It’s no secret that Gen Z has had it bad; The generation that came of age during a pandemic was forced to virtually toss their graduation caps in the air and then enter the workforce amid a recession, only to realize that their salary may never stretch enough to forge a life of their own away from the familial home. But not everyone is sympathetic to their plight: “Boohoo,” scoffs the actress, comedian, and host of ABC News’ The View, Joy Behar.
She dismissed the idea that Gen Z has a much harder time reaching the same adulthood milestones as the generations before them during a segment about what those born between 1997 and 2013 are afraid of.
Behar’s millennial co-host Alyssa Farah pointed out the difficulties that young people today are facing, including being priced out of the housing market.
“This is wild, 45% of people between 18 to 29 still live with their parents,” she said, despite the fact that many are polyworking. “They feel left behind by the economy.”
But 81-year-old Behar was having none of it. “Oh please, get a job,” she hit back. “There’s a million job openings in this country!”
Fortune has contacted Joy Behar and ABC News’ parent company Disney for comment.
The Gen Z bashing bandwagon
Behar is not the first The View host to jump on the Gen Z bashing bandwagon. Just a few months ago, her co-star Whoopi Goldberg said that young people just don’t “bust their behinds” quite like her generation had to.
“I’m sorry, if you only want to work four hours, it’s going to be harder for you to get a house,” the Oscar-winning actress star said.
Apparently, hitting out Gen Z’s work ethic in en vogue. Earlier this month, The Silence of the Lambs star Jodie Foster complained that they don’t use proper grammar and show up for work late.
“They’re really annoying, especially in the workplace,” Foster blasted. “They’re like, ‘Nah, I’m not feeling it today, I’m gonna come in at 10:30 a.m.’”
Meanwhile, Alex Mahon, the boss of a major British TV channel Channel 4 echoed that her Gen Z hires don’t have “the skills to discuss things” or work alongside people with different opinions.
Generational stereotypes
However, experts have previously told Fortune that it’s unfair to paint an entire generation with the same brush based on gimmicky stereotypes and one-off experiences.
“It can lead to biases, misunderstanding, and a real lack of insight into what influences the thinking and behavior of members of various generations,” said Monica McCoy, CEO and founder of the global consultancy Monica Motivates. “All generations challenge the one that came before them—and all generations tend to be skeptical about the one that follows.”
What’s more, dismissive criticisms contradict research that consistently shows that Gen Zers really are worse off than their parents.
To afford the median-priced home of $433,100, Americans need an annual income of roughly $166,600. But the median household earns just $74,580, according to the brokerage Home Bay, based on Census data.
To put that into context, house prices have increased twice as fast as income has since 1985—and as Farah pointed out, it’s forcing young workers today to hold down not one, but three or more jobs, to keep up with the rising cost of living.
Backlash: ‘It’s unaffordable out there!’
Given the clear disparity between the cost of living for people like Behar growing up, versus young people today, her comments weren’t taken lightly and viewers took to social media to complain about The View host’s stance.
“Joy admits she was able to go to college for $50/semester but still doesn’t get that Gen Z and millennials have it harder?” one person wrote in the YouTube video’s comments. “It’s unaffordable out there!”
“Alright Joy, Gen Z kids will get a job once you retire,” another added. “You know, back in the day when 30 year olds could get a house, 80 year olds were retired.”
“F*** You @JoyVBehar,” an X user directly wrote to the comedian on the platform formerly known as Twitter. “People out here are working hard most of us have more than 2 jobs. These jobs are not paying millions of dollars like the @TheView do.”
“Some of us have jobs, but it isn’t enough. Thank you inflation and decreasing wages,” another echoed.
