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Anytime anyone speaks about the financial challenges faced by today’s young people, a polarizing debate ensues: Who had it worse Boomers, Generation X or Millennials? Melissa Leong spoke with someone of each generation about being privileged or lazy or overeducated or just plain screwed.

Linda Schweitzer, an associate professor with Carleton University’s Sprott School of Business, Generation Xer (Born between 1965-1980)

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QWho had it worse Boomers, Generation X or the Millennials?

A Nobody had it as good as the Boomers. The Gen Xers have had it much worse than the Millenials and the Baby Boomers. The ’90s were a nasty time.

QWhy is there this hype about Millennials being so-called ‘Generation Screwed’?”

A Every time the labour statistics come out, people say, ‘Oh my goodness, double the unemployment rate for the young people?’ Let me explain to you about the Statistics Canada data. One: they include 15-year-olds. I take the 15 to 19 year olds out of the mix, then the unemployment number doesn’t stay so high and when you compare it historically, it also doesn’t look so bad. (The average unemployment rate in 2011 was 7.4%.) When was it worse? When the Gen Xers were looking for jobs. The average unemployment rate between 1976 and 2011 is 12%. The highest was in 1983 (when Prof. Schweitzer graduated from high school) at 17.8%.