Why Millennials Don’t Trust Institutions Anymore

Amara

You’re listening to "Respectfully... Nah" – the show where we love our aunties, but we’re side‑eyeing all the advice they gave us about life, love and apparently, pensions. So I remember being, what, sixteen? Careers day in Birmingham, this very serious man in a shiny suit telling us, “Work hard, go to uni, get a good job, and you’ll be set for life.”

Mina

Oh yeah, the holy trinity. Get the grades, get the degree, get the house with the little garden and the barbecue. Done.

Amara

Exactly. And then I graduate into… the 2008 financial crisis. No jobs, banks collapsing, my student loan statement looking like a phone number.

Mina

Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, my guidance counselor’s like, “Journalism is a stable career.” And I’m thinking, cool, I like words. Then the media industry just, like, quietly dies in the background.

Amara

And on top of that, any time I bought so much as a 3 pound avocado toast, there’d be some article saying that’s why I can’t afford a house. Like the entire housing market was taken down by brunch.

Mina

Millennials did not crash the economy; we just ordered breakfast. But I think the “grown-ups were lying” moment started earlier. We were kids watching 9/11, then suddenly there’s the Iraq war, and even as a teenager I was like… the math on these “weapons of mass destruction” is not mathing.

Amara

Yeah, I was in school, watching it on the telly in the common room. First big global event I remember. Then fast forward a bit: the 2008 crash, then years of austerity in the UK. Libraries closing, youth centres gone, but somehow there’s always money for something else. It’s hard not to clock the pattern.

Mina

Then you add the climate crisis. We’re told, “Recycle, turn the tap off while you brush your teeth,” while big companies are just… doing the most in the worst way. So you’re like, okay, so personal responsibility is mandatory, corporate responsibility is optional?

Amara

And that’s before COVID even hits. Our whole twenties and early thirties are just crisis after crisis: 9/11, Iraq, 2008, austerity, climate chaos, housing costs going wild, then a pandemic, and now AI layoffs before we even reach forty.

Mina

Like, by the time AI showed up at the office, I was already tired. We barely recovered from “unprecedented times” and suddenly, “This bot might take your job, but don’t worry, here’s a webinar.”

Amara

So when our parents or politicians say, “Just trust the system,” I’m thinking, which one? Because the banks told us savings were safe, then crashed. Governments promised stability, then cut everything. Media was meant to be neutral, then we watched it pick sides in real time.

Mina

And younger adults, like, our whole generation, we’re not imagining that. A lot of surveys now show people our age have noticeably lower trust in government, media, even health systems. Folks literally say the system feels rigged for the rich.

Amara

Yeah, there’s all this grievance data, right? Big chunks of under‑40s saying they feel ignored, left out of decision‑making, or like the rules are different if you’ve already got money and power.

Mina

And honestly, look at what we’ve seen. We saw banks get bailed out, we saw massive companies break things and walk away fine, we saw whose neighbourhoods had PPE and whose hospitals were overwhelmed. You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to clock a pattern; you just have to be paying attention.

Amara

I think that’s the shift. Our parents could believe “the adults have a plan.” We grew up watching the adults improvise on live TV. So that blanket trust in big institutions? It just doesn’t land the same for millennials.

Mina

Yeah, we’re the “smile politely, then Google it later” generation. We’ll listen, but that automatic yes? That died somewhere between the student loan statement and the third “once‑in‑a‑lifetime” crisis.

Amara

Let’s start with banks and money, because whew. We grew up with “put your money in the bank, you’ll be safe.” Now people are literally crowdfunding rent on Instagram.

Mina

And medical bills. My For You page stays showing GoFundMes for surgery, for dental work, for basic care. Like, the new emergency fund is your social network’s guilt level.

Amara

Social media’s accidentally become a safety net. Someone loses a job, can’t pay for meds, can’t cover tuition — they’re not thinking, “My institution’s got me.” They’re thinking, “Let me make a thread.”

Mina

But at the same time, online money feels more dangerous. Rising scams, fraud, fake investment schemes in the DMs. So it’s like, I don’t trust the banks fully, I definitely don’t trust random people promising 20% returns, and I’m still supposed to plan for retirement… somehow.

