A: Hello everyone, and welcome to Britain under a microscope advanced.
L: Hello!
A: In the previous episode, we talked a lot about millennials and different generations in the U.K. Because it is such a big topic, and we are gonna do an advanced episode on this and we are gonna talk a little bit more about what it is like to be a millennial and what it is like to be generation Z in the U.K. compared with other generations.
L: There is still a lot to be discussed or by the way, I wanna make one correction last time in our episode we said generation Z (or /zed/) is people borned around 2000 did some research I think it's between 1995 and 2000.
A: Well, yeah, this term is not exactly said, it's not like the Chinese system where you have 80 后 or 90 后 where we said decades.
L: Yeah, true, I guess everyone has their own opinion. So one thing I kept wondering about after doing that episode was that you know in China we say the millennials they are facing a lot of burdens or pressure because there is not that much of opportunity to move up. You know, for example, from working class to middle class, it's the whole class system and vertical mobility is disappearing. Is that the same in the U.K?
A: Of course, it's the same in the U.K., cuz it's the common trend if you consider a rich family, they would be able to give their sons and daughters much better of opportunities than some of them from the poorer or more economically disadvantaged household.
L: Yeh, they will have more connections, they'll have properties.
A: Oh, absolutely! So especially when we talked about last episode with the baby boomers that they were able to buy their own homes, you have to think that if you come from a rich family, then you'll and inherit it.
L: That's true!
A: And also you might have gone to public school for example,
L: public school that's very very elite private school in the U.K. like Eton and Harrow. Ok, we also talk about generation gap, I was just wondering you talked about generation gap between say baby boomers and millennials. Now in China, generation gap always results in a lot of fights, you know, and a lot of disagreements. Is that the same thing in the U.K.? Does that get really serious disagreement?
A: I wouldn't say so, No. that's because in China, changes have been taken place a lot more rapidly than have in the U.K. So you consider the baby boomers so that's the just the years of World War II born. They were the first teenagers.
L: They were the hippies.
A: They were the hippies, they were the ones that who rebellion against their parents.
L: Oh, that's true.
A: So there is also this idea of consumerism that either to be the teenager, teenager rebellion, these are on the baby boomers, they are now 60s or 70s can still remember themselves.
L: They were the bad boys of the day.
A: Wow that's conflict, I would say.
L: Okay, okay, that's very interesting and then you also mentioned that the millennials they are not doing as well as their parents. I think that's the same not just in the U.K, but also in most of the western world.
A: Oh, yeah, it is predicated that millennials in the U.K. will not be as rich as their parents. And the U. K especially with its high cost of living, the high cost of housing. It's generally assumed that they never gonna be as rich as parents.
L: Yeah, if you think about it, that must be such a discouraging thing, because, you know, you are still quite young in your 20s, in your 30s. And you are thinking you're never gonna have the life your parents have.
A: But then again you have to think do they actually want the life their parents had. You have to think the baby boomers, generation X. They grew up in a world in which you start in the same company when you leave school and you will be probably tired of the same company. Well, nowadays, generation Y, millennials and also generation Z, they are looking for the freedom, flexibility.
L: En, that's another very interesting point actually, so these generations from baby boomers to generation X, generation Y, generation Z now, they must want completely different things in life.
A: Oh, yeah, pretty much! so if you look the baby boomers, there are the same before they want job security.
L: One job for life
A: Exactly! Well, generation X, they wanted a work: life balance that's because they grew up in the 1980s. Because back then greed was good, you think of wolf wall street and those type of films where everyone was making money on the stock market.
L: Chasing success.
A: Exactly,
L: they've been workaholics.
A: Yeah,
L: En.
A: So a lot of them now they work work: life balance. Well, the generation Y, they want more freedom and flexibility, they don't want to stay with the same company, they often say that these people they work with the organization
L: they don't work for.
A: No,
L: they all want to be their own bosses.
A: Yeah,
L: is that why you see a lot of generation Y becoming their own bosses, actually having a startup company.
A: Oh, yeah, a lot of them are entrepreneurs, that's the idea of creativity is well. Well, it's still hard to really say,
L: because they are still quite young.

A: However, some people suggested that they might be going back to the idea of security instability,
L: But this is a different type of security of instability. It's not really what one company is gonna provide you, it's more you have multiple skills. Yeah, multitaskers, you're a writer, and you're also like motivational speaker, you're painter, illustrator and all that. It's no more flexibility people want security instability in themselves rather than in their company.
L: Moving onto a next topic, remember last time we finished off with a young people hooked on the digital devices?
A: Oh, yeah,
L: then we explore a little bit on that
A: Okay
L: So you know, these few generations obviously with the rights of computers of IT. They have very different views, for example, the baby boomers, they are the earliest IT adopters and then for generation X, they're probably only starting to get into the digital wave and when you think of generation Y, they were born.
A: It's all tablets and smart phones.
L : Yeah,
A: that's the generation that start to use mobile phones
L: True, smart phones especially (yeah, smart phones)
A: En, I remember when I was still in the primary school and my mom would always make me carry around coins just in case I need to use the public phone to call anyone
L: and you don't see any public phones anytime.
A: No, not in the U.K. we don't see in China.
L: But we still think of that's symbolic, U.K in the telephone box. But you just don't see them anymore. The red one
A: Not as many, you see more tourists taking photos (that's true) rather than people are actually using the phone.
L: Do you think of founding anyone that is still in service?
A: I still remember especially with computers as well. Being at primary school while you had to dial the modem but you have to wait (and the one Zizi …) and that really annoying noise and I still remember that and going on to the internet was such a big deal because it's very expensive,.
L: Yeah, and you wouldn't go to any restaurants without wifi connection.
A: Oh, exactly!
L: If you say generation Y is digital natives and generation Z, they are pretty much they couldn't even remember the time without any of these technology.
A: Oh, exactly! And this generation they are technoholics, they're completely entirely dependent on IT and simply because they never had world without IT in the U.K.
L: World must be very different for these people.
A: No, absolutely!
L: So we compared all these differences, the way people think in general about the world. Their prospective have also changed, I mean, I personally have observed in the U.K. the older generation actually in China as well. They intend to be more conservative because they haven't seen that much of the world.
A: In the U. K, I would say they are much more tolerant, they're much more liber minded, than older people, and this is translates in how we see the world as well. Britain is a very cosmopolitan place so we used to dealing with people from all over the world and I think the younger generation definitely more tolerant of life choices as well
L: Like sexual orientation for example.
A: For example, yeah, and one of the main differences you could see is in Brexit where is the most of old people voted for Brexit.
L: Yeah, we talked about it, didn't we?
A: Where is the younger people they didn't want Brexit, they didn't want to close themselves off.
L: They want diversity, they want more connection, integration.
A: Exactly!
L: So I think that's a lot for today.
A: Yeah, quite a lot and let's know what you think
L: either from generation X, Y, Z. I don't know if there any baby boomers.
A: Let's say if there are, please let us know we'd love to hear a little bit more about this in the common section especially what differences between the U.K and China as well.
L: That's right like what Allan was saying, I'm sure you have a lot interesting point of views to share, so please leave your comments in the comment section or send me a private message or tell me about it in the group. So we'll collect all of your messages, all of your opinions and we're going to read some of the interesting ones in our next episodes for everyone to share. We'll see you next time!
A: Bye!
L: Bye!

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