Youth is a time that not a single adult has passed. Old age will sooner or later come to everyone, and with it wisdom, and material wealth, and status. But young people have an advantage that the older generation will never have.
“If youth knew, if old age could” is a classic formula of intergenerational relationships. The position of young people in any society is quite difficult for a number of reasons. On the one hand, a young person is in the assessment system of the older generation, but youthful maximalism does not allow a young person to fit into the system of the adult world without some conflicts. On the other hand, the lack of life experience, and often the lack of material resources, puts young people in an extremely delicate position in the social system.
Is it easy to be young
"Is it easy to be young" - this is the name of the documentary film of the Soviet period by the Latvian filmmaker Yuri Podnieks, in which the problem of the social status of a young person in society was raised for the first time. The answer was unequivocal - very difficult. The main reason for the difficulties of that period is the hypocrisy of society, the origins of which young people see in the older generation.
But the democratization of society has smoothed out this problem. There are fewer lies in the world, fewer unreasonable prohibitions, as a result, fewer reasons for generational conflicts, at least at the level of society. That is, society has recognized the youth's right to maximalism and their own vision of the world.
From this position, it is easy and pleasant to be young today. The classic conflict between fathers and children can be considered settled.
Material problems of youth
After graduating from an educational institution, a young man in most cases is full of hopes for a "bright future". But even having received a professional education, he cannot be sure that he will get a good paid job in his specialty. Moreover, an employer often needs a specialist with work experience that a graduate of a university or college cannot get - a vicious circle turns out, which is almost impossible to break.
A young person has to choose between working outside his specialty and alternative ways of realizing the knowledge gained. But unlike parents, a young man is more mobile in his actions, which allows him to take a decisive extraordinary step and, for example, open his own business.
Young people are faced with another intractable issue - the issue of housing. A young person can get an apartment from the state in the most exceptional case, even a young specialist cannot count on getting housing. The choice remains between a mortgage, a rented apartment and living with parents. The first two options "eat up" a decent part of the budget. The third option calls into question the independence and psychological comfort, especially if a young family has already been formed.
Thus, being young is not easy in any society and in any era. But young people have one advantage - youth, which compensates for all the problems and which the older generation envies, who built their way of life and found their place in society.