Amara

Then there’s work. My dad’s generation, you stay with one company, be loyal, get a watch and a pension at the end. Our generation gets pizza in the office and a redundancy email on a Friday.

Mina

Or a layoff on Zoom. “We’re a family,” until the quarterly report looks ugly. That whole “office is your second home” thing feels like gaslighting now. If I’m family, why can I be deleted in a 15‑minute call?

Amara

Exactly. A lot of research on workplace trust — things like the Edelman stuff — basically shows people now are more likely to trust their own employer than, say, government or media, but they’re also terrified the job won’t last.

Mina

Yeah, people might trust their direct manager more than some politician, but under that is this constant fear: cost of living, AI, recession. Gen Y, Gen Z — we’re looking at careers like, this is built on quicksand.

Amara

And AI’s made that worse. A lot of younger workers hear, “This tool will help you be more productive,” and what they actually hear is, “We’re seeing if this thing can replace you.”

Mina

Plus the zero‑hours contracts, the gig work, the “We can’t offer benefits but we have a ping‑pong table.” All of that chips away at the idea that work is a stable institution you can lean on.

Amara

Same story with doctors and health systems. There’s still respect, but trust is more fragile. Young people watched how uneven care was during COVID, how politics sometimes overruled public health advice.

Mina

And media… oof. That’s a whole mess. Younger adults are out here trusting social feeds, group chats, and creators almost as much as traditional news — sometimes more — because they feel like big outlets and leaders “purposely mislead” them.

Amara

We saw headlines spun one way, then leaked documents saying something else. We saw leaders saying, “We’re all in this together,” then doing the opposite behind closed doors. Once you see that a few times, it’s hard to unsee.

Mina

But trusting social media isn’t exactly a safe alternative. You’ve got misinformation, straight‑up lies, and then vibes‑based belief where “it sounds right” matters more than “it’s actually true.”

Amara

So trust gets scattered. A bit in your job, a bit in your doctor, a bit in your favourite creator, a bit in your savings app, a lot in your group chat. No single institution gets unconditional trust anymore.

Mina

Everybody’s on probation. Banks, bosses, doctors, news anchors — they’re all on thin ice, and our generation is standing there like, “Show me consistency. Show me receipts. Then maybe we’ll talk.”

Mina

People love to call millennials bitter. “You’re so negative, you don’t believe in anything.” And I’m like, no, this is self‑preservation.

Amara

Yeah, it’s not like we woke up one day and decided to be cynical. We’ve had twenty‑plus years of evidence. Surveys keep finding that around, what, half or more of younger adults say they feel left behind or angry at the rich and powerful.

Mina

Right. If 50, 60 percent of folks our age are basically like, “This game is rigged,” that’s not a random mood swing; that’s a pattern. Distrust becomes a logical response when every big promise comes with a loophole.

Amara

But I do worry about where the line is. Like, there’s healthy boundaries — asking questions, not giving blind loyalty — and then there’s full tinfoil‑hat energy where everything’s a plot and nothing is fixable.

Mina

True. I don’t wanna live in a place where we can’t trust anyone or anything, because that’s exhausting. But I also refuse to go back to “respect your elders and the company knows best” just because it makes other people comfortable.

Amara

So can we thrive in systems we don’t fully trust? For me, the answer’s yes, but only if we’re building other structures at the same time — community, mutual aid, these little micro‑institutions that actually keep their promises.

Mina

Yeah, like the friend who always shows up with a spare key and a casserole is more of an institution to me than some hotline that never picks up. We’re shifting trust from abstract logos to people who can show receipts in real life.

Amara

And receipts can be simple. Did you follow through? Did you tell the truth even when it made you look bad? Did you admit the policy failed and try something else? That’s what earns trust back — not a glossy campaign.

Mina

Exactly. So I think millennials should stop treating distrust like a personal flaw. It’s not a moral failing to look at decades of crises and say, “Respectfully… nah, I’m gonna double‑check that.”

