Send to KindleMisunderstood Millennials – Some Real Statistics
I continue to be amazed at the ever increasing number of studies, books, articles, and comments on the issue of the various generations. In my earlier years, I don’t remember nearly as much discussion about different generations; only general agreement that my parent’s generation didn’t understand my generation. Today, there’s a seemingly unending supply of information out there; and some of it is even true.
Unfortunately, some of it isn’t. That’s often because of a natural tendency to assume that our own experiences are the same as everyone else’s. It’s also common to interpret isolated events as having more meaning than they really do.
A good example is an incident that took place late in 2011. A group of protestors, dubbed Occupy Wall Street, turned violent and damaged some stores and businesses in New York City. What struck me is the news report I heard that stated this event, which involved about 1,000 people, represented the anger of the “younger generation.” Really? Let’s think about that a minute. The population of New York City is about 8 million. One thousand people isn’t even a busy street at rush hour. If this really did represent the “younger generation,” which in and of itself is a stretch, then it was .0012% of that generation’s 81 million people. To say such a sample size really represented anything is what my statistics professor would have called, incorrect.
Better to consider real statistics collected in a properly scientific process. The Pew Research Center has done just such a study which provides a very good look at the Millennials compared to previous generations. The study reveals 75% of Millennials have a social network profile but only 11% use Twitter. Eighteen percent of Millennials surveyed reported that new technology makes life more complicated, which may be a surprise to some. Of those that did have social network profiles, 25% went to those sites less than weekly. There is also a significant difference between older and younger Millennials.
There are some surprises when Millennials are compared to other generations. For instance, 65% of Millennials get news from the television compared to 61% of Xers and 76% of Boomers. Further, 24% of Millennials get news from newspapers, which is even with Xers and only 10% below Boomers.
Another statistic some might find surprising is Millennial views on social issues. All generations agreed overwhelmingly that older people (older people is not defined) have better moral values, work ethic, and respect for others. In just one example of societal viewpoints, 59% of Millennials thought women choosing to be single mothers was bad for society; higher than Xers and only 6 points lower than Boomers.You might also be interested to know that Millennials reported the lowest number of those who recycle from home or buy green products.
What’s it all mean? Quite simply, sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. But there’s another factor that shows up in some parts of the Pew study. Millennials are doing something that all generations before them have done. They’re changing. In places where the report shows trend data, that change is often exactly in line with previous generations.
My interview with Ty Kiisel and Raechal Logan at TalkingWork was just posted. It’s at TalkingWork.com. My part starts at 39:38.
