If you've worked for 30 years, you're already 50. You don't have time to get ahead at that point if you've now been interrupted- you've already had 30 years. The younger people, if they can't get into a good job, and have to push back their lives, will be much worse off and behind by the time they've put in 30 years of work.

The people you surround yourself with have raised sorry examples of children. I'm a member of gen Y, and don't know anyone like the children of your friends/neighbors/family.

"I think that their video/media-driven hyper-social cyber-addled brains have been corrupted with an over-sized sense of entitlement and unrealistic expectations" - That's a very insulting blanket statement.

I paid my way through university, did business, and now work in the downtown, and yet I can't even afford a car. I don't live a lavish lifestyle whatsoever and I know I'm very lucky to have paid my way through school and have already paid off my debt, but most of my peers haven't been as prudent with their finances (and maybe weren't as lucky with scholarships and the like) - this lack of financial education isn't completely their fault, nor is the current state of the economy. If you have charasmatic, well-educated finance grads struggling to find work in one of the best economies in the world (Alberta) - do you blame the kids? No. We've worked hard. I have lots of friends who've done everything right - not arts degrees - and are still working at sportschek. Yes, at least they have jobs and we're not living in Greece, but these are some good years to get ahead before people start having kids, etc., and no one is getting ahead.

Adjust your attitude to the reality of the situation.

"Glory days are winding up, folks. Go watch "Dustbowl Days" and "WW I Chronicles" to get a sense of where we've been and may yet go again. With a clearer perspective, Generation Y might take heart, be grateful for what is and find a way to make it better."

- Yes, we realize this. Hence the negative (realistic) perspectives garnered in this survey.

Welcome to a world where the vast majority of the population is "structurally irrelevant"...

the point of the infographic highlighting the trend is because in previous generations being politically active was deemed a very important part of citizenship.
Gen Y seems to be more atuned to individual policies on their own accord, and co-operative government, rather than the old 'us vs them' political game.
At least, I hope so.

"Start at the bottom" is a foreign language for many these days. Everyone knows SOMEONE who jumped straight into a 100k/year job with a 4 year degree and they all figure that they are entitled to that.

Agreed. It will get better, it's darkest at the beginning. This survey captures people's opinions while in the slog, as we're all really young. It will get better (fingers crossed).

Maybe your comment hits the average but not all of us had it easy. I left home at 17 (not like today's young adults), first job paid $3.10 an hour, rent was $324 a month so we shared a 1 bedroom between 3. No car, walked in the winter and biked in the summer to work. 11 years later, bought a house for $55 000 on a 27k salary, a spouse (stayed at home and 2 kids in tow). It took 25 yrs to the day to pay off. Vacation was spent in the back yard. It is what it is, best years of my life and more to come. At the end of the day, it's all about what you want, is it attainable and what is the path the get there.

Waaawaaawaaawaaa. I grew up on the prairies and we never even had electricity or a TV until I was 12, never had a phone until I was 17. My dad never made more than 10/hr in his life; he rented a small piece of land and farmed in the summer and every winter we had to move to BC where he worked in my uncles lumber camp and we lived in a wooden shack. Yeah right we were given EVERYTHING. The problem with you people is you are way too materialistic. That's what you want..the car, the house, the techy toys, the money to go out, the vacations. I have had to go back to college twice...the high school diploma only got you a job until the 80's...then you suddenly needed more. I went back to college in my 30's...worked for 17 years then was disabled by an occupational disability so now my life has been interrupted again dealing with WCB for years and finally going back to school again. In the meantime my pension is fked because I missed years of payments. You whiners don't have a clue.

Or if the media just showed pictures of the majority of us who dress normally.

A good education USED to be a free ticket to ride. A boomer with a university degree had it made in the shade. A BSc today is worth about as much as a high school diploma once was.

The GST cut was designed specifically to deny revenue to the government. To force the government to loose weight by cutting the food budget. No opinon on this, just stating what the intent was.

The government has far less to do with the future of our youth than we would like to think it has. Exporting manufacturing jobs overseas and the shift to low wage service work in the economy has nothing to do with government... its business reality in a globalizing economy. Shouting at various politicians and waving blue and/or orange, red, green flags not withstanding.

He he you're lucky.
Back in Romania of 1993, we couldn't afford Pampers (we used them only when visiting friends or relatives), so I was the one washing the diapers, boiling them and string them for drying.

My wife was (still is) queasy when it comes to THAT :)
...and still those were good times.

Nope, not nuts. Funny thing when you get diapers... they generally come with your baby in them. That makes up for pretty much everything.

Until puberty, that is.