millenial housing crisis?
hey Steemians!
For years now it's been the battle between the boomers and millennials in Canada, Who is right? Being a millenial or some might say xenial, who know's I don't like labels too much, I hear boomers say we are lazy, we don't want to own homes, we are causing the demise of luxury brands or other brick and mortar establishments because we don't buy their products or shop online for a better deal, we are this that and everything they don't want us to be. Are we that bad lazy generation? After all, they are the ones who raised us and created the current financial mess we millenials have to deal with.
RCM 25 for 25 series 2015. Shot 1/100 sec. f/5 40 mm, ISO 400
Reality is, we are the most educated generation of them all, yet the most indebted with student loans we already start our lives at a disadvantage boomers didn't have. I can remember the adults in my life when I was a child talking about how most of them got good jobs and many of them never even got pass grade 10. If they did pursue a post secondary education, it was at a much cheaper cost than what we paid and it has become so bad that our provincial government put the breaks onto how much post secondary establishment can increase prices. Is that even possible in Canada this day and age to get a job without a high school diploma? Even with a college or university and all these fancy degrees, it seems to be harder and harder to make it with stagnating wages that never seem to keep up with inflation. Frankly, production has nearly doubled since the 70's... lazy really? seems to me like we work more for less.
Last few years, even with a degree or two ,many of us in Alberta were forced to take wage rollbacks shoved down our throats by companies gloating about their record profits if that isn't insulting enough medical benefits want more money, paid from our already slashed paycheck and not paid by our employer. 100's of thousand workers losing their jobs, some their homes, their livelihood because they relied on times being good forever almost like a false sense of security, we work for big energy companies after all, everybody uses energy in one form or another. In the midst of this provincial economic collapse, every company's solution to make up for loss revenue of less sales is increase prices on everything to rake even more profits from the ones they just laid off.
RCM 25 for 25 series 2016.Shot 1/60 sec. f/4 40 mm, ISO 500
A recent chart shows that Alberta has seen the largest inflation rate in the country in the last months at 3.4% when Quebec, the one that receives most of the equalization benefits of the country saw the lowest 2.5%. To be honest they take take take , get many social programs paid for that no other Canadians have access to, declared themselves illegal immigrant sanctuary via what they call "irregular border crossing" the new political correct term for border jumpers that are fleeing persecution from the Cheeto colored President, and now they are demanding the rest of Canadian tax payers pay up for the strain it has put on their finances yet reject any project the west attempts to unify the country with our rich oil reserves, they prefer to buy from Saudi Arabia with poor environmental and social records and known for aggression on minority countries and religions causing some of these "irregular border crossings" in the first place. (Not to worry, I agree with immigration who follow the proper application process, just to be clear.) We are such a nice country that even the cops that are supposed to guard and arrest them for breaking the law with their first steps into our country even helps them get their luggage across the border.
British-Columbia is up to the same antics, cock block any of Alberta's attempts to unify the country and not be so reliant on foreign oil. If they stopped using it altogether for a cleaner future, I would understand but it is not the case, they too prefer buying back at an inflated cost what we sell at a discount to our only client, the United States. Realistically it's the same dirty oil they speak of and don't want, they are just not willing to educate themselves on where it comes from and whine they pay the most in the country. In return it has caused all the goods to increase in prices all over the country. We own the third largest reserve in the world and we import? really? Our twit Prime minister with the nice hair just bought said pipeline for 4.5 billion dollars of tax payer fund and now his courts put it on hold and it could be delayed for several years resulting in more layoffs...again? What kind of banana economics is that? A monkey can do better. Honestly I can't say I'm all that shocked since he sold off the last few crumbs of gold Canada had left. That is right, each one of us individually on #steemsilvergold probably own more precious metal than our government, it's old news but yet I still don't know what to think of it other than we are doomed in the long term.
