Life looks completely different for each age group, even for people whose childhoods are only a decade apart.
Each generation also has its own strengths and weaknesses, both of which are also evolving every day as our society demands different things from people. For example, younger generations cannot handle certain basic life hardships, even though baby boomers and Gen Xers handled them early in life. They didn’t have the same childhood experiences and opportunities, and while they still face adversity, it’s in a way more unique ways.
Essential hardships boomers and Gen X dealt with early in life that Gen Zers can’t handle
1. Dating in person
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While this was certainly more of an adolescent and young adult experience for Boomers and Gen Xers, all of the dating struggles older generations faced came from personal interactions. They couldn’t hide behind a screen or rely on dating apps to go out with people. They had to make a good first impression and actually plan dates together.
Dating apps and internet availability have all sorts of consequences for young people dating today, including: choice overload from having too many optionsbut they look so much different than traditional dating etiquette and matches.
2. Handling of medical appointments
So many Gen Zers struggle to keep up with doctor’s appointments and health because they don’t know how to make deals or do not want to talk on the phone. Their barriers to social etiquette affect their social circles and affiliations, but they also directly affect health and well-being.
Yes, it was a fundamental difficulty for young Gen Xers and Boomers to have to schedule appointments or talk to doctors on their own, but for young people today, the challenge looks completely different.
3. Make new friends offline
Many Gen Zers find social connection much more difficult than other generations. They are isolated in their homes and rely on screens for a sense of comfort as they navigate the world, making it harder for them to truly build relationships and new connections. Compared to older generations, they are slow lose the social skills it takes to make friends offline.
In addition to all kinds of financial barriers to modern society, making friends happens almost exclusively on the Internet. It has become something of a commitment, especially when so many young people don’t have the social skills to talk to strangers and find common interests with a new person.
4. Dealing with uncertainty
One of the biggest challenges for young people in the workplace and in the professional space today is their lack of social skills. The cannot handle uncertainty in conversations and interactions because they often practice and script social situations for a sense of comfort and security. For many, avoidance is their way of coping.
But for Gen Xers and Baby Boomers, conversations and interactions are not only much easier, but they also seek them out. They prefer face-to-face meetings and conversations over offline emails and text messages. They find it easier and more respectful to connect in person.
5. Being truly alone
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Gen Xers and many boomers are characterized by their loneliness and isolation as children. They weren’t the only ones the least parented generationsbut also spent tons of time out of the house playing in the neighborhood without any supervision.
Their self-reliance was a liability and something they needed to grow into, compared to many young kids today who are spoiled and have technology as a buffer to true independence.
They experienced real boredom without screens. They had to fill their time without technology and online entertainment. They were disconnected from people when they were alone, instead of having someone just a text away.
6. Job search with limited information
Compared to older generations who were somewhat promised a job after graduation and could realistically find any kind of job in specific newspaper sections or through family friends within a week, Gen Zers are struggling. Not only is their investment in higher education not paying off, but they struggle to find even the most basic employment.
For Gen Zers, information is spread across thousands of forums and a million different environments. It adds more stress and overwhelm to young people’s plates. Especially with such a high level of competition and economic struggles, there are even more barriers to youth success in entering the workplace, even though there is more information available.
Yes, they are dealing with the difficulties of earning money and getting a job, but the labor market struggles and the limited information older generations had to work with are completely different from what young people face today.
7. Waiting and saving
Not only do young people save, but many are “domspending” to get by with the state of the world and their lack of future investments to save up for. They are used to the instant gratification of their phones and having everything at their fingertips, so they are less patient than older generations.
Their boomer and Gen X counterparts had no choice but to wait. Yes, they were taught patience through mandatory boredom and alone time, but their parents also instilled in them an inherent patience and austerity simply because of the social context in which they grew up.
Young people can be delay major life events and decisionsbut when it comes to daily entertainment and stimulation, they are a bit more impulsive.
8. Entertain yourself
Many of the hobbies and rituals older generations carry with them today are directly based on their childhood experiences. The things they did to entertain themselves without parents at home and spend quality time with their friends are likely the things that informed their adult identities and routines.
Older generations formed their personality through adversity by entertaining themselves. Yes, Gen Z deals with their own unique struggles at the hands of internet entertainment and mindless scrolling, but they can’t handle the silence and stillness of entertaining themselves through solitude.
9. Cooking for every meal
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Most older generations know that cooking at home and making do with what they had was a necessity growing up. There was no DoorDash for convenience, and in the financial situation they were in, going out to eat was nothing short of a special-occasion luxury.
Many young people today, whether they spend money they have or not, depend on food delivery and instant gratification. Some don’t even have the basic cooking skills to make something for themselves when they need it.
10. Remembering someone’s phone number
Although it seems like one of the most basic conveniences of their cell phones today, Gen Zers take having saved contacts for granted. Whether it was meeting a new friend or mingling in a community, Boomers and Gen Xers were constantly flexing their memory muscles to remember people’s phone numbers.
It was part of the charm and intentionality of talking to someone on the phone or meeting someone new. They were invested or interested because simply remembering someone’s number and taking the time to call them meant more than it does today.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a senior editorial strategist with a bachelor’s degree in social relations & politics and gender studies, focusing on psychology, relationships, self-help and human interest stories.
