In the Millennial bedroom

ROOM#024 - JOSEPH - 30 years old - artist - Paris - France

Joseph has made a living as an artist in this room, where he sleeps, cooks and creates, for more than a decade. The musician, actor and circus performer views it as a symbol of his discipline and dedication to life as an artist, and he believes that the most powerful and honest art is created in poverty. He laments that life in Paris is becoming more unaffordable, threatening the city’s social and cultural diversity. But he has no plans to give it up.

France in figures

Birth rate: 2.0 children per woman
Life expectancy: 82 years
Youth unemployment: 22.3 percent
Per capita income: USD 38 500

^{Source: World Bank}

ROOM#290 - YUAN - 22 years old – waitress - Dali - China

Yuan is a member of the Bai people, one of more than 50 ethnic minorities in China. She lives near the border with Myanmar and is proud of her more than 2000-year-old culture. She wears traditional clothes, which girls receive when they reach puberty, as often as possible. The white ribbon on her hat signifies that Yuan is still single. She understands why an increasing number of her peers are adopting Western-style clothes, as they are more comfortable and cheaper. At the same time, she also sees it as a bit of loss of self-determination.

China in figures 

Birth rate: 1.6 children per woman
Life expectancy: 76 years
Youth unemployment: n/a
Per capita income: USD 8800

^{Source: World Bank} 

ROOM#219 - MALEEQ - 28 years old - entertainer - New York - USA

Maleeq lives in Brooklyn, calls himself a performer and dabbles in show business as a singer, dancer, actor and even a stuntman. He supplements his livelihood with fitness and Zumba courses and nutrition consulting. Maleeq is concerned about the health and obesity of many Americans.

USA in figures

Birth rate: 1.8 children per woman
Life expectancy: 79 years
Youth unemployment: 9.2 percent
Per capita income: USD 59 500

^{Source: World Bank}

ROOM#1049 - OSIA - 18 years old - herder - Ha Selomo - Lesotho

Osia lives in a small village of a few huts. The nearest paved road is an hour away. When he was 13, his mother and brothers moved to South Africa to find work on large farms. Since then, he has lived alone, tending to a dozen geese and the family’s four cows. He guides the small herd in its search for water, never letting them out of his sight night or day. For Osia, this life does not mean going without, but rather freedom.

Lesotho in figures

Birth rate: 3.1 children per woman
Life expectancy: 54 years
Youth unemployment: n/a
Per capita income: USD 1180

^{Source: World Bank}

ROOM#1112 - JENNIFER - 18 years old - gymnast - Le Bouveret - Switzerland

Jennifer lives in a small tourist village on Lake Geneva with two amusement parks. She enjoys spending her free time with friends at the cinema, at the shopping mall or bowling. Having grown up in multilingual Switzerland, she is fascinated by foreign languages. She is convinced that learning a foreign language shapes our entire way of thinking and will become increasingly important in a globalised world. Jennifer speaks fluent French, Spanish and Portuguese, and she is learning German, English and Italian in school. Her life motto and advice to others her age is.

Switzerland in figures

Birth rate: 1.5 children per woman
Life expectancy: 83 years
Youth unemployment: 8.1 percent
Per capita income: USD 80 200

^{Source: World Bank}

ROOM#416 - OLEG - 24 years old - telecoms engineer - Novosibirsk - Russia

Oleg is from Kazakhstan and came to Novosibirsk to study. He now travels the country for work, installing mobile phone towers. His generation only knows the Soviet era from stories. Oleg’s earliest memories are of the period when Russia experienced an economic crisis and formed long lines at food stores. Now, he finds that things are going better for the country, but everything revolves around money.

Russia in figures

Birth rate: 1.8 children per woman
Life expectancy: 72 years
Youth unemployment: 16.3 percent
Per capita income: USD 10 700

^{Source: World Bank}

ROOM#256 - RYOKO - 25 years old - IT engineer - Tokyo – Japan

Ryoko grew up in a small village and wanted to become a police officer, but she was too short. Today, she lives in this room in Tokyo, which is set up like a child’s bedroom. The style that she and others like her have adopted is called “Lolita”. While there is greater openness to dress codes in Japan than elsewhere, she worries about the impact of technology on young people. Many young people would spend their lives working and gaming. The result is sexual abstinence. The number of “sexless” people in Japan means that the country does not produce enough offspring to secure its future.

Japan in figures

Birth rate: 1.4 children per woman
Life expectancy: 84 years
Youth unemployment: 4.6 percent
Per capita income: USD 38 400

^{Source: World Bank}

ROOM#326 - NIKESH - 18 years old - fisherman - Mumbai – India

Nikesh lives in Dharavi, in one of the largest slums in the world, known from the blockbuster film “Slumdog Millionaire”. His large family shares two rooms, with more than a dozen family members sleeping in this room alone. The youngest get the only bed. Most people here work for the wealthy as household servants, chauffeurs or workers. Because the slum is in the heart of the booming city of Mumbai, real estate speculators have lately been trying to buy up the slum’s hovels. Nikesh is resisting them.

India in figures

Birth rate: 2.3 children per woman
Life expectancy: 69 years
Youth unemployment: n/a
Per capita income: USD 1900

^{Source: World Bank}

ROOM#117 - MAJA - 22 years old - architecture student - Berlin - Germany

Thanks to the internet and cheap airlines, travel has never been easier and more affordable for young people than it is today. Maja is downright addicted to it. She has already been to Thailand, Mexico and many European countries, and she dreams of spending a year travelling the world. Entirely on her own, without being dependent on anyone. Whenever she returns home she gets a case of traveller’s blues and is depressed for a few weeks. But she never regrets leaving.

Germany in figures

Birth rate: 1.5 children per woman
Life expectancy: 81 years
Youth unemployment: 6.8 percent
Per capita income: USD 44 500

^{Source: World Bank}

ROOM#665 - MARCELLO - 18 years old - pupil - La Paz - Bolivia

Bolivia has the highest proportion of indigenous people in Latin America.
Marcello is a member of the Aymara people, the direct descendants of the Incas. He dreams of becoming a sociologist and researching Aymara music. It makes him sad to see traditions at risk of disappearing as ever more young people - including him - move to the cities.

Bolivia in figures

Birth rate: 2.9 children per woman
Life expectancy: 69 years
Youth unemployment: 7.7 percent
Per capita income: USD 3400

^{Source: World Bank}