RCM 25 for 25 series 2016. Shot 1/60 sec. f/4 40 mm,ISO 450
There are more houses on the market here than there has been in a while, yet real estate companies manipulate the numbers and sales to make seem better than it is yet houses stay on the market for much longer than they used to and still sell at boom prices in a bust cycle. The reason they are not selling? It's the millenial's fault because we are not buying overpriced houses on a 40 year mortgage at near half a million dollars because our priority is eating avocado toast instead of saving up for a down payment . Reality check boomers, avocados are 2 for a $1 and a loaf of bread isn't all that costly either and more nutritious then ramen noodles, I don't think that is the reason yo... there has to be a more logical explanation. I'm not sure how they expect us to pay that with stagnant or slashed wages and benefits. It was calculated by professionals and these numbers displayed in our economic news, if the housing prices would have kept up with inflation since the 1970's the average urban single family home should cost $210 000...Hummm, that's less then half of what they go for here in Edmonton , even worse for Vancouver or Toronto where half a million dollars buys you a pile of rubble literally. Yeah that's right I used the "L" word!
Because that is not enough money thrown in the raging fire paying all this back with interest, this half a million dollar money pit will need all sorts of repairs and renovations before I finish paying it of at the young age of 70+. You see boomers, we live under different economic climate you lived at our age. Yeah maybe our wages seem high compare to the peanuts you used to make in "the good old days" your expenses were also peanuts compare to today. The struggle is real even if you are blind to see it. Maybe with all of our fancy useless degrees , we became critical thinkers and can see the white picket fence dream is nothing more than illusion, a race to the bottom of the pit with nothing to gain in the end and everything to lose. Maybe I will choose to keep investing into the one market that isn't rigged against us yet , precious metals while it is still at back up the tuck prices... before it's too late for that too.
RCM 25 for 25 series 2016. Shot 1/60 sec. f/4 40 mm, ISO 640
Sure I can't eat it or live in it but maybe if (when) we become the next Venezuela from having to swallow one bad government policy after another and being powerless to stop the shafting, my metals might be able to buy me a nice cozy place at a bargain somewhere after the house of cards we call a banking system all comes crashing down into oblivion. Is this dystopian future only in my head or is this a semi- educated prediction? Those in charge have everyone so divided we can't even stand together anymore to fight for our futures. Either way I'm going down swinging. North America is in dire need of a labor revolution, put away all our differences and come together for once for a common goal, all religions, skin colors, blue collar, white collar, fast food & retail workers, Union & non union workers, there is more of us than there is of them. I would like the millenial generation to go down in history for something better than eating avocado toast and becoming stuck in the cracks of the system. UNITED WE STAND DIVIDED WE FALL. Clearly we can't rely on our airheads government not to sell us down the river no matter who we vote in power.
People might judge and think I'm the fool that is wasting my money on pet rocks, at least I will have tried with what I was given and what seems to be common sense in this insanity of economic sabotage instead of admitting defeat or buying into a shameless government's verbal diarrhea regurgitating on it's unsuspecting citizens that everything is A OK and that budgets balance themselves. Clearly our leader and his wife are too busy figuring out what costume to wear next for his selfie album, paid for by hard working tax paying Canadians than to make common sense decisions and take action about the state of affairs.
Well I guess you all got ladybug's alter ego, shadybug, I promise to keep her under control for the most part but when her cage gets rattled, sometimes she escapes. If it's too real for you, sorry about your luck, I know you can't really unread this. You can put your rose colored glasses back on and go back to reading about things that make everybody feel warm and fuzzy inside and keep ignoring the future.
All images taken with Nikon D7000 and 40mm Nikkor lens.
In the meantime, stack on Brothers and Sisters! X 🐞X
And I thought that here in Brazil, where I live, our politicians were corrupt and the future is dire for the people, due to unemployment and poverty caused by incompetent government. Maybe it is not only here...
