Women Today Are Worse Off Than Their Mothers
Women Today Are Worse Off Than Their Mothers
Young women today face a lifetime of uncertainties and therefore are arguably worse off than their mothers were. This is because they are hounded by debt, rising unemployment, rising cost of housing and the rising cost of living.
It was assumed that each generation would be more successful than the last, or that the generation would at the very least manage to maintain the status quo. However due to recent housing bubbles and recessions, that assumption has been shaken. Depending how old you are can determine whether or not you are financially secure.
Younger generations at the moment are now dealing with the effects of rising education and housing costs, however arguably its too simplistic to say its members “have it worse” than their parents, particularly in terms of gender. The situation has changed completely between the twentieth and twenty-first century. In the 1970s women could still be refused a mortgage if she did not have a male guarantor. Women today have more opportunities now than they have in the past and often have more materially. However we have also been brought up to believe that everything that our parents had - and more - is our birthright, not something that we get if we work hard and are lucky.
Today after completing your university education - if you choose to put yourself in vast amount of debt before you are 25 - you are more than likely to struggle to get a job. Most graduates are expected to intern for free for 6 months to a year before being offered a paying, salaried job.
This was the case for Stevie, 27 who could not afford to work without an income. She tried waitressing and squeezing in work-experience where she could, however she realised she was making herself ill, but felt she had no other option. In an attempt to kick-start her career she quit her waitressing job and slept on sofas and kitchen floors as she could no longer afford to keep her flat. Stevie believes that one of the problems is that people today are given career advice by people who are five to fifteen years their senior. The routes that they took to be successful simply don’t work anymore. She states that women in particular have far fewer choices than previous generations. Nowadays we need to learn to manage our expectations as it takes a lot harder to be successful.
A controversial article by Nigel Wilson the Head of Legal and General agrees with Stevie. Nigel said that the baby boomers “lived for free” because the capital gain they made on their homes far outweighed their mortgage interest payments.
Personally, I believe that young women today find themselves conflicted. We are told that we can have it all and we want it all however, our advisors do not understand different situation that is taking place within society and how it is different from what they experienced themselves.
Nina is in her Honours year at The University of Strathclyde in Glasgow studying History. She loves keeping fit and healthy at the gym and singing to her hearts content. Because of Nina's love of all things history related, she has a passion for reading, writing and researching. Nina is the Editor-in-Chief for an online magazine for female students at Strathclyde called Her Campus Strath and wants to continue her passion for writing after graduation.