The difference between Gen Y / Millennials, and Gen X, is that the younger generation is taking a hard look at the big consumer purchases and deciding that they're either not worth it, or are simply unaffordable.
Gen X matured into a world not quite as harsh, but generally took on huge amounts of debt to fund first school (not quite so much as current students), vehicles, homes, and marriages. Only to be hit by multiple periods of very uncertain economic times (recessions in 1989-92, 2001, 2007-2009), each of which was followed by increasingly weak recoveries. The early 1990s recovery not really picking up steam until 1995-6, the 2000s in 2005-6, and the most recent recession still not really over.
In the early 1990s, it was popular to call Gen X the "slacker generation", which I suspect was largely due to the economic conditions of the time. A few years later, they were the dot-com generation, beavering away in the first generation of Internet start-ups.
The 2000s are already being called a "lost decade". The 2010s are well on their way to much of the same. Some sectors, notably tech, have been countertrending, which may affect YC/HN impressions. But overall, economic trends have been downward.
Gen X matured into a world not quite as harsh, but generally took on huge amounts of debt to fund first school (not quite so much as current students), vehicles, homes, and marriages. Only to be hit by multiple periods of very uncertain economic times (recessions in 1989-92, 2001, 2007-2009), each of which was followed by increasingly weak recoveries. The early 1990s recovery not really picking up steam until 1995-6, the 2000s in 2005-6, and the most recent recession still not really over.
In the early 1990s, it was popular to call Gen X the "slacker generation", which I suspect was largely due to the economic conditions of the time. A few years later, they were the dot-com generation, beavering away in the first generation of Internet start-ups.
The 2000s are already being called a "lost decade". The 2010s are well on their way to much of the same. Some sectors, notably tech, have been countertrending, which may affect YC/HN impressions. But overall, economic trends have been downward.