Machado's Essay The Economy Is Still Terrible For Young People

The millennial generation is often criticized for its narcissistic tendencies and lazy lifestyles. Though it is unrealistic to shine a negative light that inaccurately labels an entire group of people, it is also unfair to discredit millennials for the way they persevere through a damaged economy. As reported by Derek Thompson in his article, “The Economy Is Still Terrible for Young People”, a majority of millennials face the problem of having jobs that “don’t pay much” with wages that “aren’t growing”. Being unable to create enough income to live comfortably may seem extremely problematic and crippling, however, in Amanda Machado’s article, “How Millennials are Changing Travel”, she documents a trend among millennials that, at first glance, seems illogical. Machado states that, “20 percent of all international tourists, or nearly 200 million travelers, are young people”. Despite economic troubles, the number of millennials that travel will continue to increase over the years. The clear obstacle that keeps millennials hesitant of packing up their things and boarding a …show more content…
One may doubt the logic of why someone would put aside money that is already scarcely distributed, just to travel. Other than the reasonable expense of travelling, it is also a matter of doing so while one is still able to. These two factors combined highlight the idea that there will be an increase of young people to go and do some traveling in their near future. As stated by Thompson, the era of underemployed graduates is “hardly over”. This means that more and more young people will be stuck in jobs that do not offer much potential in terms of wage growth, forcing them to deal with a situation that does not promise to secure their future. This point is accentuated when Machado writes, “It makes sense to travel now, instead of saving travel for a future that is in no way