Whoopi Goldberg has become the latest middle aged person to scold millennials for being lazy.
The Oscar-winner, who turns 68 on 13th November, said the younger generation “only want to work four hours” and dismissed the idea that it is harder to get on the property ladder now than in previous decades.
She said: “Every generation comes and wants to do better than their parents did, but I am sorry, if you only want to work four hours, it is going to be harder for you to get a house.
“I feel for everybody that feels this, but I am sorry, we busted our behinds, we had to because we didn’t have the opportunities.
“Every generation is told they are going to do worse than their parents, people pick it up and do what they do and they raise themselves. And this is what you've got to do.
“It is called being a good citizen.”
Goldberg, who has an estimated net worth of $60m, made the comments after a slew of studies came out this year which suggest it is harder for millennials to own homes than previous generations.
Government data analysed by property listing company Apartment List found that by age 30, just 42 per cent of millennials owned homes, compared to 48 per cent of gen Xers and 51 per cent of baby boomers.
The gap persists into their early 40s, with the oldest millennials still having a lower rate of ownership than previous generations when they were that age.
Speaking on a talk show on 8 November, Goldberg was responding to comments from co-host Alyssa Farah, who suggested the 2008 financial crisis and other economic disruptions in the 15 years since had made things more difficult for millennials.
While it is unlikely to be the only factor, many young people in the US came out of college with poor earning prospects in the wake of the financial crash.
That, in turn, widened income inequality and caused house prices to rise faster than wages in the decade following.
People on social media were quick to criticise her comments.
One person said: “Sometimes Whoopi totally gets it wrong. This would be an instance.”
“Whoopi don’t do this… Homes are unaffordable, and people are priced out of their area,” another wrote.
“Whoopi’s tone is a prime example of why things are so tough for younger generations,” a third person added.
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