11 Ways Millennials Live Their Lives That Make Their Parents Roll Their Eyes
No one said raising kids means they will live their lives the way you'd like them to.
bbernard / Shutterstock As kids, millennials learned how to write their names in cursive. Their school papers were graded on how legible their handwriting was, because the future of their careers were riding on how their penmanship. By the mid-to-late 90s, writing with pen and paper was a thing of the past: typing was king.
Most millennials remember the day their parents brought home a computer, just as they remember yelling at their parents to get off the phone so they could go online. They came of age in an era of dial-up internet and writing poetic away-messages on AIM, back when smartphones weren’t even a spark of an idea. The internet’s rise was meteoric, to say the least. Millennials grew up to be chronically online. They post selfies on Instagram and swipe left on dating apps, which is just one way millennials live their lives that make their parents roll their eyes.
Here are 11 ways millennials live their lives that make their parents roll their eyes
1. Living for small luxuries
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One way millennials live their lives that make their parents roll their eyes is by giving themselves special little treats, just because, on a fairly constant basis. They're big into brunch and buying oat milk lattes on their way to a private pilates session. While no one denies that millennials have embraced the “Buy Yourself A Little Treat” mentality maybe a little too hard, there’s a difference between spending money on a pedicure and having enough savings to put a down payment on a house.
It’s possibly the most tired narrative about millennials that exists: if they stopped eating so much avocado toast, they’d be able to own a home. It’s true that millennials could put more money into savings if they kept avocados, tomatoes, and bread at home, but the median cost of buying a new home in 2024 is $433,500, way more than toast money.
According to the 2024 Bankrate Home Affordability Report, 56% of millennials reported not having enough income to own a home. 50% said home prices were too high, 45% couldn't afford a down payment, and 34% said mortgage rates were too high.
So yes, millennials live according to the mentality that YOLO, housing costs are high, buy special little treats as much as you want. If they can’t own a home, at least they can bring a glimmer of joy to their morning with a croissant they bought at that new French bakery they saw on Instagram.
2. Committing to side hustle culture
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Another way millennials live that makes their parents roll their eyes is by fully embracing side hustle culture. Hobbies are more than a cozy little activity to do on weekends: they’re a way to rake in extra income.
Millennials entered the workforce during the Great Recession in 2008. Jobs were hard to come by, meaning it took millennials longer than past generations to find their sea legs when it came to being economically independent, let alone financially stable. Many Boomer parents don’t understand or accept the millennial career path, which looks completely different from what they did: stay with one company for their entire career. Millennials may job hop or take a non-traditional route to earning an income, but part of that is due to the economy they inherited.
Grind culture combined with the gig economy sent millennial women the message to climb the corporate ladder and channel their inner Girl Boss while turning their hobbies into money-making ventures. In many ways, hustle culture has become unavoidable, as wages haven’t caught up with the high cost of living. It’s no wonder millennials try to monetize their socials or sell their hand-crafted seashell ornaments in every Insta reel they make. Millennials don’t have the option or luxury of sticking with one job for their entire career, which makes their parents roll their eyes.
3. Spending money on experiences, not savings
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Another way millennials live their lives that make their parents roll their eyes is spending money on experiences instead of putting it toward their savings. Millennials are champions of placing high-value experiences over owning material possessions. They’d rather spend money on plane tickets or their favorite pop-punk band’s reunion tour.
More often than not, their parents bring their spending habits back to things like buying a house or building an emergency savings fund. The millennial tendency to prioritize the present and pick a vacation in Barcelona over a Roth IRA makes their parents roll their eyes. Yet their reasoning might be more solid than Boomers give them credit for: Since they can’t afford a home, why not enjoy the life they have instead of saving for an impossible-to-reach version of the American Dream?
It’s entirely possible that millennials will enter retirement without enough savings, like as Gen X predecessors are preparing to do, but at least they’ll have vivid memories and no regrets.
4. Their aesthetic and decor style
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Millennials live their lives with a tendency toward minimalist design, which makes their parents roll their eyes. Millennials have designed entire living spaces around the miniature succulent collection. The centerpiece of their home decor style is a Monstera plant in a terracotta pot, aside a wall painted in neutral tones.
Their parents lived through the olive green and burnt orange tones of the 1970s, then bought homes in the 80s and 90s, which they decked out in floral wallpaper and blonde cabinets. The millennial aesthetic approach took a more subtle turn.
The words "millennial gray” are usually spoken with an undertone of derision, but as author Kassia St. Clair mentioned in Architectural Digest, there are valid reasons why they outfitted their lives in that specific shade.
“We started life during an optimistic boom, but our working life has seemed to lurch from one disaster to the next,” she explained. “Things like curtains, carpets, beds, and sofas are expensive, and gray feels like a flexible, sensible choice that will last years, hide any stains, and can be adapted to different schemes.”
5. Snapping photos of every meal
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The millennial habit of posting every meal they eat on Instagram makes their parents roll their eyes. They insist on taking pictures of their plates before anyone is allowed to pick up their fork and do serious damage to their fettuccine alfredo, which never looks good in photos, anyway. But millennials don’t seem to care: They’re on a mission and that mission is to document the things they eat and share them online.