Amara

What we can drop is the blind loyalty. Staying in jobs out of guilt, voting for people who never deliver just because they’ve got history, defending institutions that would not defend us back.

Mina

And we can start doing more of the active stuff: asking for receipts when brands make big social justice statements, when bosses talk about “wellbeing,” when politicians promise change. Like, show me the budget, show me the timeline.

Amara

Building peer trust too. Sharing information, comparing contracts, telling each other what things really cost, not gatekeeping opportunities. That’s how you make the system less dangerous even while it’s still messy.

Mina

So the verdict for me is: we’re not cynical for sport, we’re observant. And until the big players stop performing and start delivering, “Respectfully… nah” is an appropriate default setting.

Amara

But it’s “Respectfully… nah” plus action. Not just eye‑rolling, but organising, supporting each other, and learning how to say yes — carefully — when someone actually earns it.

Mina

So if we’ve broken up with big institutions, who’s actually getting the trust now?

Amara

Honestly? Group chats and people with usernames instead of job titles. There’s a lot of data showing Gen Y and Gen Z lean more toward peers, micro‑influencers, and community voices than traditional authorities.

Mina

Yeah, like, I will ignore a brand’s official statement and go straight to my friend who worked there, or the ex‑employee spilling tea on TikTok. Lived experience beats corporate press release every time.

Amara

Same with community projects. A local food co‑op that actually feeds people builds more trust than some huge campaign we only see on billboards. When you can see impact up close, you don’t need as much blind faith.

Mina

And then there’s all the DIY survival strategies. Side hustles, cash‑stuffing envelopes, moving back home, house‑sharing way longer than our parents did, buying groceries in bulk with friends — it’s all very “if the system won’t protect us, we’ll protect each other.”

Amara

Co‑ops, community fridges, rotating savings clubs, skills swaps. It’s like we’re quietly building parallel mini‑systems where trust comes from behaviour, not branding.

Mina

But here’s the messy question: if we don’t trust the big institutions, should we still engage with them? Should millennials still vote, unionise, sign petitions, try to reform stuff? Or just fully invest in these parallel structures?

Amara

My humanitarian brain says we can’t abandon the big systems entirely. Governments still control borders, budgets, healthcare, climate policy. If we check out completely, someone else — usually richer, older, less affected — makes those decisions for us.

Mina

I hear that. But I also get people who are like, “I voted, I marched, I emailed my representative, nothing changed.” At some point, putting all your energy into reforming something that keeps ignoring you feels like being in a toxic relationship.

Amara

Maybe it’s not either‑or. Vote, unionise, push for reform — not because we’re starry‑eyed, but because harm reduction matters. At the same time, pour real energy into the community stuff that works now.

Mina

Yeah, like, vote to stop the worst‑case scenario, but don’t wait on a policy to start a childcare swap with other parents on your block. Join a union at work, and also trade interview tips in the group chat so no one’s negotiating alone.

Amara

Trust becomes layered. You might never fully trust “the system,” but you can build deep trust in your people, cautious trust in certain organisations that prove themselves, and tactical engagement with institutions that still hold power.

Mina

And we stop pretending it’s neat. Some days you’re writing to your representative, other days you’re like, “Respectfully… nah, I’m just sending my friend grocery money because that’s what I can control.”

Amara

That messy middle is where most of us live anyway. Questioning, pushing back, but also collaborating when it makes sense, choosing carefully who gets access to our time, data, and hope.

Mina

Alright, we’re gonna leave it there before we start a whole new episode on how to actually build those micro‑institutions.

Amara

Yeah, that’s definitely a “part two” situation. Thanks for hanging out with us and, you know, questioning everything politely.

Mina

Amara, always a pleasure being cynical yet hopeful with you.

Amara

Right back at you, Mina.

Mina

We’ll catch you next time. Look after yourselves, and trust wisely – and if this episode dragged your fave institution a little too accurately, send it to a friend who’s also over it. And while you’re here, hit follow on the podcast, rate us, or leave a cheeky review so more people can find "Respectfully... Nah". Slide this into the group chat, argue with us in your voice notes, and tell us what you want us to respectfully… not so respectfully… unpack next.