“Children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority, disrespect their elders, and love talking instead of exercise.”
Just reading the lead-in quote will make many people think of today's coming of age young adults or as often referenced, the millennial generation. Really, who could blame them? There is a blossoming thesis around the world that my generation, millennials, are lazy, disrespectful, entitled, degenerate and the list goes on. The reality is the quote commonly attributed to the Greek philosopher Socrates sometime around fourth century AD. Truly, older people have always thought this of the young people who follow them, yet it seems millennials are garnering even more disdain for our actions. It is often said we are lost, or we are called the lost generation. It's time we tell people that no, we aren't lost, in fact, we may already be very much found.
First, let's establish what and who millennials are. Even the Census Bureau doesn't clearly define what all generations are and who they include. It is surprisingly more difficult to find out exactly where each starts and another begins. We do know that millennials are the generation cohort following Generation X and in most circles it's acceptable to use a date of births ranging from the early 1980s to the year 2000. We are your children, for the most part, your military, and the people currently training and learning how to inherit the world from the ones who lead it before us.
While there has always been a certain kind of hesitance of their predecessors, older people today definitely have a rising concern over who will follow them, to say the least. One recent telephone study recently showed 71 percent of Americans believe us to be selfish, and another 65 percent entitled. If one was to replace the word "millennial" in those sentences with another race, sexuality, or religion then there would likely be outrage worldwide. So why is it okay to do it to one of the largest and most diverse group of people America has ever had. There is an abundance of articles available to you trashing millennials, let's take a closer look at some of the common misconceptions of millennials.
1. Millennials don't like to work and/or they are lazy.
Instead of using a wide net and proclaiming every member of the largest American generation in history an unmotivated stoner with their butt permanently glued to the couch, I think it's imperative we look at what some data tells us and see some macro trends available to us. There is a multitude of things at work here, first, one study shows switching jobs after college is becoming a broader trend. Second we are much open to competitiveness than given credit for. Fifty-nine percent said competition is what gets them up in the morning, compared to 50 percent of baby boomers. Third, we are more likely to comply with our superiors than our parents, 41 percent of millennials agreed, compared to only 30 percent of Baby Boomers. Fourth, we are the best-educated generation. The White House Council of Economic Advisors stated in 2013, 47 percent of people 24-35 will have obtained some kind of higher education while graduate school enrollment has jumped 35 percent since 1999.
What does it mean: Millennials are looking for a sense of purpose in the workplace, above other things like compensation and status. If they don't find it, they go looking for it via switching jobs or starting their own business.
2. Millennials enjoy living with their parents.
Millennials, who I can safely speak for a whole on this one, want to own houses. When we are financially capable of doing it without severely hinging our entire credit future on it. A Goldman Sachs report shows for 40 percent of us, home ownership is very important, and another 30 percent answered important but not a priority. Another huge factor is that we are marrying later. That same report goes on to state that in the 2010s the average age to marry was 30, compared to 23 in 1970. Millennials are marrying later, thus delaying starting a family and the need to buy a house. Lastly, the ability to own a home is directly correlated to your income or its affordability. In places where it is affordable, millennials are buying homes.
What does it mean: A simple look at the current economy should explain why millennials are choosing to rent instead of buying. Economic instability and high home prices have driven millennials to other options thus actually making us more financially cognizant than those who came before us.
3. Millennials are financially irresponsible.
Over and over again millennials are portrayed as financially illiterate and living far above their means. It's often thought we don't hold stocks out of lack of knowledge when really, we are just a conservative investment group. While we don't follow the same investment patterns as the Boomers and Gen Ys, we are much more likely to invest in technology or a company with a social or environmental impact.
What does it mean: We know how to use our money. We just want to use it differently. Millennials entered the workforce during the worst downturn since The Great Recession, making it much more difficult for us to trust more traditional financial savings channels.
4. Millennials are vain.
Around the world, more millennials are taking care of older generations than anyone to come before us. Over 85 percent said keeping up with politics was important to them, while 69 percent intake some sort of news daily. All the while 84 percent of employed millennials donated to charity in 2013, more than any other group.
What does it mean: We care. We care more than any group that comes before us, and it's already starting to show. Same-sex marriage is already legal, and when it's our turn you will see more of that. More inclusion. The world and its people are more of a priority to us as a whole, than anyone who has come before us.
These characteristics shrouded in half-truths need to be debunked and stored away forever. Millennials do things differently, no one will argue that, but it doesn't make it the wrong way. As society begins to undergo change, so do its people, and I believe the Millennial Generation is a defining change in who we are as humans. We grew up with the internet, cell phones, and many other things that changed the world as we knew it, little did we know, though, that we were changing with it.
