Generation X

For the last quarter of a century, it’s been something of a national pastime to bag ad man Siimon Reynolds for being a wanker. But if Gen Y – a group who know a little something about being pilloried as superficial, materialistic, self-obsessed fame whores – were old enough to know who he is, they might be tempted to claim the 46-year-old as one of their own and insist he be treated with more respect.

Perhaps it’s time all of us — Yers, Xers and Boomers alike — rethought our attitude towards Reynolds.

For a case can be made that he is not the pretentious tool of the popular imagination, but rather a prescient pioneer who intuited where society was heading and adapted to the economic and social changes being set in motion by Thatcher, Reagan and, in Australia, Hawke and Keating, at the time he was coming of age.

Continue reading "Was Siimon the original Gen Yer?" »

There was a fiery exchange between two readers in the comments section of one of Australia’s news websites this week which provided a handy snapshot of the generational fault line in the debate over interest rates and the cost of living.

It’s a battle which is being fought between older Australians who have paid off or almost paid off their homes and who have a vested interest in the banks jacking up rates, and younger Australians who are mortgaged to the hilt, with both partners working to cover the mortgage, the bills and childcare, for whom every single-point increase in interest rates is a body blow to the family budget.

This divide has been widened by the actions of the Commonwealth Bank and the ANZ in overshooting the Reserve Bank’s official cash rate and stumping for controversial interest rate hikes. It has also been fuelled by the stated intention of the Reserve Bank itself, in trying to encourage more Australians to save, rather than getting themselves saddled with debt. As a result, for every angry 30-something or 40-something mortgagee who is fuming about the bastardry of Ralph Norris and Mike Smith, there’s a guy in his late 60s who’s planning a fortnight away in the caravan with his wife, saying: “Thank you, fellas.”

Continue reading "Selfish boomers -v- stroppy Gen-Xers in bank wars" »

Here’s a turn up for the books; it appears that modern, educated women are far more interested in staying at home with their children than climbing the corporate ladder.

A 20 year study by Melbourne University has revealed that only 1 in 3 tertiary educated Generation X women are in full time employment compared to 90% of their male counterparts. Predictably this information has been seized upon by feminists as proof that Australian workplaces are a hotbed of misogynistic inequality.

Even the study’s author, Professor Johanna Wyn concluded that the research showed that employers were not supportive of working mums, “Our young women are encouraged to excel academically but when it’s time to start a family there is very little support from employers,” she said.

Continue reading "Modern mums really just want to stay at home" »