Paying off student loans, and figuring out a career path is what was on most millennials’ minds as 2020 kicked off. It looked a steep climb then, but. as if things could not get tougher, a pandemic shook the nation to its financial core. As the financial crisis deepens, millennials are getting slammed and falling further behind. 

There are millennials who have yet to recover from the 2008 recession. Coronavirus has not made that financial burden any easier and may not reach the same wealth as older generations like boomers did according to a new report from the U.S. Labor Department. 

Millennials are those born between 1981 and 1996. 

What has happened in 2020 has delayed major milestones for millennials. Weddings, children, first time home owning have all been put on pause. 

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics say that 16.3 million Americans were unemployed in July, a significant jump from February when it was at 10.6 million. 

Of those unemployed, millennials made up a significant 4.8 million. 

According to the Pew Research Center, the unemployment rate was also higher among women (14.3%) compared to men (11.9%). 

A report from May also included that women represented more workers on the payroll in education, leisure, and hospitality.

In a different set of numbers, more than half of Americans under the age of 45 have suffered job losses, reduced hours, or were furloughed in May. Of those people, 60% said it impacted their household income significantly.. 

Since the peak of unemployment in April, unemployment has gradually declined, yet it is still not looking for up for the youngest part of the workforce. 

The crisis will extend far over the pandemic, but now with an affordability crisis that continued to exist despite the end of the great recession ten years ago.

Keep pushing, millennials. We survived Y2K, we can survive this.