Millennial stereotypes undermine solutions to generational problems

As a 20-year-old working college student, it’s frustrating to know that I automatically belong to a category of Americans described as self-centered, shiftless freeloaders who physically cannot stop taking selfies.

This caricature of the millennial generation — one the American media has painted time and time again — is frustrating for me because firstly, I can stop taking selfies whenever I want. Secondly, media pundits and politicians constantly use this stereotype as a scapegoat for the dramatic increase in unemployment among my generation. But unemployment is rising not only for the kids depicted by the media, but also for minorities on the lower end of the socioeconomic spectrum.

For instance, the U.S. Department of Labor recently released a report on the latest trends in national employment. The report presented promising data for most: the overall unemployment rate dropped to 6.7 percent. But the job market apparently has not been as receptive to my generation. According to the report, the unemployment rate for 20- to 24-year-olds is at about 12.2 percent, and it’s at about 14.5 percent for 16- to 24-year-olds.

This trend is concerning for millennials, and it should spark discussion and debate on how to fix it. Unfortunately, however, during my daily online news browsing, I came across an article on BBC that immediately brought the discussion away from rational discourse and once again toward the aforementioned stereotypes.

Beneath the article’s headline, “Why can’t the selfie generation find jobs?”, was a photo of four blonde Caucasian girls sporting large-rimmed sunglasses and posing excitedly at what appears to be an outdoor music festival.

The headline and the picture divert the reader’s attention away from the issue of millennial unemployment. The fact of the matter is that these preconceived notions placed on millennials — depicting them as conceited, social-media-crazed kids who take everything for granted — clouds their status as the generational category that makes up a large percentage of unemployed Americans.

And the majority is not white, carefree college students, as the picture under the headline depicts. Rather, the majority is all too often made up of poor and undereducated minorities. 

According to research by the Economic Policy Institute — a non-partisan think tank that seeks policy solutions for social and economic problems —  the unemployment rate among millennials aged 16 to 24 was almost doubled for blacks and Hispanics, at 32.5 percent and 24.2 percent in 2010. And of those aged 25 to 32 who have bachelor’s degrees or higher, the unemployment rate is at 3.8 percent as compared to 8.1 percent for those with two-year degrees and 12.2 percent for those with only a high school diploma.

Therefore, according to the numbers, the average unemployed millenial is hardly the white suburban kid with a liberal arts degree living in his or her parents’ basement. So then why does the media continue to paint this picture of our generation?

Unfortunately, I cannot give a good reason for why the pundits do it, because I simply cannot make sense of it. Nonetheless, it’s an absolute travesty that these prejudices continue to be promoted, given that a large group of millennials — who obviously do not represent these stereoptypes — need real help, not a lecture, when it comes to getting a job.

Therefore, the discussion led by media pundits and politicians must focus on the reality of the situation. And the reality is that there are scores of young people who are trapped in long-term unemployment because they go uneducated and unnoticed.

Jobs that pay decently usually require applicants to have some kind of work experience. And being an underprivileged millennial without the opportunity to gain a college degree, while at the same time facing a job market still recovering from recession, certainly does not help one gain employment.

But to alleviate the situation, public schools can expand work experience programs that can teach young Americans the skills needed to compete in the job market without a costly college/tech school education.The Obama administration, for instance, has recognized this need, as demonstrated in the recent grants it has provided to Maryland high schools to integrate work experience programs into the schools. These programs will give students highly marketable skills in areas like information technology and healthcare, which they would not normally receive from a high school diploma.

This policy should be applauded because youth unemployment costs the United States $25 billion a year in lost tax revenue. Furthermore, according to Tim Donovan’s article in Salon magazine, if the Department of Labor took 600,000 new apprentices into its Registered Apprenticeship Program, this would generate a return of $74.4 billion in social benefits to the U.S. economy.

Clearly, then, targeting the poorer minorities of the millennial generation — who are in dire need of these opportunities — could help tackle the unemployment problem plaguing my generation. But first we need to shift the focus toward these kids, rather than the ones posting pictures of their lunches on Instagram.

In other words, the spoiled white kid stereotype needs to go, for the sake of those who actually need attention, not for the ones who apparently crave it.

Write to Nick at njv10@pitt.edu.