What's a Millennial?
There’s a lot that’s said about Millennials, and there’s a lot to be said that isn’t. Often times, when you hear the word “Millennial” there is probably some negative connotation that’s accompanied with it.
Every generation has been criticized by those who came before them, but none so much as the Millennials.
We Millennials get a horrible rap. We’re blamed for everything from the economy and our consumer choices to our decisions about employment or education and our life choices in general.
It seems no matter what we do, it’s always our fault for some societal issue or other transgression. And a lot of the time, the things that actually led up to said issue, occurred while we were still kids.
Well, we’re here to put that all to rest. We’re going to break down the stereotypes about the Millennial generation.
We’re tired of saying we’re not “lazy” or “entitled”.
Instead, we’re going to show the world that we’re not.
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Below is a more positive explanation of who Millennials are, by a Millennial.
Enjoy!
Who We Are
We are the people born roughly between the years 1981-1999; the ones who were born before the new millennium, and those who are destined to shape it.
We are the most educated and the most diverse demographic in America’s history, and we are fast becoming the largest generation in America, with over an estimated 80 million people.
Our generational experiences include things like the end of the Cold-War, the 9/11 attacks and political aftermath of involvement in the Middle East, the housing crisis and Great Recession, the legalization of gay marriage, the changing attitudes toward Cannabis, and the elections of Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
We also got to experience the rise of things like MTV, hip-hop and rap music, the pop culture that is now 90’s nostalgia, the growth of the Internet, and the vast development of technology and global communication.
And, we’re the first generation to fully experience the effect of climate change and the plastic crisis on our planet.
Our Charcteristics
Despite the stereotypes surrounding us (lazy, entitled, narcissistic, etc.) we are generally:
- Kind, caring, & compassionate
- Hard working
- Financially aware
- Charitable
- Social and vocal
- Passionate about what we do
- Politically active
- Quick to adapt
- Aware of the world
- Concerned about the environment
We’re also usually or increasingly more likely to:
- Identify with moderate and liberal attitudes and political ideas.
- Get involved in volunteerism, activism, and other areas of social impacts.
- Enter into entrepreneurial ventures and areas of innovation.
- Be more tolerant and accepting of others.
- Prefer experiences over possessions.
- Seek out independent media.
What Older People Think We Do
Besides the general blanketed stereotypes given to us, older people (statistically speaking, Baby Boomers) think that we:
- Don’t want to work.
- Don’t work hard enough.
- Want everything in life for free.
- Would rather live at home “in our parent’s basement”, than our own place.
- Want the world bubble wrapped for our own “snowflakey” preferences.
- Can’t maintain real, genuine relationships because we’re always on our phones.
- Want a participation trophy for everything we do.
- Are impatient, flighty, disloyal, and unreliable.
- Are “killing” different industries and fields of the market.
What We Actually Do
In actuality, most Millennials are not lazy or entitled. And we actually do a lot. Sometimes way more than our parents and grandparents had to when they were our ages. Typically speaking, Millennials:
- Work hard.
- Live life.
- Stay informed.
- Explore the world around them.
- Connect with others.
- Express themselves.
- Respect ourselves/know their worth.
- Chase their passions.
- Have empathy for other people and living things in the world.
- Start businesses and innovate industries across the board.
To elaborate:
- Most Millennials are working multiple jobs, going to school, or raising a family; or, are somehow managing to do a combination of all of that. And none of that is easy. It’s not easy stressing about having to rely on two different jobs providing you enough when one or both could cut your hours or position at any point. It’s not easy stressing about making sure you get enough rest and get up in time for class or have to study for an exam the next morning after working all day or working multiple jobs. And it’s not easy making sure you’re giving enough attention to your kids when you have to work all day, plus go to school. Whatever the combination, most Millennials are experiencing some degree of that, some more than others. It’s not easy for most people. And it’s insulting to suggest we’re lazy, don’t work, and don’t want to work. We know things don’t just get handed out in life. We just feel that it shouldn’t be this difficult to survive.
- Millennials search for fulfillment in life and do our best to experience life to the fullest. We often have such a cynical view of the world, to the point where we don’t expect longevity, and thus don’t have an overbearing concern for the future. As a result, this is why we prefer experiences over materialism. It’s why we go to shows or on trips, or why we go to obscure restaurants instead of chain ones. It’s why we go all out when we dress up for conventions and why we take the things we love and build on them through our art and our self-expression. We love life, and we’re going to live our best life while we can.
- To some degree or another, a lot of Millennials still find the time and energy to get out and get involved. We volunteer, we donate, and we raise awareness, especially through our social networks. We care about the environment, and animals, and other people, and the world around us in general.
- Millennials efficiently network and effectively maintain connections. When it comes to getting in contact with people, whether it’s finding a job or getting help or service for something, we know how to look people and things up, know how to rate it before getting involved, and know how to get in contact or make some kind of communication with the desired person or entity. While we’re always on our phones, we’re otherwise generally really good at staying connected to the people we meet. We also know how to go out and meet new people, whether it’s going somewhere to socialize or connecting with people through the methods available to us. So yes while we’re always on our phone, we might be talking with our friend out in another state or even another country. We definitely need to work on being present in our social settings and not use our phones as a crutch, but we’re still pretty good at interacting with the people we’re with for the most part.
