<p>When do the young adults take responsibility for their own choices?</p>
<p>[10</a> Things Millennials Won?t Tell You - Yahoo! Finance](<a href=“http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-things-millennials-won-t-113327583.html]10”>http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-things-millennials-won-t-113327583.html)</p>
<p>How about we blame:</p>
<p>1) The original designers for the survey reported on.</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>2) The writers of the article.</p>
<p>and</p>
<p>3) The editors at Yahoo! who decided that this article was publishable.</p>
<p>Personally, I thought it was an interesting article. I do think, though, that one difference is that there is no sharp divide between one generation and the next. Boomers are Boomers because of WWII. </p>
<p>I don’t think those between 18 and 34 currently really are one generation. Those 34 were not “born digital.” From what I can see, they interact differently with the internet and gadgets than those 18 for whom the internet has always existed. </p>
<p>I personally am enthused about the fact that this generation seems less enamored of driving. I hope this will translate into more support for public transportation. Maybe this is an issue the Gen Y and Boomers can unite to fight for.</p>
<p>^ Jonri I caught that too—the 18-34 seems way to big a spread.
though they do seem to have a lot of digital habits…cell phone/text.</p>
<p>^Happymomof1 Like I realize parents have some responsibility for things they impart to kids–however I think the media and culture impart far far more …
Perhaps the days of getting a trophy for participation have come to roost? And while the Occupy Wall St crowd had a point–they used their laptops,cellphones,wore branded clothes etc…they are huge consumers…and want a good lifestyle.</p>
<p>I know a young woman who is going to be moving in with the longterm boyfriend while he’s in grad school–she recently graduated from grad school. She wants to wait for a “bigger ring”…</p>
<p>Her sibling brother and sister in law live in NYC is a very swanky apt…order in food daily. SoL owns multiple Chanel bags etc. </p>
<p>I could go on–almost all of the late 20 somethings/early 30s are living well or aimed for it…</p>
<p>Can think of only one in this age group who has a a degree from one of the best Us in the world with a go-nowhere degree.</p>
<p>I do not have any patients reading anything…so I do not read.<br>
IMO, anybody after 18 (+ -, depending on personal circumstances and excluding people who truly cannot be independent at all, no matter what age) is responsible for whatever they are, want, have, do not have,…etc, including those who are NOT financially independent. Yes, even if they totally financillay depend on their family, they are still practically the only ones who can determine their future (aside from certain stupidity that is thrown on us by our government, which even their parents cannot do anything about aside from smartly voting one way or another, which vast majority neglect anyway)</p>
<p>I think the attempt to classify substrata of humanity by age is a wasted effort as there’s far too much diversity. </p>
<p>Some of the consumer trends they note have merit, but I don’t think any of them are specific to people 24-35.</p>
<p>it’s a big spread, but I also, born in the late 50s, feel almost no identification with the Boomer generation. The usual scenario is people who were kids in the 50s and teens/ college students in the 60s. I don’t rmember the 50s and was 12 in 1970–the descriptions of that demographic never resonated with me</p>
<p>Similarly, my kids who are 30 and 27 remember life before computers, and grew up with books as the usual method of reading. They didn’t have cell phones till college or after. I look at my freshmen students in the past couple years, and they are different in a lot of ways from my kids.</p>
<p>Kids these days! :rolleyes:</p>
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<p>Sounds exactly like us yuppies of the early 80s.</p>
<p>There are probably more yuppy-types around now that more kids go to college. What is the difference in college attendance - 10% of our generation versus 50% of theirs? So there should be more self-confident young people with high aspirations than in our gen.</p>
<p>I think the lack of independence thing is a direct result of improved communication. We could barely even telephone call our parents when I was in college because it was a <em>long distance</em> charge. I think I would have been happier if I could have bounced things off my parents more then, like the kids can do now. I like it that they have a continuing and constant relationship with me due to “free” texting, email and cell phone calls.</p>
<p>IMO, a big part of the increased narcissism these days is due to smaller families/lack of siblings.