Oh buddy, I think it's contagious, the greedy is getting more greedy and the gov likes the payouts. I think it's a global problem, one after another we will have have our turn until the common people lose everything and say enough is enough. some ppl are taking their own lives over this and crime has increased here. They just don't advertise that on world news.
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END THE FED !!!
End the Fed is right! It's can't end well the way it's going now.
I was shocked when I heard that Canada sold off the last of their gold, now they will nationalize (steal) all the gold mines in the next crash.
P.S. I have gold miners in my portfolio from Canada.
I shouldn't repeat on steemit the words that came out of my mouth when I saw that on the news. We have a lot of gold in the ground but still. I agree with you on the fact that if SHTF they would seize the mines for themselves, maybe con regular Canadians on handing in their gold in the name of patriotism.
@ladybug146, I share your pain, what a great explanation of life and times in Canada, it really opened up my eyes. Well done. Often we talk generalities when it comes to generations, but there are exceptions, slowly you will take over the jobs left in industry from retiring baby boomers, then will be in charge to make the right changes required to right the sinking ship.
The media certainly likes to manipulate the way the public perceives things on the inter-provincial , national and international level, the seem to omit certain facts or generalize others, with everyone trusting these outlets, I think the general public gets the wrong picture.
I hope you are right with as the boomers retire, new labor market opportunities will emerge for us. I do believe that is part of the problem, the labor market is currently over saturated with skills at the moment causing wages to go down. One thing I noticed in my line of work is boomers are retirering and pulling their pensions but they continue working instead of allowing us to take over in a sense now they have dual incomes while we fight among each other for the scraps. There are many other factors, too many to discuss on a comment! I have been looking at labor and economic charts for years trying to clarify what is happening to get a better sense of the situation as a whole, a lot of it has to do with capitalism and corporate greed, the view of money is power is currently more important than social issues. It has become a competition as to who can accumulate the most zeros in a bank account because that is currently what ppl idolizes.
A lot of the debate between millenials and boomers is most likely due to human nature, most people don't understand situations they never had to experience, not faulting anyone on that. That being said, I'm sure boomers had their fair share of struggles when they were our age, now the struggles are different, Boomers entered the labor market at the same time their consumption began as the largest generation thus having to build the infrastructures to support their needs creating one of the largest economic expansion, now all of this is built, we are a much smaller generation clearly with less demand for manufacturing infrastructure that is already built. Since the current economic system is based on continual growth, I don't think companies are taking in consideration or are unwilling to accept that from now on we will going thru a decline instead of expansion because we are a much smaller generation. Our current credit based economic model cannot support such decline in consumption. Since we don't feel like we have a secure future, many of us are not having children or choose to have less of them, have them later in life, the next generation is likely to go thru a similar thing because they too will be a smaller generation than ours.
Thanks for the post, I was on a business trip, so I have delayed a response. Good analogy of the situation from a millennial and Canadian prospective. Boomers will drain the system of the pensions and government funded handouts, just due to shear numbers. Automation is causing a drain of available jobs, as machines can work 24 hours a day, rarely call in sick due to maintenance, and never complain about working conditions.
Unfortunately, the West has exported the manufacturing jobs to the East, cheap labor is a great incentive for a business man. Labor unions have out-priced themselves from being demanding on ever higher wages and pension plans that are destined to collapse under their own weight. People are not dumb and will drain what is left of any pension or benefit they feel they deserve.
The new generations to come will be saddled with the mistakes of the past, education is watered down, and way too expensive for any return on investment, so may are forced to live in mom's basement, working at McDonald's, or some other minimum wage jobs with a BA degree in Business, being wasted.
I sure hope smarter heads prevail, but the heads in charge are ruthless bastards, looking to suck the last dime from the rest of the 99%. Just my opinion of course, feel free to counter-post.
