Millennial Women in the United States

Critical Resource Response: “Millennial women are struggling financially: Here’s why (and why it’s not their fault)”

In today’s society, we have seen women break social standards and barriers. However, women are still struggling in some aspects of life. In the article, the Anzilotti argues that millennial women and those of color are not faring as well as other generations before them because most are struggling financially due to entering the workforce during the Great Recession. In the US, young women are encountering financial difficulties; in particular, they are struggling as single moms, paying off student debt, and the gender pay gap.

For the longest time, women have been told by society that we should not have kids outside of marriage and depend on the other partner financially. Today, however, we are seeing “more women are… also increasingly having children outside of marriage”, and most of “our economic and social policies are still built around this idea of a two-parent household.” With young women mostly coming college or just entering the workforce, being a single mom can have many financial difficulties. These women have to be in positions where their workplace may not offer paid leave because it is built around that two-parent household. Many young women have to face these barriers in our society, which can impact them finically.

As we all know, student debt in general sucks and can put us in financial hardship. There is no way to sugar coat paying off our debt. In our society, it can be clear that “debt affects all millennials,” but “women have are having a harder time paying it off”. Coming out of college, most students are told by our society to get a “well-paying job,” which is incredibly hard for women and those going into a male dominate workforce. It can be challenging for those women who are also women of color and don’t have much financial support from their parents. If most of these millennial women entered the workforce during the recession, it would be even more challenging for them to find jobs that could support them financially. Previously mentioned, those millennials who are single moms may have an even harder time paying off student debt. Many workplaces probably would take a man over a woman during that time.

In our society and around the world, it is clear there is a pay gap between women and men. Millennial women especially come into contact with this pay gap coming out of college and entering the workforce. Anzilotti states that “for the same job at the same companies, studies have found women are offered lower pay than men 63% of the time”. For many women, it can cause them to take longer to pay off debt, and if they are not making enough, it can be a financial hardship.

Even though these millennial women are facing financial hardships, they are fighting for a change. With the amount of attention that has been brought about in these situations, we are starting to see change within our society. Fixing these issues is one step closer to equity.

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Anzilotti, Eillie. “Millennial Women Are Struggling Financially: Here's Why (and Why It's Not Their Fault).” Fast Company, Fast Company, 19 Mar. 2019, www.fastcompany.com/90319675/millennial-women-are-struggling-financially-heres-why-and-why-its-not-their-fault.