The internet is full of articles about myths and realities of the Millenial generation’s work ethic and expectations. Take the Deloitte study—often cited as an example of how a stodgy old accounting firm is changing its image to be cool and attract Generation Y talent. And according to Penelope Trunk and Business Week, it’s working.

But something has always bothered me about these characterizations and stereotypes. All of the talk about Millenials presupposes college-educated, knowledge workers. I think these studies, while valid in that type of workplace, are not necessarily representative of the broader population and perhaps a bit elitist. Despite the growing activism of Millenials, and their utilization of social networking tools, is there a growing class gap in activism and civic involvement? Do the same characteristics that apply to Millenial workers in “white collar” computer-oriented desk jobs apply to the many twenty-somethings who work in construction and other skilled trades and the service sector?

The workplace is looking great for Generation Y… if you have the right education to get into the game or if you want to be an entrepreneur. Once you are working for Deloitte or brainstorming a new network enabled company, it is easy to see the Gen X, Boomer, Gen Y work dynamic playing out. But what about the rest of the population—possibly the majority of the population—who don’t have or in many cases want those jobs?

Sam’s post from Monday, P is for People, has some great suggestions for YPOs to reach out to the rest of the community. I think our tendency online is to assume, because of the apparent massive growth of online activist sites and a few high profile success stories of online mobilizing, that everyone who wants to be involved just needs to find these channels. But I think we are a niche. I don’t know what the relative proportions are but it seems to me the big challenges of our times fall squarely on the shoulders of the entire youth generation but in very different ways:

Debt: after college and grad school, I had over $60K in student loans. I started working with a $1000/month expense before I even rented an apartment. But if you didn’t go to college, you have no debt, but maybe you also have no health insurance because your employer doesn’t provide frills like that. Family coverage can easily cost $1000/month. Then, one emergency and a few maxed out credit cards later, you wish you had the problem of student loans.

Housing: how can anyone afford to own a home today? We bought early and often in a crazy sellers’ market and it paid off. But if you don’t have the down payment or parents with money to lend, how do you even get started?

Education: it never occurred to me to worry about paying for college. Yes, a year of college cost almost as much as my parents salary at the time I started, but hey, that’s what loans are for (see above). And work study. And scholarships. But I am always hearing stories of young people who are afraid of getting in debt and who are overwhelmed by the cost. They don’t think they can afford it.

Health Care: I think our health care system is an abomination and I want to do something about it. But frankly, I’m covered so it’s not something I lose sleep over for myself. But for the millions who are not covered—or are covered and then get screwed over by the system—it is a fundamental, life-altering challenge.

Given these kinds of issues, you’d expect young working and service class people to be rioting in the streets demanding change. Or perhaps, given that rioting is more appropriate to Boomers and Xers, you’d expect a lot of collaborative searching for solutions. Is that happening? How can we help it to happen? I think there is a lot of passion and civic engagement happening through online mobilization projects like Mobilize.org and the November 5th Coalition, but to really make a difference in the public debate, we need to find a way to speak and act as a united voice.

I’d be curious to hear stories of how this kind of collaboration is really happening and if and how it is making a difference in everyday people’s lives. 

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