It used to be that most children were “middle children.” Now middle children (and their stereotypical easygoing/cooperative/diplomatic ways) are rare. Today, the vast majority of young adults are only/oldest/youngest children–this has changed the social fabric. (I think this could be a factor in divorce rates, too.)</p>
<p>In the “old days” kids were ignored/left to fend for/entertain themselves more–or even depended upon to help support themselves/their families. Today, kids are more likely to be indulged/entertained/hovered over–because families have fewer of them and more $ to spend on each kid.</p>
<p>^ Thats an interesting point.</p>
<p>Our K2 has a group of friends - and many of them are "only"s.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Except for the Baby Boom generation, this is not true. The birth rate has held around 2-3 kids/family for the last 100 years except in the 40s and 50s. </p>
<p>[Fact</a> Sheet: The Decline in U.S. Fertility - Population Reference Bureau](<a href=“http://www.prb.org/Publications/Datasheets/2012/world-population-data-sheet/fact-sheet-us-population.aspx]Fact”>http://www.prb.org/Publications/Datasheets/2012/world-population-data-sheet/fact-sheet-us-population.aspx)</p>
<p>IMO, we were raised by parents who were spoiled in the 80s and we’re the second round of that (kind of like what Bay said). </p>
<p>And yes, being raised in an era of way overprotective and helicopter parents (not saying all are, just saying it’s far more common now) had an impact on us. How could it not? Was it quite normal in previous generations to not know how to do laundry at 18? To not have your first real job until your early-mid 20s?</p>
<p>yuppies in the early 80s was a myth for the rest of us. We were one step ahead of government cheese. (bringing up kids in a two bedroom apt over a pizzeria).</p>
<p>I see people in the early to mid 20’s bracket to be very much like their parents in the '60’s.
Full of concern about the consumer driven, the ecosystem be damned, lifestyle they see many first worlders enjoying.
They don’t expect to ever retire, they do expect society to collapse in order to be rebuilt more sustainably. I agree with them- although they perhaps think it will happen sooner than I do.</p>
<p>My oldest didn’t have a cell phone till maybe senior year of college, she isnt quite as egalitarian as her 8 yrs younger sister or as environmentally aware- ( or & this is probably the main reason - as well traveled as her sister- they’ve both studied abroad in Costa Rica, but her sister has also traveled extensively in Africa & India) but she also has never owned a car and doesn’t equate " good lifestyle" with buying stuff, but more with having a career that she enjoys and having enough free time to enjoy her family and friends.</p>
<p>I really think we’re doing these kids no favor by acting like this is unique and they are unique in dealing with it.</p>
<p>In the early 80s, with degrees in English and bio from a good Uni, H and I were only finding minimum-ish wage jobs. (for a while I shelved books in a library, he tested alcohol at a bottling factory.)</p>
<p>The situation is not good now. At all. But treating young people like precious flowers with grievances only makes it worse.</p>
<p>^ As a young person, I agree with you whole-heartedly garland.</p>
<p>romani–I think you’d get along excellently with my kids!</p>
<p>well, the young generation certainly didn’t get the country to where it is today. Someone has to pay for the debt and other financial realities that the parents created.</p>
<p>@red- and I picture you as a 12 year old blonde girl like little red riding hood.</p>
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<p>One major difference between the '60s era boomers and the millennials I’ve encountered is that the former on average had more of a feeling of economic security and a sense of optimism of a future influenced by their actions in their youth whereas the latter have no feeling of economic security and have a cynical sisyphus-ian view of their efforts. </p>
<p>Nonetheless, they still press forth and are very politically/civically engaged in ways I rarely saw from teen/twenty-somethings back in my '80s childhood/accounts from those who attended HS back then or most in my age group. </p>
<p>The latter was underscored in the 2000 election when the elderly poll worker went on a rant about how I was the only voter under 40 to have shown up to that Boston site that day at 6 pm despite the fact the area is heavily populated by 20-30 something professionals and grad students. </p>
<p>Contrast that with the 2008 and 2012 elections when my neighbors and I each saw dozens of millennial aged voters voting in morning, noon, and night up till the closing of the polls.</p>