It doesn’t matter if it’s craft cocktails at a trendy restaurant or a pizza they baked in the wood oven they installed in their backyard: millennials want everyone to know that they’re eating well. As Socrates is believed to have said, “The unexamined life is not worth living,” which millennials have taken to heart, as they put photo after photo of their snack sessions out there for the whole world to see.
6. Delaying marriage
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Another way millennials live their lives that makes their parents roll their eyes is by pushing back marriage until they’re older. According to a 2020 study from the Pew Research Center, over half of millennials weren’t married at the time, and those who tied the knot did so later than their parents did, back in the day.
In 2019, 44% of millennials were married, compared to 61% of Boomers at a comparable age. For a millennial man, the average age of marriage was 30 years old, and for a woman, it was 28 years old. While their parents might not agree with putting off marriage, the economic realities that millennials face make it a sensible choice.
Millennials were hit by student debt in a seriously debilitating way. The Education Data Initiative pointed out that 39.9% of all borrowers are millennials, which means 18.5 million millennials have outstanding student loan debt. Being in massive debt impacts every decision millennials make, from their career choices to planning out their families and their futures.
7. Hyper-focusing on wellness
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Millennials live a life focused on wellness, which makes their parents roll their eyes. They have a committed yoga practice and they drink cayenne-infused lemon water in massive amounts. They have apps that tell them how to breathe and a collection of crystals by their bathroom mirror, where they’ve written out their mantra for the day.
Their parents might roll their eyes at their obsession with self-help and self-care, but millennials know something their Boomer parents have failed to recognize: the mind-body connection is powerful and centering your needs is essential to living a healthy, balanced life.
As therapist Gloria Brame shared, the “optimal goal of self-care is to build your internal resources for dealing with life’s stresses.”
“Sleeping well, getting a restful nap, making sure to move your body throughout the day, practicing gratitude, and making time for meditation all help your body and mind feel more vigorous and alive — and help you weather problems that life may throw your way,” she concluded.
8. Obsessing over their pets
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Millennials live their lives devoted to their pets, which makes their parents roll their eyes. They don’t even think of their pets as pets, per se: they’re fur babies and they deserve the best. Their parents might not see the point of farm-fresh meals for their sweet pup or a monthly catnip club subscription for their strange cat, but for millennials, providing for their beloved animals is well worth the investment.
Millennials stop at nothing to give their pets the best life they can. They throw birthday parties with homemade sirloin-and-sweet-potato cake with peanut butter frosting for their dog. They share their bed and bring them on trips and are generally as devoted to their pets as their parents were to them as kids. Millennials, at least in America, are part of a major cultural shift in how pets are seen. They’re members of the family, and they should be given all the love, affection, and attention in the world.
9. Choosing jobs according to their passions
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Millennials tend to choose jobs based on what they're passionate about, which makes their parents roll their eyes. For many millennials, a job is more than just a way to earn a paycheck: It’s a way to live out their beliefs. They make career decisions that align with their personal and political values, even when it means taking a pay cut, something their parents don’t always understand.
According to the Deloitte Global 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey, 89% of millennials said that “having a sense of purpose is very or somewhat important to their overall job satisfaction and well-being,” 43% reported turning down an assignment or project based on their personal beliefs, and 40% have turned down a job opportunity because of their ethics and beliefs.
While their parents roll their eyes at picking jobs based on passion, millennials believe that their sense of purpose should match the way they spend their time.
10. Taking mental health days
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Millennials live their lives by centering their mental health, which makes their parents roll their eyes. They don’t hesitate to take a day off when they feel stressed out or overwhelmed, showing how committed they are to caring for their bodies, minds, and souls in a holistic way. While boomers may have maintained a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy around having depression, anxiety, or any other mental health challenge, their millennial children have spent their lives flipping the script and reducing stigma around mental health.
Their parents might roll their eyes at the idea of their kids taking a sick day because they’re emotionally drained, but millennials know that getting real rest is the only way to stay healthy, on both a physical and psychological level.
11. Believing in manifestation
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Millennials live with an abiding belief in the power of manifestation to bring them success, happiness, and love, which makes their parents roll their eyes. Yet their parents’ understanding of what manifestation really means is fairly limited. They picture manifesting as whispering spells while dabbing love potion on your pressure points, when really, manifestation has a basis in positive psychology.
When millennials manifest, they’re changing their neural pathways. They go from believing only negative things about themselves to uncovering their positive attributes and welcoming changes into their lives. As relationship coach Virginia Clark explains, “believing you can do something makes it more likely that you'll successfully do it.”
“The first step to finding love is to feel in your bones that you are meant for it and believe you are destined to find it,” she reveals. “The subconscious doesn't know the difference between what's real and what isn’t. When we visualize being in our ideal relationship, it creates a corresponding emotion,” Clark continues. “That emotion activates the subconscious mind and will go about the business, manifesting that situation for you.”
“Whatever your spiritual beliefs, if you make space for divine timing and hold an opening for invisible support, your search for love will not feel overwhelming,” she concludes.
Alexandra Blogier, MFA, is a staff writer who covers psychology, social issues, relationships, self-help topics, and human interest stories.