Boomer NYU professor says Gen Z’s lazy label comes from zero faith in the payoff of hard work—and a fear that the world will end in 20 years anyway
https://fortune.com/2025/08/26/nyu-professor-suzy-welch-gen-z-baby-boomer-financial-security-student-loans-debt-housing-lazy-stereotype/
by FUSeekMe69
21 comments
Yeah fuck those kids and their lack of hope.
I think that’s probably part of it, and probably fair, but it’s a lot more than that honestly. A lot of these kids’ parents have totally failed them. They coddle them until they’re between 18 and 25ish. They do everything for them. Apply for their jobs, call their bosses, call their professors, arrange for people to hire them, try to do all their banking and tax stuff for them. They even return phone calls for them. My friend was telling me she had a mom call her at work for an adult “kid” because “I wanted to make sure it wasn’t a scam for him.” And then it’s like one day they decide, “Ok. You’re an adult now. Time to go be an adult…” But they’ve literally never taught them how to be an adult. They don’t know how to do anything themselves. It’s a recipe for becoming a miserable, anxious, depressed adult. And literally no one else out here has the time or energy to be “raising” your adult kid for you when they get out in the world.
I feel for them. There’s not a lot to do for the kids that are adults now, but for younger kids parents need to get a grip. Stop being their BFF. Stop coddling them. Stop protecting them from every disappointment, struggle, etc. They need to learn to function in the world so that when they are adults…they’re already prepared to be one. It’s a rough world out there. No need to make it harder on them by raising them to be incompetent adults.
I agree with her. The future of the world, and even more so the US, is too bleak now.
Massive wealth and income inequality, rising right wing extremism and authoritarianism, the war on truth.
Why would I devote all my energy to engage in a system that produces this output?
It’s always mommy’s fault.
Millennial here. tbh, I don’t blame gen z for acting this way (within reason):
– wage stagnation and below inflation raises
– ridiculous amount of student loans needed to obtain a degree
– trigger happy layoff culture
– out of control rent and housing prices
– (and now) out of control grocery prices
We as millennial had it tough in our 20s already, but I can’t imagine being in 20s in the current environment.
As a boomer/Gen-X myself, I respect her willingness to acknowledge that for most of Gen Z, we’re the villains in the story. We stole our childrens’ futures so we could party a little longer and then we have the nerve to lob insults at them for feeling hopeless and abandoned.
The world will not end in 20 years.
The **world** is fine. The **people** are fucked.
Earth has survived worse than us, but our civilization won’t survive global warming. Billionaires are buying apocalypse-proof islands and bunkers, so why sacrifice myself for a dead-end career?
Pascal’s Wager posits that the rational act is to believe in God, because if God exists then you get to go to heaven, and if he doesn’t then nothing happens anyway.
In spite of that very reasonable argument, as a lifelong atheist, I cannot bring myself to believe in a higher power.
Gen Z is in the same spot wrt the end result of hard work.
I worked so fucking hard for years. Raises never came, friends and family of higher ups got positions they had no place in….
The promises of boomers are consistent in the fact that they are lies.
Well if it doesn’t end….not going to be good for them.
I’m Gen X and this seems like a perfectly reasonable assessment to me! Hell, I feel that way a lot of the time myself.
Is this Jack Welch’s wife?
If so, words fail.
Is she supposed to be wrong?
I dont even want to work anymore. And I am fully grown. These poor kids.
Jodie foater & Whoopi Goldberg are extremely entitled boomers.
Where has our empathy gone?
Fair enough.
I don’t blame them. Why would they?
Professor ain’t doing much either 🤷♂️
many orgs and real non profits are out there doing good. We don’t need news that invalidates generations, general stereotyping is bad. Did the professor not go to college? Basic comm/psych shii
It’s hard that 1% own everything, but 99% have to also be responsible. But then double hard as the 1% are corrupt and probably “intelligent” and powerful via money, network, and control — yet they still half-heartedly do anything to improve the environment we all live in …
That brings me to my theory. that this world is already over and once they (aliens or maybe really evil geniuses) are done collecting the human Earth’s intelligence we are all going to die. Maybe they are aliens. Who knows. This is just some dumb thought but like come on how on Earth do all these rich people and intelligent human species? How are they not cooperating with each other? Like if there was a singular goal and that all these important leaders of these countries meet all the time and discuss and if they had a heart and trust their citizens, they would tell people, but they don’t. They don’t tell you what they’re doing. They don’t tell you any of their plans, so this world is f*****. Obviously they’re intelligent to know what they should be doing for humanity, but no something’s not right here… And I am not too sure what it is. Maybe this world is fake simulation 🫠
Environment plays a huge role in early childhood development, and this whole country is one pretty fucked environment
First, she is too young to be a Boomer. Shes just looking for fame and attention. Her comments are wring and Hyperbolic. Another Loony Loomer, perhaps?
Oops My bad. Born 1959. Picture looks younger.
Ehh 20 years is being generous. Scientists keep saying 2050 while also saying that the time is basically up anyway. The storms from last year alone should have woke people up but hey, “woke” is a bad word these days.
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