Executive Overview
Generations, like individuals, have actually characters, and Millennials — the American teens and twenty-somethings that are making the passage into adulthood in the beginning of a brand new millennium — have actually started to forge theirs: confident, self-expressive, liberal, positive and available to alter.
They truly are more ethnically and racially diverse than older grownups. They’re less spiritual, less likely to want to have offered within the armed forces, and so are on course to become the essential generation that is educated American history.
Their entry into professions and very very very first jobs happens to be poorly problem because of the Great Recession, however they are more positive than their elders about their particular financial futures in addition to concerning the general state associated with the nation.(See chapter 4 when you look at the complete report)
They accept numerous modes of self-expression. Three-quarters have actually produced a profile on a social media website. One-in-five have actually posted a video clip of themselves online. Almost four-in-ten have a tattoo (and for many that do, one is perhaps maybe not sufficient: approximately half of these with tattoos have actually two to five and 18percent have actually six or higher). Almost one-in-four have a piercing in certain destination apart from an earlobe — about six times the share of older grownups who’ve done this. However their look-at-me tendencies aren’t without restrictions. Many Millennials have actually put privacy boundaries on the social networking profiles. And 70% state their tattoos are concealed beneath clothes. (See chapters 4 and 7 within the report that is full
Despite struggling (and sometimes failing) to get jobs when you look at the teeth of a recession, about nine-in-ten either state they now have sufficient money or that they can fundamentally fulfill their long-lasting economic objectives. But right now, completely 37% of 18- to 29-year-olds are unemployed or out of this workforce, the greatest share among this age bracket much more than three years. Research shows that teenagers who graduate from university in a poor economy typically suffer long-lasting consequences — with results on the professions and earnings that linger provided that 15 years. 1 (See chapter 5 into the complete report)
Whether as being a 
by-product of protective moms and dads, the chronilogical age of terrorism or perhaps a news tradition that is targeted on potential risks, they cast a wary attention on human instinct. Two-thirds say “you can’t be too careful” when dealing with individuals. Yet they’ve been less skeptical than their elders of federal federal government. Much more than many other generations, they think federal government needs to do more to fix issues. (See chapter 8 into the complete report).
they’re the minimum overtly spiritual US generation in present times. One-in-four are unaffiliated with any religion, more compared to the share of older grownups once they had been many years 18 to 29. Yet maybe not belonging will not indicate perhaps not thinking. Millennials pray about as much because their elders did in their own personal youth. (See chapter 9 into the complete report)
No more than six-in-ten were raised by both parents — a smaller sized share than had been the situation with older generations. In weighing their particular life priorities, Millennials (like older grownups) spot parenthood and wedding far above job and monetary success. Nonetheless they aren’t rushing to your altar. Simply one-in-five Millennials (21%) are hitched now, half the share of these parents’ generation during the stage that is same of. About a 3rd (34%) are moms and dads, in accordance with the Pew analysis study. We estimate that, in 2006, a lot more than a 3rd of 18 to 29 12 months women that are old provided birth were unmarried. It is a far greater share than had been the instance in earlier in the day generations. 2 (See chapters 2 and 3 into the complete report)
Millennials take program in order to become probably the most generation that is educated American history, a trend driven mostly by the needs of a contemporary knowledge-based economy, but the majority likely accelerated in modern times because of the an incredible number of 20-somethings signing up for graduate schools, colleges or community universities in component since they can’t find a work. A record share — 39.6% — was enrolled in college as of 2008, according to census data among 18 to 24 year olds. (See chapter 5 when you look at the report that is full
They get on well using their moms and dads. Searching right back at their teenage years, Millennials report having had less spats with mother or dad than older adults state that they had along with their parents that are own they certainly were growing up. And from now on, crisis have actually held a substantial share of adult Millennials and their moms and dads beneath the exact same roof. About one-in-eight older Millennials (many years 22 and older) say they’ve “boomeranged” right back to a parent’s house due to the recession. (See chapters 3 and 5 into the report that is full
They respect their elders. a big part state that the older generation is better than younger generation with regards to ethical values and work ethic. Additionally, a lot more than six-in-ten state that families have duty to possess an elderly parent come reside using them if it moms and dad would like to. By comparison, less than four-in-ten grownups many years 60 and older concur that it is family members obligation.