Last night I wandered into a book talk by the authors of Millennial Makeover after seeing it in someone's newsfeed on Facebook. How 2.0 of me, right? The room was filled with mostly Boomers (who were also the authors of the book) and a few Xers like me. The focus of the book and the talk was on how "Millennials" are changing the face of politics [again]. I say "again," because the the authors' thesis was that there are two types of generations - "idealist" and "civic." The Greatest Generation was "civic," like the Millennials, and Boomers and Xers are "idealist." Idealists are more polarized around social issues and civic generations tend to be more optimistic and service oriented (and not afraid of big government). The authors admitted to putting the work of Bill Strauss and Neil Howe into a political context, which means this is a different thesis than say, Jean Twenge's (Generation Me).
It was a wonky, political crowd, but I actually happen to be somewhat of a political junkie myself, so I enjoyed the discussion. I wanted to post a few stats I Twittered last night that won't be new to Ypulsers but always interesting nonetheless:
- 40 percent of Millennials not white (bolstered by Millennial immigrants)
- 82 percent of Millennials support affirmative action
- 94 percent of Millennials support interracial dating
- They are identifying 2:1 liberal or Democrat vs. conservative or Republican
- 73 percent of Millennials believe government should care for people who can't take care of themselves (don't have a problem with big government or higher taxes)
- 80 percent of Millennials volunteered in high school (and are jazzed about national service)
- They're not into the values voting (God and guns) - it's economics and turning the country around
Given the authors' cyclical thesis, this generation of Millennials will probably raise the next generation of idealists...Of course they also discussed the internet as "oxygen to Millennials," and many connections were made between these stats and Millennial support for Obama's candidacy.
On a sad note, I didn't realize Bill Strauss had passed away from pancreatic cancer. I had the privilege of interviewing him for a white paper I wrote several months ago. RIP.
Posted by anastasia
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Comments
The phrase "oxygen to Millennials" actually makes me shudder. Can someone please outlaw all similar phrases?
Posted by: Kristen O | April 18, 2008 12:42 PM
Thanks, great article! Not heard of the civic/idealist dichotomy before, interesting concept.
On "They are identifying 2:1 liberal or Democrat vs. conservative or Republican":
It'll be interesting to see if this balance adjusts as the Millennials grow up.
After all, the old and oft-misattributed quote that "Not to be [liberal] at 20 is proof of want of heart; to be one at 30 is proof of want of head" can be traced back to the 18th century...
Posted by: Gareth | April 18, 2008 1:04 PM
Hi Gareth. The authors were pretty forceful about saying that once people have fully formed their views, they don't tend to change. I know we know they do anecdotally, but maybe the majority statistically do not.
Posted by: anastasia | April 18, 2008 1:36 PM
Bob Somerby of "The Daily Howler" doubts the premise of the book "Millennial Makeover."
Posted by: Eric Jaffa | April 18, 2008 2:00 PM
Hi anastasia :) Agreed that once fully formed, political views rarely change - but I'm not sure if most millenials have reached the age where those views are fully formed yet.
In my own experience of my peers, there's a strong shift towards conservatism right around the time that first paycheck arrives with a big chunk missing for taxes...
Posted by: Gareth | April 18, 2008 2:14 PM
Gareth beat me to it! I was just about to say that a majority of Generation Y is too young to be affected by taxes to a full extent, the little they do pay is usually not that bad when their parents pick up the rest of their tabs, phone bill, car insurance, etc.
I am in Generation Y and I become more and more conservative by the day when I look at taxes. Our economy is in a mess and the Democrats want to push through huge changes that will raise our taxes when the american dollar has collapsed and people are struggling with money, so we should pay more?? Shows the intelligence for those still screaming and fainting for Obama when he outright says what he will do.
Posted by: Chris | April 21, 2008 6:13 AM
"Our economy is in a mess and the Democrats want to push through huge changes that will raise our taxes when the american dollar has collapsed and people are struggling with money, so we should pay more?? Shows the intelligence for those still screaming and fainting for Obama when he outright says what he will do."
Trying not to derail the thread into a political flamewar, but high(er) taxes do not necessarily equate to a poorer quality of life or more economic struggle, especially for the middle and working classes.
The Economist's quality of life index rates the northern European countries (very high tax, strong social services and relatively open borders) right at the top with the US down at #13.
I would imagine that a large number of those struggling Americans you mention would be quite happy to pay more in taxes in exchange for reduced healthcare costs, improved social services, less posturing over immigration and less $3*trillion* wars.
Posted by: Gareth | April 21, 2008 2:49 PM
Anastasia:
The one commentator who said people don't change once their opinions have been formed (usually by mid-20s) was correct. Its after that that attitudes don't change (witness GI Generation voting straight Democratic in their 90s). But despite hopes of conservatives it has little if anything to do with paycheck and taxes but rather the larger events in their lives and of course the lingering impact of how they were raised. There is NO social science evidence that people get more conservative as they get older, no matter what the "common wisdom" says. Nice blog with very accurate quotes/stats. Feel free to join the conversation on Facebook at Millennial Makeover group page.
Morley Winograd
Posted by: morley winograd | April 21, 2008 8:14 PM