In one sentence, Amy Poehler sums up how boomers, Gen X, millennials, and Gen Z differ when it comes to money

“The boomers are all about money. Gen X is like, ‘is it all about money’? Millennials are like, ‘where is the money’? And Gen Z is like, ‘what is money’?”

That’s the conclusion Parks and Recreation star Amy Poehler came to on an episode of her podcast Good Hang with Amy Poehler. Since the episode aired last year, a clip has since been shared widely of her breaking down how each generation relates to money. She adds, “That’s my bad stand-up about it.”

As the clip has gained traction online, on TikTok, actor Freddie Smith said that Poehler “totally nails it.” He then took it one step further and broke it down in terms of how each generation’s economy helped shape their attitude towards money. 

He says that for boomers, who lived through an economic boom, accumulating wealth was easy–or at least easier than it has ever been since. Baby boomers currently hold more than $85 trillion in assets, making them the richest generation by far. Therefore, they earn the title “all about the money.”

Millennials, meanwhile, were handed a map and told the exact steps to follow to find the financial success their parents enjoyed. Only when they got there “we open up the treasure chest and there’s two f-ing coins in it,” explains Smith. Now, they’re all struggling through their millennial midlife crisis trying to come to terms with all the ways they’ve been sold a dream. 

Then there’s Gen Z. “They’re going to work and they’re getting paid direct deposit on Fridays and as soon as that money hits the account, it just goes automatically to their bills. They don’t actually ‘touch’ money” says Smith. Disillusionomics has come to define a generation that’s lost faith in the traditional markers of stability. What once defined financial success –a house, a family, retirement – feels increasingly out of reach for the youngest working generation.

“This is such a true representation of what we’re all screaming about right now,” Smith concluded. “What is going ON?”

(An explanation for Gen X doesn’t appear in the video, which doesn’t do much to beat the “forgotten generation” allegations.)

Poehler’s soundbite emerged from a discussion with Parks and Recreation creator Mike Schur about shifting workplace environments, particularly in Hollywood—but also beyond. 

Schur suggests there’s a historical belief in Hollywood that if something good comes out of a chaotic environment, then it’s taken as validation: this must be the best way to produce great work. It’s similar to how the eat-sleep-work lifestyle–akin to the infamous “996” schedule–has recently gained momentum among certain tech companies. “So we better not try to fix the chaos,” he says. “When a rational person would think, ‘let’s fix the chaos’.” 

If the chaos is fixed, he suggests, people will still be able to produce just as good work—but without putting up with a toxic work environment as part of the deal. Schur says this attitude has improved in Hollywood in recent years. Poehler agrees, putting this down to a push from younger generations, “who have just reminded us that we don’t need to put up with behavior that we were used to putting up with.” 

Thanks to Gen Z’s penchant for work-life balance, “people are just a little bit less okay with having their lives ruined at work,” she says. 

When Schur, 50, and Poelher, 54, were coming up in Hollywood, “you put your head down and you try to survive,” Schur recalls.

“The generation behind us, and especially the one behind that generation, looks at chaos and goes like—’oh, then no, thank you’.”

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