Millennials were told to ‘have it all’ instead, we’re burnt out, broke, and grieving the future we were promised

But the truth is, living this way doesn’t always feel like balance, it feels like a tightrope walk.

There is an underlying pressure that I believe all millennials feel the weight off, this is to work to a high standard, go above and beyond, maintain a strong social life, be ever present for your kids (if you have them), and generally continue our upward mobility.

However, in doing all that it can simultaneously feel as though the walls are caving in and we’re letting everyone down.

On top of that, life isn’t getting any more affordable – from food, to childcare, travel, to mortgages – things aren’t quite stacking and we’re powerless to do much about it.

Then! When you do finally pause and make the decision to do something for yourself or your family, maybe a weekend away or a meal out, you’re hit with an unfathomable guilt. You tell yourself you’ve overindulged, spent too much, gone beyond what you “should”, which means you never properly just enjoy something.

And thus, the cycle continues: earn, spend, worry, repeat.

All of this equates to a constant sense that there’s no margin for error. We can’t afford to take risks, to change jobs, to slow down, to think about what it is we really want out of life.

And if we’re lucky enough to figure the latter out, we certainly don’t have the time or courage to go out and get it. The financial hit could be catastrophic. So, we keep running on empty, too scared to stop.

And over it all hangs the biggest anxiety of all: the world itself, the one we’re raising our children in. The climate crisis, the wars, the political instability. It all feels heavier than ever and impossible to escape, adding to the relentless feelings of guilt.

People my age have been told to hustle harder, lean in, do it all, and do it all with a smile on your face. The irony is that most of us are doing just that.

But the return on that effort is shrinking, and the exhaustion is collective. We’re a generation caught in the gap between expectation and reality, working harder than ever, for less stability, less peace, and less hope that things will get easier.

Modern Britain feels tired, I feel tired. And beneath the exhaustion is something deeper, a quiet grief for the future we thought we’d have, and the growing realisation that it might never come.

___________________

Freya Bugeja is a mother of two and works in PR

LBC Opinion provides a platform for diverse opinions on current affairs and matters of public interest.

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official LBC position.

To contact us email opinion@lbc.co.uk