I agree with most of what you said except unions pricing themselves out, true to a point in some cases, others not so much. Maybe in the 70's and government employees but it was a result of the pendulum swinging the other way after years of underpaying and the lack of labor laws. I don't really look into other unions tho, just my own and yes we are expensive to hire but in my craft we are a mobile specialized skill set and knowledge in dangerous positions along with emergency response personnel like firefighters and cops, we are exposed to a lot of hazards on a daily basis and we should be compensated for the wear and tear on our bodies and the years it takes off our lives if we are fortunate enough to make it to retirement. In my case we used to have a formula called magic 90 (years of age + years of service = 90) for full benefits. Now its strait up 65 yet most in my line of work die by the age of 60. It is designed to make fat cats fatter and does not benefit most of the workers in anyway. That being said, I started at 22 so I will have to work 43 years in dangerous and explosive environment with toxic chemicals before I am eligible for pension and that is inhumane for anybody. Trust me that is not going to happen in any way shape or form, besides I suffer from autoimune disorder so I will be long dead before I get to 65 anyway. As it is the pensions have solvency issues because of mismanagement of funds and we have been paying extra from our wages to try to save the fund(collective decision, frankly it needs to fall apart and get a better strategy as in individually manage our own fund instead of giving to someone else that in return rob us). With the solvency issues, to pull out now would give us next to nothing compared to our contributions. Like you said, boomers will not take concessions and will drain the rest of the funds with the numbers alone. The commuted value is double of the return on investment which that in itself doesn't make sense.Yet nobody is willing to hold any bureaucrats accountable for anything and the insanity and robbery of the workers continues.
Globalization, automation is going to drain all the jobs out of the west and that is where each individuals need to support their local economies instead of the cheap goods being brought in. This day and age there is a consumerism problem and that is up to society to wake up and start voting with their dollars. I think that is where the millenial generation is starting a revolution as to how we consume compared to boomers and gen x, at least in Alberta. The return to minimalism and shopping local for our food and other goods, perhaps that is part of our adaptability caused by the current conditions and the direction it is currently going. We don't see material things as a thing of social status and put more emphasis on social values. I was proud to see that make the news recently, but I suppose that is why we are being called snowflake or bleeding hearts generation.
I agree with diluted education, many of my friends have degrees and work at fast food joints and call centers because that is where they get enough hours and make more money as little as it may be. The market is over saturated with the same watered down education while blue colar jobs have been belittled by education establishments and have a huge shortage in skilled trades, why I went that route, not because it's fulfilling but it's hard to automate my job and it pays better then other fields because of the huge shortage of skills in a high demand oil and energy field even tho we are feeling the greed pinch too, most have it worse for now but our conditions degrade with the rest, I guess it's a harder fall.
Frankly those in charge are nothing more than a puppet for the greedy and are self serving no mater who is there and will take the payouts not to have to suffer with the rest of us minions. I also think they are disconnected and sheltered from the reality with every news outlet and agencies fudging the numbers to fuel their agenda. Most of them being already brought up wealthy are blind to see or just don't care. It wont change until the common ppl say enough is enough and stop contributing to their madness by consuming the easy (costly)convenience carrot dangled in all of their faces. It is hard for most people to take their circumstances in their own hands and do their own research and act in their own best interest. When people stop chasing the social norm of how is dictated their lives should be, nothing will change for the better.
The good news is, with blockchain technology and cryptocurency will eventually make all those corrupt bankers and those at the top obsolete and they will have their turn in their shenanigans falling apart right before their eyes and becoming commons like the rest of us. Their own greed will get them too, they are just to blind and arrogant to see it yet. That should also help the case for precious metals returning to their true value once it all blows up in their faces with their debt built empires. Go PM's and Go Blockchain technology! A huge transfer of wealth is in it's infancy slowly gaining ground from the shadows.
My house with new kitchen would cost you 400.000,- EUR. Interested ? No mountains though!
Holy crap! I think if you work out the exchange it's pretty much the same price as here!! I guess they are like that all over and not just Canada. I need my mountains hehe :)
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