It is supposed to be a time of opportunity and adventure, before the pressure of marriages, mortgages and children have entered our thoughts. But for many people, myself included, the period between graduating university and approaching age 25 has been far from liberating. Stress about employment, debt, relationships and future goals are what, for many people approaching 25, marks those years of transition from university to “the real world.”
This was first brought to my attention, not by my own crisis which was likely ongoing underneath my own nose, but by a few online phenomenons that myself and my friends were able to relate to, to the point of relief. I read/watched this viral sensations and thought to myself, “So, I’m not the only one.”
This humourous video makes light of the anxieties 20 somethings are now facing.
And then, this article was liked and reposted and retweeted by young adults who all felt the same way, where #9, #11 and#19 reflect everyday issues in our 20 something lives.
The fact is that many entering their mid-twenties suffer anxiety and stress about succeeding in careers, about whether they should begin to settle down (or perhaps questioning if they have settled down too early), and about finances such as raising a mortgage deposit.
The quarter life crisis, however, is a relatively new phenomenon unique to our generation. Our parents, conversely, experienced their 20′s in a whole different way. So what has changed in society at large that has now riddled our mid-20s with questions, qualms and anxiety?
Baby Boomers and the recession
As a recent graduate searching for work, I can say that the job market is grim…at best. As Canada attempts to bounce back from a recession, so has our job market… and it’s making a rather slow comeback. Most people who graduated from 2009 onward have found themselves fighting millions of other graduates for their first job out of university to no avail. Meanwhile, the baby boomers simply won’t move on. I know my own father, now 75, still works a part-time job. Boomers are no longer adhering to the retirement plans that used to propel the older generations to take Caribbean cruises and welcome the new crop of job hunters. Retiring at 65 is a thing of the past and jobs for people like us are few and far between.
You’ve got your whole life ahead of you
Somewhere between graduating from high school and entering university, I toyed heavily with the idea of travelling for an extended period of time before I came back to Ottawa to face the music and university. I, myself, didn’t end up doing that, but I know many people who did either before university or shortly after. This new found mentality is something that simply didn’t exist in the past, at least not as ever present as it is now. The problem is, after “taking a year off” from graduating university, 20 somethings are finding themselves hit hard with the harsh reality that their world tour has now set them behind a year- and in turn has taken time away from a valuable internship or job opportunity.
Til debt do us part
One of the major sources of stress for 20 somethings, is debt. University, especially in Ontario, is perilously expensive and leave many students rife with debt. The Canadian Federation of Students says the average debt for university graduates is almost $27,000. The cost of getting an advanced education has gone up precipitously. Today, nearly two million Canadians have student loans totalling $20-billion.
Not only do we have this crushing weight of debt upon our shoulders, but we have had the misfortune to be thrown into a dangerous property market. While battling the outrageous real estate market, we’re attempting to finance our degrees, careers and cost of living.
Mr./Mrs. Right
Fortunately, we were the generation who grew up with choices. The choice to go to university. The choice to move county. The choice to marry whomever we want. And the choice to get a divorce. Growing up, many of my friends suffered through broken marriages, as they watched their parents battle through their relationship to eventually turn to divorce. These experiences have left our generation weary of marriage, terrified of divorce and essentially finding marriage a difficult leap of faith.
In a report released in 2008 by Statistics Canada, it estimated that 41% of marriages will end in divorce before the 30th year of marriage. Although, divorce rates are now on the decline, that hasn’t erased our generation’s fear of turning into a divorce statistic and it seems we now take marriage with a grain of salt. This stress of finding the perfect spouse, one who will not lead you down the same path your parents faced, is overwhelming as we reach the summit of our quarter life crisis.
The quarter life crisis is a real issue that many 20 somethings are grappling with and that scientists and academics are beginning to examine at length. It’s a scary time to be a 20-something and it can sometimes be hard to gain perspective or sometimes it can be easy to be too hard on yourself.
And although I may not have the power to improve the job market or make houses more affordable, in a nutshell, you are not alone.
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