What We Don't Do
- We don’t want to work for poverty wages when we work a full week or multiple jobs. We don’t want to have to work 2-3 jobs just to have a roof over our head, pay for school, and provide for our families. We want to be able to spend time with our loved ones, or to study, or to explore our passions. We don’t want to have work consume our lives just to survive. Because that isn’t living, and we know it. People in this country used to be able to work an average job with average hours and be able to go to school, buy a house, and raise a family with several children, all while earning enough to have only one parent working while the other stayed at home. And not all of us want to stay home, but none of us want to have to work so much that we’re almost NEVER home, or barely see our kids. Or that we are so exhausted from working that we do nothing but sit in front of a screen to decompress before restarting the cycle for the next day.
- We don’t take bullshit from people. We don’t let people disrespect us just because they have authority and demand respect. If a manager is coming at us and screaming at us because we made a mistake or something, we’re not going to just sit there and be yelled at. That’s not how you communicate with your employees. Or the general blatant disregard that most corporations give their workers. If you treat your people like they are assets, they’ll give you loyalty. But if you treat the like shit, they’ll leave.
- We don’t like buying into the same things our parents and grandparents did. We’re made out to be a bunch of murderers of some kind with how often they say we’re killing some business or industry. But one thing I’ll tell you we’re not is we’re not sorry. We’re not sorry that you couldn’t compete with online retailers; we’re not sorry that your cab company couldn’t compete with Lyft, or that your hotel lost business to AirBnB; and we’re not sorry that we’re killing the diamond industry, or the wedding industry – no one wants to spend an average of $35K on a single day. If we had that kind of money we wouldn’t also be killing home-ownership. But what can you expect when we’re “killing” the cable and movie theater industry when streaming shows and movies is cheaper with Netflix, or that we’re “killing” chain restaurants because we can probably make the same thing at home for a lot cheaper and healthier? We’re not sorry for the way that we approach the market. You either adapt or you fail.
- Most of us do not want the world bubble wrapped. We don’t want people to walk around stepping on eggshells. Most of us would rather just be awareof others and try to genuinely be respectful rather than just politically correct. We want to be able to talk with others without having to worry about not offending them if we don’t mean any true offense.
What We Want Out of Life
For the most part, while we want to have fun and experience life to the fullest, we also want:
- To feel like we’re a part of something bigger than ourselves.
- To be acknowledged and considered, not scoffed at, ignored or disrespected (just like any other person).
- To have comfort and stability in life, with our selves, our families and relationships, our work, and everything else.
- To live, not just survive. W want to explore ourselves, find our passions and build upon them.
We’re really not that hard to please for the most part. To put it more plainly:
- We want to find fulfillment and satisfaction out of our jobs; we don’t want to be overworked while being underpaid and underappreciated. We want more opportunity in our jobs. The reason why Millennials have a high turnover rate is because if we don’t feel that our time is valuable to what we’re putting it into, we move on to something better for ourselves. Those who came before us put up with a lot of bullshit, and were also afforded more opportunity for elevation within their companies, so they usually stayed at the same place for 10-15+ years. They were also afforded more stability with that choice, especially with the standard of living costs being so much less then than it is now. This is also why many Millennials are more attracted to being entrepreneurs.
- We want our work not only to be meaningful, but also provide a decent life for us. Most of us don’t want or need fancy or expensive things. We just want to be able to afford to go to school, own a house, raise a family, and explore ourselves as individuals, just like the generations before us got to. Most of us don’t want fancy cars and clothes, we’d rather just have big yards for our dogs and to grow things, and have the ability to be involved in our children’s lives by not having to work ourselves to death at 2-3 jobs to provide for them because cost of living is so high.
- We don’t want things for free in life. We just want the things that our country invests in through our tax dollars to go toward benefiting ALL Americans. We want education to be universally accessible to people, even if they can’t afford an education. We want healthcare to be provided to EVERYONE, regardless of their income or ability to pay for life saving medication and treatment. No one should have to die because they didn’t have insurance or couldn’t afford treatment. Not in today’s technologically advanced world, and not in one of the richest countries on Earth.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my breakdown of what I think Millennials truly are at their core. I’ve always hated the stereotypical comments made about our generation, and I just want for us to not be minimized or ignored, We are a major part of this country and this world. And we have the power and potential to accomplish so much, especially together. I want us to take back the definition of our generation, prove our worth to the world.
To all my fellow Millennials out there, I love you guys and what you do and accomplish every day.
To the other generations, I want to work with you to combine our generational experience and skills to make this world a better place. I don’t want us to be divided. I want us to come together to be better.
We are not enemies.
With love,
– Cat D.
Founder & Fellow Millennial
Find Out More About Our Generation!
Countless studies and research have been conducted to understand our generation. This page is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what we are.
As we find studies that we feel appropriately consider who we are, we’ll share them here!