Top 5 Myths About Millennials
Are you feeling confused? Threatened? Out-of-touch? Best blame the Millennials, right?
Welcome to WatchMojo's Top 5 Myths. In today's instalment we're counting down the Top 5 Myths About Millennials.
People sure love to bash this generation. But how much of it is… you know, actually true? According the the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Millennials, born between the early 80s and early 2000s, are likely the most studied generation in history. Despite this abundance of research, a staggering amount of unfounded criticism is frequently directed at them. No one is calling this generation perfect… but we are calling out these misconceptions as downright false.
Special thanks to our user Ashjbow for submitting the idea on our interactive suggestion tool: WatchMojo.comsuggest
#5: You Can Generalize About Them
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This myth’s pretty crucial - Because not only are they arguably the most dissected generation, they’re also the largest living generation, and the most diverse. When you’re talking about roughly 83 million people in the U.S., you can’t generalize AND speak accurately. When people hear the word “millennial” or provide critical examples of them, it is overwhelmingly in reference to upper middle class, urban or suburban caucasians. And that is a fraction of the actual demographic. In 2015, 44.2% of millennials were minorities. As of 2013, 22% of millennial women were living below the poverty line. They are culturally, religiously, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse.
#4: They’re Promiscuous and Disinterested in Marriage
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The “Tinder Generation”. Hook up culture. Sex obsessed. There are plenty of buzzwords and expressions that parents throw at this generation to chastise them for their lack of chastity. It’s kind of like intergenerational slut shaming. While this generation might be more comfortable talking about sex and more open to unconventional approaches to sexuality and relationships, they aren’t actually more promiscuous. According to study by San Diego State University, both the Baby Boomers and Generation X, on average, based on sexual patterns, have more sexual partners than millennials. But what about marriage? While marriage rates are on the decline, millennials aren’t serial bachelors. Many simply marry later, or have opted for long-term domestic partnerships, and still plan on starting families.
#3: The Sense of Entitlement
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In 2013, TIME magazine ran a story, entitled “The Me Me Me Generation”. In 2015, David French wrote “A Note to Entitled Millennials in the Workplace: Give Humility a Try”. They’ve been called “willfully unemployed” and insistent on working from home. It’s popular to accuse millennials of demanding that which they have not earned. But according to Pew Research, millennials entered the workforce during the worst recession in decades. As for “working at home”, PwC found that 64% of millennials like having the opportunity to work from home. Amongst Baby Boomers... that number is 66%. What has been called entitlement is more arguably a high standard of quality, to which millennials typically hold an employer and themselves.
#2: They Share Everything Online
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Millennials are often described as anti-social due to the fact they are so very connected to their technology, especially when it comes to communication. But according to studies conducted by Mattersight and Weber Shandwick, direct, personal contact when communicating with coworkers is still a top priority for this demographic. In fact, they demand better work-social life balance than past generations. Having grown up with it, the millennial generation does take advantage of technology to make their communication more efficient. But with that experience comes a greater sense of how to use social media appropriately than their older counterparts. According to the Institute for Business Values, millennials are much more adept at separating the professional from the personal, especially online.
#1: Lazy and Dependent on Parents
A 2012 census found that millennials were living with parents in unprecedented numbers. Such claims earned them the reputation of being perpetual adolescents, resulting in the nickname... “the Peter Pan generation”. But here’s the thing. The census on which such claims were based has some interesting definitions. For example, anyone living in dormitories in University were considered as “living at home”. Add to that the fact that the millennials are the most educated generation in history and you get some skewed numbers. More accurately, Pew has found that 36% live at home. And while an estimated 40% of millennials do receive financial help from parents, according to a 2015 Transamerica survey, 19% of millennials actually financially support a parent. How ‘bout that?
