With soaring inflation, huge student debt, and a housing crisis on their hands, Gen Z and Millennials feel like they’ve got it harder than the generations before them. But the actress Whoopi Goldberg disagrees—she thinks the American dream is out of reach for youngsters simply because they’re not working hard enough.
The Oscar-winning actress dismissed the idea that it’s harder for younger generations to bag a high-paying gig, buy a house, and start a family, on Wednesday's episode of The View.
Goldberg—a baby boomer with an estimated $60 million net worth—hit back that Gen Z and Millennials just don’t “bust their behinds” quite like her generation had to.
“I'm sorry, if you only want to work four hours, it's going to be harder for you to get a house," the Ghost star said as she hit out at young people’s work ethic.
WHY AREN’T MILLENNIALS HAVING KIDS? #TheView co-hosts weigh in after reports shows that the economic climate has made millennials feel that milestones like starting a family are out of reach. https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/wiVjtK9fN9
— The View (@TheView) November 8, 2023
Goldberg’s millennial co-host Alyssa Farah quickly responded by recounting the difficulties that her generation is facing, from holding off having children because it’s so expensive to having to live with their parents well into adulthood.
“Y’all gave us the housing crisis,” Farah hit out at boomers.
"I feel for everybody that feels this, but, I'm sorry, we busted our behinds,” Goldberg doubled down on her stance that young people are lazy. “We had to bust our behinds because we didn't have the option of going back.”
“Every generation is told they are going to do worse than their parents, people pick it up and do what they do and they raise themselves. And this is what you've got to do,” The View host concluded. "It is called being a good citizen.”
Whoopi Goldberg hasn’t responded to Fortune’s request for comment.
The data shows otherwise
The Sister Act star began the segment by saying: “Apparently millennials and Gen Z have a much different view of the American dream than past generations did.”
However, before blasting young workers, she highlighted that “data shows that soaring inflation, student debt and limited room for advancement in the workplace has made them feel that milestones like affording a home, starting a family, excelling within the corporate structure are out of reach."
What’s more, according to a Youth & Money in the USA poll by CNBC and Generation Lab, over half of 18 to 34-year-olds think it’s “much harder” to purchase a home now or get promoted at work.
But it’s more than a niggling feeling; Research consistently shows that on average Gen Z and millennials really are worse off than their parents.
With mortgage rates at around 8% and home prices on the rise, housing affordability is actually worse now than during the disastrous 2008 financial crash. At the same time, salaries are lagging behind.
In the last 50 years, home prices have jumped 118%, after accounting for inflation, while income has only increased by 15%, according to the brokerage Clever Real Estate, based on Census data.
It’s why young workers today are holding down not one, but three or more jobs, to keep up with the rising cost of living. Some 93% of Gen Z “polywork” compared to 28% of baby boomers and 23% of Gen X professionals.
Backlash: Goldberg works 4 hours a WEEK
Unsurprisingly, being called lazy by Goldberg—who is paid $8 million per year for her ABC chat show— hasn’t landed well with young people online who have branded the star as "out of touch".
“Whoopi doesn’t work on Fridays, is done with work by 12, gets a month off in the summer and several weeks around major holidays but is telling us Millennials don’t want to work,” one user clapped back on X, formerly known as Twitter. “All while making millions to share her ignorant views of which she does no research.”
“Whoopi Goldberg works four hours a week to sit in a chair & opine on things written/researched for her most likely by very underpaid and overworked Millennials,” another echoed. “The audacity of her to insinuate we don't/are not working hard enough is insulting and simply absurd.”
Meanwhile, others chimed in that they don’t know a single millennial who only works 4 hours a day. “I do however remember my parents working a real 9-5 and being able to afford a normal life without bringing their laptop home after work. Most Millennials work on average 60 hours a week,” one user concluded
