The woman in front of me in the checkout line noticed I was trying to keep a toddler from eating a receipt while trying to balance half-open packet of crackers and a backpack with one broken strap. She handed me a tote bag. No questions, no fuss. Just said, “Looks like you’ve got your hands full,” and smiled. I wanted to hug her. On another day, a young guy with noise-cancelling headphones paused his podcast to help an elderly man struggling with a tap-and-go machine. I’ve seen more small acts of decency like that than I can count. And they’re not rare.

They’re just there, which is probably why they never make the news. And to be fair, that spirit of kindness isn’t exclusive to younger people. I remember once being stuck in a parking lot with a flat tire, my hands covered in oil and grime. An older woman walking her dog stopped, asked if I needed help, and offered to call a tow truck. A few weeks ago, I watched an elderly man gently steer a panicked new driver into a parallel park on a tight street, giving her calm, clear directions while impatient cars queued behind.

These moments made me reflect on something I’ve heard over and over again, often from people I care about: that “this generation” — and by that, they usually mean Millennials, Gen Zers, or anyone who uses phrases like “emotional labor” or “burnout” is somehow lesser. Less polite. Less hardworking. Less tough. More fragile. More distracted.

But is that true? Or is it just a story we tell — one shaped more by nostalgia than by evidence?

There are real concerns, for sure. I’ve worked across enough industries to notice a shift in how some younger people approach work. I’ve seen both apathy and excellence. So I’m not here to argue that everything is better.

But I am here to ask: what are we actually basing these generational critiques on? Is it data? Lived experience? Or just a sense that “things used to be simpler,” even if they weren’t always better?

Because when I look around — at how many young people care about justice, community, and mental health — I don’t see a moral collapse. I see a generation trying to make sense of a world that often feels broken, and doing it with more honesty than we’ve ever really allowed.
The instinct to compare generations is older than sliced bread. It comforts people to believe they did things better.

That their marriages lasted longer, that they bought homes earlier, that they never had the luxury of saying no to hard things, as though remembering hardship as virtue somehow makes you more right. But “better” often just is unclear. And “hard things” didn’t come with the language or space to talk about mental health, inequality, or joy. Today’s generation is not opting out of adulthood. We’re just trying to rebuild it into something more livable—sometimes messily, but with intention.

Are younger generations truly worse off in terms of character, resilience, and contribution? Or are they simply adapting to a world that’s shifted dramatically beneath their feet? Let’s take a grounded look at seven areas where the current generation isn’t actually worse than those before—and in some cases, may even be doing better.

Screen Time and Distraction 

Sure, everyone is glued to their phones these days. We can’t deny that. But let’s not pretend that screens have changed the human condition all that much. In the past, the escape might’ve been the pub, a round of snooker, or a night at the theater, the social media of yesterday. Today, screens have simply taken over as the tool for that same kind of escape. The real issue isn’t the device but the escapism itself. People, for centuries, have been seeking distractions, whether through alcohol, work, or yes, public transport silence.

People, for centuries, have been seeking distractions — from grief, from broken homes, from responsibilities too heavy to bear. If it wasn’t the phone, it was the newspaper. If not the TV, then the whisky bottle. Golf scores, office hours, poker tables, silent libraries, long shifts, and even longer silences. So when older generations accuse young people of being disconnected, the question worth asking is: disconnected from what, exactly? Because many of those same elders grew up in houses with closed doors, unspoken rules, and absent parents— people physically present but emotionally unreachable. And that yearning isn’t unique to any one generation. What’s different now is the packaging. Same wound, different dressing. The only difference now is that today’s escapes are visible to everyone, and our isolation is wrapped in a sleek, portable package.

Handling of Money and Debt

The narrative surrounding millennials and Gen Zers often revolves around this stereotype that we’re all racking up debt without a care in the world. But if you look closer, you’ll see that previous generations might be in worse shape than you think. “Kids these days don’t know how to manage their money.” Well, that’s true to an extent. Debt is rampant, and apps like AfterPay and ZipPay make it all too easy for young people to dig themselves into financial holes. But we alsobhave to consider the larger context. Previous generations also faced their share of financial recklessness.

