Millennials and baby boomers: Living in a multigenerational family during the pandemic

BY J.E. Nickerson

Recently I spent time with my 67 year old mother. We discussed the current state of the economy and our plans for the immediate future, in light of the direction that society was taking. As a millennial looking at the rising prices in the economy and the unending spending and giveaway programs of the government, it’s easy to feel discouraged and wonder what lies in store for the future. Discouragement and stress over the current state of society, is an issue shared by many millennials at this time in history. According to the article Stress from covid 19 causing millennials to struggle with decision making from the New York Post reposted from Fox News, an American Psychological Association survey of stress in America, says that millennials are especially affected by the current state of society. More than 50 percent of the 3,000 individuals surveyed, said that they struggle with daily tasks because of stress from dealing with Covid. Nearly a third of the millennials who took the Resilience Survey by the Harris Poll organization reported stress levels so high that basic decision making was a struggle in their daily life, compared to the way they felt before the pandemic. 

63 percent of the respondents to the poll admitted to feelings of uncertainty about the future. This also made them feel that planning for the future was impossible. Both millennials and generation z members said that they did not know how to manage the stress and discouragement they felt. 

While this article is not a cure for the issues that millennials and generation z members face, I would like to offer some encouragement and insight to my readers. I will also share with you some of the things I have done to help manage the stress from the last several months of dealing with covid. 

As I mentioned earlier, I recently spent some time talking to my family about the issues we are currently facing in society. As a baby boomer, my mother went through the recession of the 1970’s and had to deal with long gas lines. Beginning in the 1970’s under the Nixon administration, congress and the presidency began a spending campaign that increased social welfare programs and caused national budget deficits. Nixon imposed wage and price controls during this time. One of the many problems that this created was that the value of the American dollar was not able to be backed by the value of gold. Prior to these decisions, the strength or buying power of the American dollar, was ultimately backed by the value of gold. The decision to abandon gold as the backing for the dollar bill, caused devaluation of the American dollar in the international monetary markets and contributed to a rise in inflation. 

By the second term of the Nixon administration, inflation was starting to rise. The price fixing measures of the administration, caused widespread shortages in many areas of society including gas and food shortages. Farmers and other people who produced goods sold in stores, cut back on production because they would be selling their products at a loss by the time they were ready to be transported to stores. Some of the other policies that Nixon tried to impose included federalization of Medicare for poor families with children and state run health care plans for everyone with a cost sharing price structure. This meant that instead of healthcare being regulated to the private sector health care companies, people would be placed on a national state run health care plan and have to pay for treatments and costs not covered by the state run health care plan. 

According to the article, “How the Great Inflation of the 1970’s happened” on Investopedia’s website, Nixon once said “We’ll take inflation if necessary, but we can’t take unemployment.” This way of thinking lead to both high rates of inflation and unemployment. During the 1970’s-1980’s unemployment soared to over 10%. This caused great stress and anger among Americans who struggled to survive the economic fallout from the Nixon presidency. 

Democratic president Jimmy Carter who’s administration lasted from 1977-1981, also had a huge impact on the American economy. As soon as Carter was inaugurated, he proposed an economic stimulus package that would include individual tax rebates and increase spending on public projects. By 1976, the GDP or gross domestic product of the United States fell from 4% to 2.5%. The GDP is the monetary or market value of the goods and services produced by a country during a set time. In other words it’s the value of services and goods that a country produces that are sold and offered on the global market. A dip in GDP prices means that the things a country produces are losing value in the market and are not worth as much as they once were. 

If the goods and services being produced are not worth as much as they once were, then there is less money being put back into the country’s economy, relative to how much money is spent to produce the services and goods being offered.

A few months into Carter’s presidency, he identified 19 projects that he believed were unnecessary expenditures that would add to the national debt. This was referred to as pork barrel spending, a term used for projects that only served to bring money into a congressional representative’s district. Carter decided that he would veto any legislation that supported the projects he mentioned. Instead of supporting Carter’s decision to cut the pork spending, Congress defied the president’s decision and incorporated funding for several of the pork spending projects within a stimulus bill. When Carter signed the bill, he criticized Congress’ spending on the unnecessary projects. The bill still added to the national debt and hurt the economy’s overall strength. 

During the Carter administration, the national debt increased from $620 billion in 1977 to $900 billion by 1980. In 1973, the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries commonly called OPEC, reduced oil output, in order to increase the price of oil for Israel and its allies including, America. This caused natural gas prices to soar. Factories and schools closed that winter and hundreds of thousands of workers were temporarily laid off.  By 1977, oil was one of the most expensive imported goods in America. The price increased by 63% since 1973 and America was consuming over twice the amount of energy per capita compared to other countries.

Whenever my mother talks to me about this time in history, she tells me about the long gas lines and high prices for food that she had to pay. Even though my mother was married and working at this time, she was living in a mobile home,  never thought she would own a better home or be able to afford to have children. The financial issues caused by the Carter and Nixon administrations, did not last forever though. Even though America suffered stagflation, a condition where high inflation and low economic growth occur concurrently, unemployment eventually started to decrease by the late 1970’s. The average annual income for families started to increase by the mid 1970’s. It took until the 1980’s before prices and employment levels returned to the way they were before the 1970’s. By the 1980’s, my mother’s financial situation improved and she was able to afford better housing and enjoy some of the things she thought she never would have during the 1970’s. 

Like many millennials, I often wonder about the future and how I will achieve the hopes I had before the pandemic and high prices in society. Instead of trying to work outside the house, I work from home as an author and help my family. Living with family as a millennial means sometimes helping my mom learn to use her iPad after it is updated, helping with regular tasks around the house and being a source of encouragement to my family members. It also means that whenever I am struggling with discouragement and the frustration of a covid restricted society, I have someone to talk to. 

One of the biggest struggles that millennials have today is the struggle with loneliness. Socializing, dating and many other things that millennials enjoyed before the pandemic, have been put on hold because of covid restrictions and other issues affecting society. While this does put stress on many millennials including myself, having family in my life has given me a way of connecting with people and supporting each other as we navigate a pandemic era society. 

If you are struggling with loneliness and pandemic induced stress, reach out to family. Contact friends and find ways of connecting online with people. One of the most important things to do when you are lonely is to pray and reach out to God. While economies and presidencies change, God is unchanging. He cares about us and loves us unconditionally. He is always willing to hear our prayers and touch our lives with his love and guidance. 

If you have felt abandoned by friends, family or don’t know how to deal with the stress of everyday life, I encourage you to pray and ask God to touch your life and make himself real to you. While we do not know when certain activities we once enjoyed will be available again, there is still hope for the future. If we trust in God and ask him to guide us, he will help us deal with the stress and fear of the pandemic. 

People sometimes let us down and Covid has taken many people’s family members away without warning. But God promised in the Bible that he will not leave us or forsake us. Not even Covid can keep us from his provision and love. 

While our current economy is struggling with financial difficulties, a war in Europe and rising inflation with food and gas prices, there is still hope for the future. Leaders can make mistakes and government agencies can attempt to offer solutions to the issues of life. But only God can truly help us in our daily lives and provide the solutions we need. Trust in his provision and ask him to lead you in your daily life. 

 

Resources

https://www.foxnews.com/real-estate/millennials-moved-teenage-bedrooms-during-pandemic 

https://www.investopedia.com/articles/economics/09/1970s-great-inflation.asp

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Nixon

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/gdp.asp