The millennial generation, born between the years of 1980 and 2000, now outnumber baby boomers as the largest living generation with nearly one-fourth of the U.S. population. Although there are more than 80 million millennials living in the U.S., the generation is often over-simplified with negative stereotypes and labeled inferior to previous generations. Millennials, also referred to as Generation Y, are the scapegoat for the death of home ownership, traditional marriage, casual chain restaurants and the diamond industry, among other things.
Millennials are too often touted as spoiled, brunch-loving, debt-incurring 20-somethings chipping away at traditional values and societal norms. Contrarily, some view Gen Y as a technologically-advanced, highly-educated generation thrown into the depths of an employment crisis and crippling student debt. Regardless of which narrative you subscribe to, the millennial generation holds the future of business, politics and of the world, for better or for worse.
Statistics show the millennial generation is not nearly as dismal as popular culture likes to portray. Millennials are the most educated generation in U.S. history. Nearly 34 percent of Gen Y has a bachelor’s degree or higher. With college tuition rising and scholarship funding becoming increasingly more competitive, millennials have dealt with difficult decisions when it comes to choosing between higher education or avoiding crippling student debt.
In the current economy, a college degree is considered more valuable than ever before. Those with only a high school degree make 62 percent of what a college graduate earns today, whereas a high school graduate in 1979 would have made, on average, 77 percent of what a college graduate made. Because of this, millennials are incurring more student debt than any previous generation in search of a brighter and more lucrative future.
Despite having a less-than-ideal economy and significantly lower wages, millennials are attempting to make fiscally responsible choices. To make up for economic shortfalls, more millennials are choosing to put off marriage and child-rearing early in life and are instead focusing on career opportunities. Although this method is particularly controversial among older generations, Gen Y should not be so harshly condemned for this means of handling the economic conditions passed down to them by no choice of their own.
Studies also show millennials are significantly more health-conscious than previous generations. On average, millennials smoke less, exercise more and are more attentive to the foods they are eating. Nearly 83 percent of 12th graders disapproved when asked about the idea of someone smoking one or more packs of cigarettes per day in 2013, Goldman Sachs reported. It is also predicted that millennials will live longer lives than those in previous generations, on average, which only increases their ability and opportunity to enact change on the future.
The millennial generation is faring better than popular culture’s unfavorable opinion so often portrays. The real impact of Gen Y will be more accurately gauged when millennials reach their prime “working and spending” years, in which their economic influence will be realized. However, the full impact of the millennial generation will only be understood when, decades from now, college students are studying about the millennial generation in over-priced e-textbooks.
Hannah Kleinpeter is a 20-year-old mass communication junior from Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