A 2021 study found that Gen X and Boomers are carrying more debt than younger generations, with higher incidences of credit card debt. With Gen X having the highest average debt balance in all categories, except for personal loans. Meanwhile, millennials have seen the largest increase in debt in the last five years, while the youngest consumers, Gen Z, currently have the lowest overall debt balance on average, but struggle the most to make payments.

Today’s youth may be more inclined to take on alternative credit, but they’re also more likely to budget, save (at higher rates than older generations), and have clearer financial goals. The narrative around money isn’t as simple as “young people are financially irresponsible.” It’s more about the growing gap between what was promised and the reality younger people face in an increasingly unstable economic world.
Yes, debt is a problem for all generations, the younger generations are actually doing a better job of managing finances in many ways. It’s not perfect, but they’re doing better than they get credit for.

Cancel Culture Isn’t as New as It’s Made Out to be

Cancel culture, in all its shades, has become the boogeyman of this generation. Celebrity losing endorsements, historical figures toppled from their pedestal, some tweets turned into a career death sentence — it’s easy to see how we’ve entered a new era of intolerance. But, as much as social media loves to sensationalize the idea that today’s generation is the first to ‘cancel’ people for their views, history has had its own darker versions of this.

Let’s rewind a little bit. Think the French Revolution was all about liberty and equality? Sure, but it was also about a wave of mass executions for dissenting opinions. If you didn’t like the revolution’s rhetoric, well, the guillotine was a quick fix. Go back even further — ancient Rome and Greece were brutal in their punishments for those who spoke against the emperor or the state. While today’s ‘cancellations’ are often centered around public figures losing sponsors or having their opinions scrutinized online, historically, people were literally losing their heads for being outspoken. If you think today’s Twitter mobs are bad, try walking in the shoes of someone who dared question the divine right of kings or the very idea of progress during the Age of Enlightenment. Social media? Still not as bad as decapitation.

Promiscuity and Infidelity

We’ve all heard that relationships are worse today. People can’t stay in relationships, marriages fall apart too easily, and the younger generation is “afraid of commitment.” There’s some truths that But when you dig deeper, this is another case of old-timers pining for the days of perfectly stable marriages, all the while ignoring the very real issues that plagued past generations.

Cheating, infidelity, and broken marriages have been part of human history since time immemorial. The sexual revolution of the 1960s-1970s certainly contributed to shifting norms around fidelity, it threw a wrench in the idea of committed partnerships, encouraging many to explore “free love” while leaving behind a trail of broken marriages and hearts. Even before the digital age, there were mistresses and affairs, familial breakdowns, and unhealthy marriages held together by societal pressure rather than love.

Recent Data from CDC reports that “there were 630,505 divorces in 2020 for a rate of 2.3 per 1,000 people. That represents a decline of nearly 16 percent from 2019 – the largest single-year decline since at least 2000. While the divorce rate increased to 2.5 per 1,000 in 2021 (the latest year of data available), the figure is still significantly lower than in the preceding years.”

Another recent shows data shows that certain types of DV rates are actually falling in some countries, and more support is available for troubled relationships than ever before. Today’s generation might be more open about their struggles, but that doesn’t mean they’re worse at handling relationships. They might just be willing to walk away from toxicity when previous generations might have stayed, silently suffering.

Young people today are getting better at seeking support for their relationships. They’re more likely to see therapy as a tool, not a last resort, and they’re willing to talk about the things that others would have hidden away. That’s not weakness – that’s growth.

Conflict and Hostility

We often look at today’s world and see a rise in conflicts, mistreatment of others, and general unrest. And sure, things aren’t perfect — but to suggest that today’s generation is more violent than the ones before it requires ignoring the bloody history that precedes us. On a larger scale, the Roman Empire, the Napoleonic Wars, and countless tribal conflicts across Africa, Europe, and Asia all shaped the course of history. The 20th century alone bore witness to two world wars, genocides, brutality, and countless civil wars. And despite all that, we’re supposed to believe things have gotten worse? The truth is, human beings have always found ways to be cruel to one another, and in many ways, today’s generation is more peaceful compared those that came before it.

We see it more because we film it. We post it. We share it. But statistically, many parts of the world are less violent than they’ve ever been. Public outrage is now a tool, not a whisper. If anything, the younger generation isn’t more hostile — they’re more aware.

