Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation

Abstract

It is surprising how one generation can be unmindful of another generation’s lived reality and challenges. How well do the Baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) and Generation X (or Gen X, born between 1965 and 1980) understand the lived reality of the millennials (Generation Y or Gen Y, born between 1981 and 1996)? Surely, boomers and Gen X’s would benefit from understanding millennials and their upbringing, cultural conditioning, and expectations. Anne Helen Petersen’s Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation is a good starting point in this understanding. The book’s central theme is the feeling of millennials’ “burnout” in the face of growing up, securing a career, and raising children. “Can’t even” means one is emotionally overwhelmed. Petersen explores five topics: (i) the conditioning of the millennials by their boomer parents, (ii) millennials’ expectations of college and university, (iii) internships and graduate employment and careers, (iv) leisure and free time, and (v) parenthood. Petersen investigates the millennials’ “burnout” and opportunities and challenges in the broader context of late capitalism (neoliberal ideology) and global events (the 2003 Iraq War, the 2008 recession, and the COVID-19 pandemic). Overall, the book highlights that a balanced and quality life for millennials requires intergenerational understanding and government policies to enable them to experience the “good life”.