I am very excited to be making my debut over at Daily Wire, the popular conservative/right-leaning website founded by Ben Shapiro. This piece is a shift from my usual fare, talking about history and culture instead of current-day geopolitics. It discusses an issue that is near and dear to my heart both as a historian and a member of the Millennial generation (born 1981-96): why my peers see themselves as uniquely put-upon by history and reality. It is a common trope that Millennials view their lives as especially chaotic and bad, with many claiming to be worse off than their predecessors by a long shot. But the interesting thing is that none of this is true. In my piece, I marshal the data and show conclusively that the world Millennials live in is significantly better in most ways than that of their forebears, whether on health and wealth or opportunity and leisure. I then posit an explanation for why, despite the facts, Millennials still feel this way; I land on the formative experiences we had in the 1990s, an era of abnormal peace and historic calm, which still anchor our vision of normalcy today.
I may be putting out a longer, more detailed version of the piece on Rational Policy next week, so stay tuned for that one. But until then, below is an excerpt of the Daily Wire piece. You can read the whole thing here.
Millennials, those born between 1981 and 1996, are the largest generation in America today, numbering nearly 75 million people. We comprise 22% of the population and 36% of the workforce, the biggest share for any generation. We have record educational attainment, with nearly 40% of millennials achieving a bachelor’s degree or higher. And yet we are still far unhappier than prior generations.
We suffer from depression and anxiety at substantially higher rates. And some of us feel like our lives are meaningfully worse than those of our forebears. Many descend into nihilism, doomscrolling social media and posting about living through the most turbulent period in modern history. Others spend their time worried about the future, whether in the form of climate anxiety, fears of a nuclear war, or predictions of incipient fascism or communism.
But is this doomerism warranted? Do millennials really have it worse off than our predecessors? And if not, why do so many genuinely believe this?
Despite the nostalgia, millennials have had it about as good as any generation in historical terms. Let’s start with health and welfare. Since 1900, the average American has gained 31 years of life expectancy. Since 1950, life expectancy has increased around 11 years. And this isn’t just from massively improved infant mortality statistics. Over a 100-year period, life expectancy at ages 65 and 85 rose almost 50%. Babies can survive past infancy, despite being born as early as 21 weeks’ gestation.
At the same time, people are far healthier and die far less often from preventable or treatable illness. Diseases or disorders that would have been a death sentence a few decades ago have turned manageable. The pace of medical and pharmaceutical innovation has been rapid and progress great. Modern medicine has largely eradicated illnesses that have plagued humanity for eons. In 1924, 16-year-old Calvin Coolidge Jr., the son of the sitting president, got a blister playing tennis. He died. Today, a simple doctor’s visit and an inexpensive course of antibiotics would solve his ailment. And this is just a taste of the profound improvements in our lives and health.
In terms of our material wealth, overall prosperity, and ability to afford some of the most important things in life, we are similarly well off. One of the biggest millennial gripes is our relative wealth compared with prior generations at the same age, but this is simply not true at all. Compared with baby boomers in the same age cohort, millennials had 60% higher net worth in inflation-adjusted terms. We do even better when compared with Gen X. And the goods and services that millennials can buy with that wealth are better and cheaper than ever before. Homes are substantially larger than in previous eras, growing over 40% in the past half-century, while household sizes have gotten smaller. Those dwellings come with far greater amenities, from climate control to time-saving household appliances. Builders make homes more safely and efficiently, reducing energy costs and saving lives.
Transportation is also better, more accessible, and far cheaper than in the past. The average household currently owns just over 1.8 automobiles as compared with 1.16 in 1969, and those vehicles have gotten safer, larger, more fuel-efficient, and more durable. Air travel has experienced an even greater change, going from a luxury for the rich to something completely normal and accessible to the masses. There are fewer layovers, a greater variety of destinations, and far cheaper airfare — dropping almost 40% in real dollars since 1995 and much more compared with the 1960s. Communication costs have declined to essentially zero, while communication technologies have vastly improved, becoming nigh-ubiquitous. It has never been easier to connect with family, friends, and like-minded people around the world.
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