Aggression or violence hasn’t disappeared, and we’re still struggling, we’re still fighting, but at least we’re doing it with more awareness than ever before. There’s still hatred, bigotry, and even small fights with either our friends, family can create a rift as big as some of these tragedies. None of these are new. They’ve been present, and they will continue. Our level of participation in these wars is up to us.

Sexual Exploitation is a Problem of the Past, But Also the Present

We live in an era where sexual exploitation is, rightly, being called out more frequently than ever before. We have to talk about sexual exploitation, sexploitation, a topic that’s plagued generations for centuries. The present day is far from perfect, with the exploitation of people still rampant in media, business, and beyond. But let’s not pretend that this is some novel issue exclusive to today’s world. The sexual exploitation of women and children has been embedded in societies for millennia. Ancient cultures, from Greece to Rome, often considered sexual exploitation a norm.

In modern times, the sexual revolution of the ’60s and ’70s didn’t exactly solve all our problems. Sure, it brought a greater openness, but it also enabled a lot of behaviors that only fed into the cycle of exploitation, and the normalization of toxic relationships. Even then women were often reduced to nothing more than objects in cinema, and swinger parties were the epitome of adult rebellion.

Fast forward to today, and while we still deal with many of the same issues, there’s one important difference: people are talking about it more. The revelations about Hollywood’s seedy underbelly, and social media bringing dark secrets to light all suggest that this generation is grappling with a monster of its own making. And yet, it’s naive to think this is some new plague upon society. Is that a sign of progress? Absolutely. So while the current generation still has much to contend with, at least we’re not pretending this is a new issue, We’re holding people accountable. It’s not perfect, but it’s a hell of a lot better than the silence of yesteryear.

Cultural Sensitivity Vs Tolerance

A popular complaint about today’s younger generation is that they’re “too sensitive,” that they overreact to issues like cultural appropriation, microaggressions, and political correctness. But what if the rise of cultural sensitivity is actually a sign of progress?
Let’s be honest, many past generations didn’t even have the language to talk about trauma, let alone heal from it, it’s easy to forget that racism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice were once institutionalized.

Their world was built on unchallenged power structures: patriarchy, colonialism, segregation, silence. In many households, survival meant not speaking up. Tolerance wasn’t about coexistence — it was often just code for “stay quiet.” Although many of the freedoms we enjoy today were hard-won by previous generations. Tolerance didn’t come naturally to those generations, it had to be fought for.

Now compare that to a generation raised to question, to critique, to empathize. Young people today aren’t perfect, but they are trying to build a world where language matters — where what you say, and who you say it to. It’s not about being offended for sport. Yes, some movements swing too far or lack balance, but that’s the noise of a society trying, painfully, to evolve. And, ironically, it’s the first step toward a more inclusive world.

Being sensitive isn’t a weakness. Sometimes it’s the bravest thing we can do after centuries of being told to toughen up and look away.

Closing Thoughts

By now, it might be tempting to assume this was written as a generational counterpunch — a defense of youth aimed squarely at the supposed hypocrisy of older critics. But that’s not quite right. And if you’re younger, maybe you’re wondering why it didn’t hit harder, why it acknowledged your generation’s faults instead of defending you to the hilt.

But that was never the point. We are not as different from one another as we like to think. Every generation believes it is either uniquely burdened or uniquely enlightened. But history humbles us. Patterns re-emerge. Things evolves, but fear, loneliness, pride, and love do not. The Bible refers this out plainly: There is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9 KJV). Our struggles, while deeply personal, are rarely unique. The pain we think is ours alone has often been borne before — by parents, by grandparents, by people we may never meet but whose lives shaped the soil we stand on.
This isn’t an argument against progress. It’s a call to humility.

Wisdom doesn’t belong to the old by default, just as clarity doesn’t belong exclusively to the young. The most powerful generations are the ones that manage to pair both — age and wisdom, courage and experience. Because every generation inherits a choice. We can hand down our praise or our pain. Our clarity or our confusion. Our empathy or our ego. What we pass on — that’s the legacy.

So no, today’s young people aren’t worse than the generations before them. And the generations before weren’t worse than the ones before them. But we are accountable — not just for our personal choices, but for what kind of people we become in front of others, especially those younger than us. Because in time, we all become someone else’s “older generation.”

Your Thought?

Do you think young people today are worse than those who came before? Or maybe, they’re exactly what every generation has always been; flawed, searching, and full of potential.