Millennials have been given a bad rap.

This probably has something to do with the initial branding of the generation as a cellphone-obsessed, smashed-avo-toast-eating, group of weirdos with their own shade of pink.

They’re also the generation that, notoriously, cannot afford to buy property.

I say ‘their’ and ‘they’re’ when I should be saying ‘our’. Technically, I’m a Millennial.

Popular media did everything it could to maintain the stereotype. Influencers aren’t doing anything to help with rebranding, and the Baby Boomers use it at every opportunity to point out that Millennials are entitled and misinformed.

What’s the real situation, though? If we look past the stereotypes and misinformation, this generation has a lot to deal with.

Over to VICE:

Blue Cross Blue Shield published a 32-page report detailing the myriad ways in which millennials will see their health decline and healthcare costs skyrocket over the next 10 years.

…Using a combination of data from Blue Cross Blue Shield, the CDC, and prior health studies, the report predicts millennials will achieve the new triple threat of being sicker, broker, and dying younger than the previous generation, Gen X.

Well, that’s great, and also not that surprising. Oh, also, Millennials are having less sex, probably as a result of being stressed, broke and sick.

The report goes on to detail two potential futures for Millennials. The first is a “baseline projection”, or what we can expect if we manage to fix the world as it currently is.

The second is a far more terrifying “adverse projection” which predicts what will happen if we keep stumbling along the same path.

According to that adverse projection, millennials can expect at least a 40-percent increase in mortality compared to Gen-Xers at the same age. We (and when I say “we,” I’m referring to my sick peers and myself) can also expect to pay a third more in healthcare costs than the previous generation at the same age, and because of that, make about $4,500 less per year. This all absolutely rips.

It’s no wonder “okay, Boomer” is now a thing. Please enjoy New Zealand MP (and Millennial) Chlöe Swarbrick, using the now popular phrase to dismiss the grumblings of a generation that will probably outlive us all:

Please, also enjoy the “OK, Berma” subtitles as the news station struggles to keep up with Millennial slang.

The long and short of it is, unless you’re on the list of the world’s richest Millennials, the 2020’s are going to be a tough decade. The really crappy thing is that even though we try to live healthier lifestyles than the previous generation, we’re still ‘gonna get got’.

Between 2014 and 2017, rates of depression and hyperactivity increased 30 percent among millennials. Compared to Gen-X, millennials between ages 30 and 39 are less likely to die from boring old things like heart disease and cancer, but are more likely to die from accidental overdose, suicide, and homicide.

Homicide. Awesome.

On that highly depressing note, I’ll leave you to contemplate life, the universe and everything.

While you’re at it, eat that smashed avo toast. You’ve earned it.

[source:vice]