MILLENNIALS – THOSE BORN IN THE PERIOD between 1981 and 1996 (or from 1980 to 1990, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary) – excite the minds of modern scientists, and each new study dedicated to them pulls in dozens of papers. Although after “generation X” it would be logical to name the next one with the letter Y, it did not take root ( unlike the subsequent “buzzers”, that is, “generation Z”). But the name used by historians Neil Howe and William Strauss in the book “Generations”, dedicated to American history through the prism of its individual representatives, stuck . The starting point was the millennium – around 2000 , older millennials graduated from high school, heading into adulthood.
Scientists today believe that millennials love to read and pay a lot of attention to education. And also – that they “killed” many things, without which it was impossible to imagine the previous generation. Finally, they are called a burned out or lost generation that is always on the lookout. Let’s figure out which of this is true.
Millennials and education
According to research , millennials are very fond of reading, an average of five books a year, and they go to libraries more often than any other generation . Surprisingly, having grown up mainly in the digital world, they prefer paper books with their unique smell and texture to electronic devices .
Information about reading is consistent with the fact that millenialy prone to self-improvement. In any case, when it comes to New Year’s promises and their fulfillment within the next year. Research on the topic showed that in 2015 , 94% of millennials, under the chimes (or at a similar moment), made decisions related to upgrading themselves. And 76% of them, according to the answers, kept these promises.
The bad news is that with high levels of education , millennials have less savings than previous generations and are less financially stable overall. The latter is facilitated, for example, by the high average level of debt on credit cards, which they actively use.
Millennials and health
According to a 2018 report by the American Psychological Association , millennials are the ones who report the highest levels of stress in life compared to any other generation. And, apparently, it is not unreasonable.
For example, millennials think too much about work and are unable to completely distract from it at home or even on vacation , which, of course, leaves an imprint on mental health. A 2018 study by LinkedIn found that 16% of millennials don’t ask for a vacation because they’re ashamed. That being said, they really would like a flexible schedule and more free time.
A Quartz survey found that millennial office workers are more likely to experience professional and personal anxiety than older employees. Probably, in this state of affairs, at least a partial role is played by the exaggerated demands of millennials on themselves, in other words, perfectionism . Which, in turn, appear due to the inflated expectations of society from millennials.
Millennials and food
Millennials are picky about their food. First, they want to know the truth about the products they buy – from the ingredients to the sources they come from. Secondly, they prefer to customize their food by independently adjusting the ingredients and their quantity in the dish. According to the researchers, it was millennials who created the demand for customized menus in cafes and restaurants. Thirdly, they value their time, and therefore choose food delivery and food designers .
In addition, millennials have changed the concept of healthy food , perceiving it not in terms of nutritional value (the amount of BJU), but in terms of origin and overall sustainability – that is, the carbon footprint of its production. Scientists believe that this was influenced by awareness of environmental problems and the need to solve them here and now, before it was too late.
A more millenialy love snacking on the run , so that the producers had to pack them healthy food so that it can be easy to open, close and carry. In general, they differ from other generations in their gastronomic curiosity , and therefore they are ready to try anything, we are talking about national cuisine, overseas snacks or vegetarian options for familiar dishes.
Millennials and free time
Millennials really love the internet. According to research, 73% of them believe that the Internet has had an extremely positive impact on society (and this, by the way, is the highest percentage among all age groups). Florida researchers also found that millennials are adept at using technology, switching between them. Moreover, the constant change of technology did not lead to a deterioration or decrease in productivity. Whether this is due to social media addiction is difficult to say, but a YouGov survey found that 30% of millennials feel lonely. Moreover, 22% of the respondents admitted that they have no “real” friends at all.
On the other hand, millennials love to travel a lot. Poll 2019 the year allowed to talk about that in the first place in % of Gen target list 57 put the opportunity to see the world. They are followed by their own housing and the birth of children. The conventional wisdom that millennials have less sex is more likely to be interpreted in terms of awareness. Researchers believe that this generation has more knowledge about practices, boundaries, and sexual health – which means that they also have higher intelligibility.
3 more fun facts about millennials
Millennials are more focused on wealth and less concerned with helping the community than other generations. Money, fame and image are more important for them than, for example, the search for their own life philosophy – this is the conclusion reached by researchers from the University of San Diego, who studied the life goals of people born in different years. Thus, 75% of millennials and 45% of baby boomers named “getting rich” an important goal, while the desire to “participate in environmental protection programs”, on the contrary, dropped to 21% among millennials.
Despite being liberal in many things, millennials are often prone to conservatism in the distribution of responsibilities in the family, believing that a man should earn more money, and a woman should take more care of the house. True, we are talking about the younger millennials who graduated from school in the 2010s and based on the survey data of which such a conclusion was made. As the authors of the study note, for young people marriage and family may still seem like something abstract from the future – and by the time a real family is created, their position may change.
Millennials think they are selfish and narcissistic (and , in fairness, it upsets them ). And while one might assume that there is a bias associated with self-presentation – the data says that this is true. Narcissistic personality disorder is three times more common in people in their 20s and 30s than in those 65 or older. In 2009, 58% more students showed high rates on the narcissism scale than in 1982, and 40% expect a career and salary increase every two years, regardless of the effectiveness of their work.
What did millennials “kill”
Millennials are constantly accused of “killing” certain things. This, however, is not about complete destruction, but about a significant reduction in consumption. The mayonnaise gets regularly the list, which, according to surveys , millenialy considered “diabolical relish,” as well as bustling shopping malls (which, incidentally, has saved “generation the Z” ), beer (because wine tastes better) and diamonds , has ceased to be the best friends of girls, including because of the unethicalness of their prey.
And that’s not it. Millennials, according to some researchers, also ruined bar soaps (reason: not very convenient), McDonald’s (reason: “unhealthy”), paper napkins (reason: towels are much more functional), breakfast cereals (reason: too much effort ), low-fat yogurt (reason: the need for protein rich foods), hotels (reason: the room should be concise) and shoes with heels (reason: the trend of convenience and sneakers).
Finally, millennials have killed the institution of marriage . They are more likely than previous generations, after thirty to live with their parents, are less inclined to live in houses, preferring apartments, and are more career- oriented than family- oriented .
Millennials are often referred to as “burnout generation,” meaning that they were growing up with political and financial crises that made them too preoccupied with their jobs and too inattentive to themselves. And there is definitely some truth in this, although not all experts agree with the statement.
According to data by Bloomberg , Generation Z now – calculations were made at the end of 2019 the year – begins to exceed the amount of millenialov in the world. On the other hand, we are talking about some 0.5 percent (32% versus 31.5 %), so while we are still on horseback and can enjoy it.