According to a Business Insider there are “7 ways life is harder for millennials than it was for their parents”*. These include:
1. Millennials are less financially stable than previous generations were.
2. Millennials are saddled with student debt — but a college education is more necessary than ever.
3. Millennial men are more likely to live at home with their parents than previous generations were.
4. Millennials are overwhelmed by the dating pool.
5. Millennials feel as if they have to be “always on” at work.
6. Millennials’ self-image erodes in the face of ever-present social media.
7. Millennials are shelling out more on childcare than previous generations were.
In this fourth installment, I continue to address how I see that millennials have opportunities previous generations never had.
Millennials are overwhelmed by the dating pool. Now, surely, this one is from The Onion?
Be your best today; be better tomorrow. The author of the article stated that “social scientists call it the ‘paradox of choice.’” In other words, the overwhelming number of choices provided by online dating make it more difficult to settle down to a relationship. Perhaps, but I would say that, as a potential parent of a millennial, I was quite underwhelmed by the dating pool. I met my wife when I was nearly forty on Match.com. She was living in Virginia, and I was in Michigan. I call it “fate”. We would not have met were it not for the Internet (and quite a bit of kismet). I don’t regret the lack of opportunities previous to meeting my wife. Truth be told, there were plenty of opportunities, just not the right opportunity.
In my opinion, being overwhelmed by the dating pool is more a sign of not knowing for what one is looking. In addition, given that so many millennial men are still living at home, perhaps, they should not be looking to settle down.
Divorce rates continue to climb. Women are left to raise kids as single mother. Maybe, just maybe, this is an indication that millennials are needing to wait to get married and start a family. Women seem to be getting it. Men?
If you are overwhelmed by the dating pool, pause and step back. Get your priorities in order and decide what you want. Then, when you got your stuff together (and are able to move out of your parents’ home), start to look for your soul mate. Again, we are needing to learn delayed gratification.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!
* http://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-lives-compared-to-gen-x-baby-boomers-did-2018-3#millennials-are-shelling-out-more-on-childcare-than-previous-generations-were-7