By Bethany Busch & Auria Zahed, LMFT
If you’ve ever felt like you’re doing everything “right” and still falling behind, you’re not imagining it—and you’re not alone.
This week on UpLift Women’s Wellness, we unpacked a myth that’s been weaponized against an entire generation:
“Millennials are lazy. They just don’t want to work.”
Let’s be clear: that narrative isn’t just wrong—it’s dangerous.
📊 The Wealth Gap That Can’t Be Ignored
Millennials make up 25% of the U.S. population.
We hold just 4.6% of the wealth.
Boomers, at the same age in 1989? They held 21%.
This isn’t about effort. It’s about access.
It’s about policy decisions that locked us out of the very systems we were told would reward hard work.
🧾 Minimum Wage: Frozen While Prices Explode
The federal minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25/hour for 16 years.
Meanwhile, prices have risen nearly 50% since 2009.
If minimum wage had kept pace with inflation, it would be $10–$11/hour.
If it had kept pace with productivity? Closer to $20.
We’re told some jobs don’t “deserve” a living wage.
We reject that.
If you work 40 hours a week, you deserve to live—not just survive.
🏠 Housing: The Dream That Became a Gate
In 1970, the average home cost $23,000. Adjusted for inflation, that’s $175,000.
Today? $450,000.
Millennials earn an average of $71,560/year. That means a house costs six times our income.
In 1990, it was three times.
This isn’t just a price hike—it’s a wealth lockout.
We’re not failing to buy homes because we’re lazy. We’re locked out by design.
🎓 Student Debt: The Degree That Became a Trap
Boomers paid $200–$800/year for in-state tuition.
Adjusted for inflation: $1,500–$6,000.
Today? $11,000.
Private colleges now exceed $40,000/year.
Millennials carry $30K–$40K in student debt on average.
Boomers? $5K–$10K inflation-adjusted.
We were told education was the key. Turns out, it was a trap door.
🏦 Wealth Hoarding at the Top
The richest 10% of Americans own 87–93% of all stocks.
The top 1% holds 31% of total U.S. household wealth.
Their net worth is 13 times greater than the combined net worth of the bottom 50%.
This isn’t about working harder.
It’s about working within a rigged game.
💬 What We’re Really Saying
We name it.
We stop apologizing.
We stop internalizing shame for systemic failure.
We stop pretending that budgeting harder will fix a broken economy.
This episode was a reckoning.
For every millennial who’s exhausted, ashamed, and wondering why they can’t “catch up”—this is your reminder:
You are not the problem.
The system is.
