Arbuckle: Generation Y

Generation Y: Now, over a decade after Arbuckle graduated from university, there are even more reasons to stress over that ubiquitous arts degree. Perhaps Generation Y, defined as those currently between the ages of 18 and 33, should be called Generation Anxious because of their constant worrying over unemployment. Health experts warn that stress driven by an uncertain economic future, not to mention the incessant technology and wired lifestyles of twentysomethings, is problematic for this generations mental health, according to Huffington Post. No wonder more than half of young adults these days live at home. A 2011 Stats Can survey found that 51 per cent of twentysomethings still live with their parents , while a SunLife Financial study from last year shows 90 per cent of Canadians aged 18 to 24 feel overwhelmed and experience excessive stress. The third annual Sun Life Canadian Health Index showed that feeling anxious about employment has a direct connection to ones health and High school English teacher Julia Arbuckle remembers the anxiety she felt when she was a student at the University of Toronto. I was stressed because I was doing an arts degree, she says, and I thought, How am I going to make it in life? Arbuckle, 36, who has been teaching yoga as part of U of Ts Art of Living Course for the past nine years, feels that everything worked out in the end and considers herself lucky to have a job. According to a 2013 TD Canada Trust study, 30 per cent of Generation Y also called millenials struggle to support themselves on their low salaries, 44 per cent find it difficult to pay for education, and 38 percent are bogged down with loan repayments. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.