THE MILLENNIALS – GENERATION Y

It is interesting to think of a group coming of age as being part of the New Millennium. They definitely are a new and different generation from those who preceded them and interesting because some of these differences are new to us in so large a group.

The Millennials are also sometimes called Gen Y or Echo Boomers. The Echo Boomer title comes from the generation’s size relative to the Baby Boom. For obvious reasons the title Millennials made a lot more sense than several other (mostly awful) and very lame names.

After a lot of attempts to define this group by age or world events, it is now thought that their cohort should be those people born between 1982 to 1999 or possibly 2001. (1982-1999 or 1982-2001) Some think the cut off should be about 1994. Regardless, as of 2012, the estimated size of the group is around 80 million in the United States.

Who they are, are the children of Baby Boomers or Generation Xers. While some call them Generation Me, because they are considered confident and tolerant; others feel they are called this because they are impatient, have a short attention span and are narcissistic. Generally, I personally find them very polite, civic minded and nice.

Although, they seem generally optimistic about the future, some of them appear to feel change is needed within existing institutions and that, in fact new institutions will need to be created to reflect the changing world in which we will be living, in the future.

They are socially, and probably will be, politically active. It is said that they may support same-sex marriage and legalization of marijuana, yet be less supportive of abortion, but still be pro-choice.

I think they have grown up understanding through technological advances that we are all inhabitants together of one planet and it shows. They seem to have a consciousness of the future of the planet and their own future being interwoven. 

They, and the Planet we all share, is something they take seriously. Animal testing for medical purposes is not accepted. Recycling is something they grew up with and believe is our responsibility and obligation.

Most of them are required to do volunteer work of some sort in order to graduate from high school. I think many of them will continue to support those things and causes they believe in.

Under the surface however, you sense some detachment since their connections are actually not with everyone but mainly with their networks and friends. This stems from the fact that they seem almost umbilically attached, in a wireless way of course, to their devices. By devices I mean their technology: i.e. iPods or Androids or iPhones or Tablets etc.

They are the first group which has ‘Grown Up Digital’ (in the words of Don Tapscott) and there is no way to consider them without their link to their technology. They grew up with these new sources of communication and technologies, and automatically incorporated them into their lives.

While, the generational groups before The Millennials gradually accepted the need for technology but still watched television and the ‘mainstream media’ in real time; this group does not. The Media comes to them wherever they are and they use it at their convenience.

They instantly tell everyone they know what they find important. As a result the things that go ‘viral’ reach massive audiences in very short periods of time and virtually have a life of their own. Just because it has gone ‘viral’ however, doesn’t mean it is relevant, important or true.

The greatest downside to the staggering amount of information so readily available, is filtering out the quantity and actually locating relevant qualitative information.

Meanwhile, although you may be standing in front of them, you usually sense and feel that something or someone else has their attention, not you. You can’t help feeling that their attention is elsewhere, because it probably is. They spend a lot of time looking away from the live person in front of them and replying to whoever has just (and will continue to) send them text messages.

Most of us however have been forced to accept that this is what they do and how most of them are. In self defence some parents have declared areas of the house no technology zones. I suggest (tongue in cheek) you text them if you want something, including a 5 minute warning about when you want them to join you for dinner.

It doesn’t help discipline or communication that their parents seem to treat them as ‘Trophy Kids’. Some people feel that these ‘children’ were only required to show up in order to merit the approval of their proud parents. This may be why some of them appear to have a sense of entitlement and narcissism.

The term ‘Helicopter Parent’ (always hovering around them) has been created to describe their parent’s presence in, possibly too many, parts of their lives. Some people feel that the parents are ‘hovering’ and so involved with their children’s lives that they are possibly compensating for something missing in their own lives.

To others these ‘Helicopter Parents’ seem to not be letting their children be responsible for their own decisions and/or make the sorts of decisions they will need to make in order to grow into self-sufficient and independent adults.

With record levels of underemployment (19.1% in 2012), youth poverty, unemployment and similar conditions have led to record numbers continuing to live with their parents, including 1 in 2 of new college graduates still unemployed or underemployed.

In other countries, especially in Europe, countries such as Greece, Spain, France and Italy have groups similar to those called the Millennials. Some of these leave their countries in order to try and find work in other places.

Many Millennials around the world are actually failing to establish a career or seem otherwise to be excluded from the labour market. Others are earning only minimum wages, which some predict will continue to be a problem for the next decade.

Technology has so transformed our society that for it to become the better place Millennials optimistically hope it will be, both new ways of thinking within existing institutions, as well as, new institutions, will have to be created.

This being said, if you can get their attention, they often offer a different approach and outlook about life and seem to be seeing the world with new eyes. Where they will take us in the future is still unknown but there is a good chance it may be a different place than any group that has preceded it since the older Boomers took a shot at changing the world they grew up in.