we ever did.

I think that's true.

lemongrove

I keep hearing that dragonfly and find myself wondering what exactly do they have to worry about ( more than anyone now old did at the time.)
I remember having quite a few things to worry about.
Our generation ( am talking of 70+) didn’t have all the goods and possessions either, or the many holidays and outings and expensive pizza delivery etc.

But your parents didn't have what you have now. Each generation has changed when compared with previous groups of the same age.

It's the opposite for me. I'm far closer to my children than I ever was to my parents, despite a much bigger age gap.

I do think they are stressed by the amount of information coming at them from all directions. Environmental issues must be a huge worry when you're young and have even younger children. Then there is advice being thrown at them on how to raise your children, how to juggle work and home etc. It must be stressful when you are told this or that is the correct way and maybe feel you're not doing things perfectly. The pace of life now is relentless, I'm sure it wasn't like that when I was younger, there was less pressure and life was not so full on. I think they do brilliantly well considering all that.

The views of my son and me are fairly similar, although he would say I am more left wing than he is.

I find that my husband's views have changed quite radically over the last few years and are quite different from my own now.

I don't really like these sorts of generalisations about people and their views. Perhaps younger people are a bit more idealistic and not so world-weary as older people, but not necessarily so, and this sort of generational stereotyping is, I think, divisive and not at all helpful.

I'm also Generation X. I mostly agree with the belief system of Gen Z (come after millennials). I find millennials a bit preachy and know-it-all. And as for the hipster thing... Shave your sideburns.

I’m pretty sure that when I was twenty I thought the exact opposite of what my parents thought!

I’m not sure that my dc think too differently from us. I’d certainly say I’m more environmentally aware than any of them. We recycle more than they do, the only single-use wipes I use are ones for my hands that I keep in my bag. A pack lasts me months. I don’t buy things such as packs of that ready-to-eat rice or those tubs of expensive stock for casseroles. I’ve had my family staying this week and the amount of food waste has been appalling, we filled our kitchen food waste container up every day. Some of it has been food no one has even attempted to eat. It’s been bought, allowed to go out of date and then discarded.

I know a lot of people don't like labelling generations in this way but I find it fascinating.
I am Gen X but can feel polarised from other Gen Xers as any of the others.
The celebrity culture just leaves me cold. I think each generation has had it's challenges.

I keep hearing that dragonfly and find myself wondering what exactly do they have to worry about ( more than anyone now old did at the time.)
I remember having quite a few things to worry about.
Our generation ( am talking of 70+) didn’t have all the goods and possessions either, or the many holidays and outings and expensive pizza delivery etc.

I think our AC have more to worry about than we ever did.

I hate that term 'boomer' which is used so much on MN in a derogatory way. None of us can help when we are born.

I don't think this is universally true.
We have 5 children with varying beliefs.

On the whole we agree on the big things but have different ways of "getting there".

If anything I think our beliefs are generally in the middle on most things. Our adult children lean either side.

...I'm glad I didn't read much about child-rearing however!

All of us are a product of our time and as times change we do not always find it easy to adjust. I comfort themselves by remembering how widely I differed in views from my parents and actually have far more unity of beliefs with my children.

But then I am late 70s and DC are nearly 50.

I take life seriously but we all need humour in our lives & there's much to laugh at if things/events are viewed in a certain light . I pity them actually . Happy with the time I've lived through for sure !

Posted too soon!