I absolutely am not minimizing the struggles people had when they were coming up and I have no doubt that it's always been hard to establish yourself as an adult.

Still, I don't like "ever it was thus" because it absolves people from analyzing specifics. It's the same when people say "Vancouver has ALWAYS had  expensive real estate". Yes, but it's never been CLOSE to as bad as it is right now. Few would argue "ever it was thus" comparing 20-somethings in the Great Depression to 20-somethings in the 1960s. So why suppose it's impossible that it's harder now than it was in the 90s, 80s, 70s, etc.?

It would be immensely helpful if people took a look at the duration of our present economic funk, the relative permanence of available employment, and the level of compensation available for work versus the cost of education and the cost of living. There is a growing lost generation, and we haven't even seen a collapse of real estate yet (which powers much of our economy in some provinces).