How Millennial Women Can't Win

Millennial women have a lot of pressure. As gender salary income inequality continues even now, an entire generation of young women got competitive with men in education, many far more qualified in education than their male counterparts. However, as we track these young Millennial women in their 20s and into their 30s, some basic life stories continue to occur. 

While women are thriving outside the home, it's well documented men are not sharing the workload at home. Women continue to do twice as much unpaid work inside the home. We wonder then why Millennial women tend to burn out earlier in their careers? It's pretty damn obvious.  

Globally, women spend an average of 4.5 hours a day on unpaid work. Men spent less than half that amount. 

Millennial women then, have to deal with expectations to be perfect superwomen: 

1. To have a great Career
2. To be a great Wife
3. To be an amazing Mother
4. To do the majority of the chores
5. To be a supportive Friend 
6. To be a desirable lover 
7. To take care of Parents, etc...

Indeed it seems women outwork men in society, without much benefit. In one study, a stay at home Mom does the work of the equivalent of $117,000 dollars as Janitor, Psychologist, Cook, Daycare Worker, etc...These unrealistic expectations are made even worse for Millennial women since: 

• Work cultures and environments remain sexist
• Women are targets online and suffer more from anonymous trolling 
• Millennials have higher student debts and must deal with lower quality of employment, higher post-graduation unemployment with higher housing costs 
• Millennial men remain unmotivated to do equal amounts of chores at home, still seeing their role as a glorified bread winner
• Many Millennial women cannot find, their equivalent in education, culture and ambition in their dating life with the men of their generation so remain single for longer, possibly forgoing having a family altogether!

Millennial Women are Burning Out 

It's no secret while young Millennial do great in school and college, it does not translate to reality. This is because reality is still skewed against them, at work and at home. Millennial women face an uphill battle and are actually conditioned to believe this is just normal. 

Even in China, where single child Millennials are considered little emperors, you don't hear the word little princess being used very often. When a woman is considered "leftover women" if they go unmarried into their late 20s and beyond. 

So while Millennial women are expected to succeed in their careers; the family, peer and biological pressure to bear children is still tremendous. 

Meanwhile millennial women themselves are afraid to call themselves feminists, as many women's studies programs are showing a decline in attendance or even being shut down. The backlash on Feminism has been profound and while the status of women in professional life is improving, young women themselves are not necessarily sympathetic to being involved in the cause directly. 

However, as Millennial women progress in their lives into their 30s, many increasingly reach a point where they are no longer able to keep up juggling all of these roles, duties, pressures and the inequality. Patriarchy makes us think it's "normal" for women to do and be all these things. In many cultures, a woman's individuality, freedom and self-development are not fully encouraged. 

This means a woman who becomes a mother and is the main worker in the home, can more easily suffer setbacks or completely burnout in her career. This means higher churn in their professional lives. Yet Millennial women increasingly, are not comfortable making professional and economic sacrifices to have a family. 

A study by McKinsey shows that women account for 53% of corporate entry-level jobs, but women only hold 37% of mid-management roles. That number drops to 26% for vice presidents and senior managers, indicating a major gender disparity higher up the corporate ladder.

Millennial Women Can't Win 

The conclusion has to be, success and work-life balance is stacked against young women. They believe they can "have it all" only to find out that often this may not be the case. Millions of single Mothers live in poverty due to this, as divorces become more common in more traditional cultures. 

While Millennial women outperformed their male peers in school, it does not translate to reality, because reality, glass ceilings, boardrooms, venture capital and work culture, still favors men. Men are free to fail as many times as it is necessary in order for them to succeed.

Women, are judged harshly nearly at every step in every domain of their affairs. Millennial women, are judged the most harshly, when heaven forbid, they actually achieve wild success. 

While we can be positive about the forward changes and increasing pool of women leaders, Millennial women have to reinvent in a world of economic uncertainty, what really matters to them.

Women are for all the reasons mentioned above, not only more productive members of society, but more vulnerable and under greater pressure to compete and navigate multiple social roles to find fulfillment. 

If you are a Millennial woman, do you feel higher expectations in the desire to "have it all"?