Pew Research Center Completes Massive Study of Millennial Generation

Click the image above to download the full 100+ page report and findings in PDF format.

The highly revered Pew Research Center has completed one of the most extensive studies it has ever undertaken.  It focuses on the so-called Millennial Generation, which consists of those who are currently 18-28 years old, and contrasts them with their parents, grandparents, and great grandparents on a wide range of economic, spiritual, social and cultural factors.

This study includes data on everything from the total percentage points that believe the Bible is the literal word of God to the average age of marriage to the total tattoos / piercings they have.

The whole study is worth reading, but I will highlight some of the interesting findings …

Which Generation Are You?

First, you have to look at how Pew defined the various generations:

• The Millennial generation refers those born after 1980 – the first generation to come of age in the new millennium.
• Generation X covers people born from 1965 through 1980. The label long ago overtook the first name affixed to this generation: the Baby Bust. Xers are often depicted as savvy, entrepreneurial loners.
• The Baby Boomer label is drawn from the great spike in fertility that began in 1946, right after the end of World War II, and ended almost as abruptly in 1964, around the time the birth control pill went on the market. It’s a classic example of a demography-driven name.
• The Silent generation describes adults born from 1928 through 1945. Children of the Great Depression and World War II, their “Silent” label refers to their conformist and civic instincts. It also makes for a nice contrast with the noisy ways of the anti-establishment Boomers.
• The Greatest Generation (those born before 1928) “saved the world” when it was young, in the memorable phrase of Ronald Reagan. It’s the generation that fought and won World War II.

*** WARNING: THESE ARE GENERAL OBSERVATIONS BASED UPON THE DATA.  THERE WILL ALWAYS BE EXCEPTIONS TO EVERY FINDING THAT YOU, I, OUR FAMILY, AND FRIENDS WON’T FIT INTO SO BE CAREFUL NOT TO TAKE ANYTHING AS AN INSULT BECAUSE YOU HAPPEN TO AGREE OR DISAGREE WITH WHAT THEY FOUND YOUR AGE GROUP / GENERATION BELIEVES ON AVERAGE. ***

Average Age of Marriage Steadily Rising

Only 1 out of 5 Millennial Are Married (Compared with More than Half of Their Grandparents when they were the same age).

Older Generations Are Far More Bigoted … on Everything

For all the good they did, the generation that fought World War II has a whole lot of ignorant bigots in it.  Although roughly 65% of people polled in that generation said it was okay for blacks and whites to date, more than 1 out of every 3 people in this age bracket believe that it is immoral for whites to date outside of their race.  (I really don’t even know what to do with that information … seriously?!)

The same trend holds true when it comes to gay marriage.  A full 50%, or 1 out of every 2 people who are in the millennial generation strongly favor / favor allowing gay marriage, while only 36% oppose it.  The difference of 14% simply don’t care either way.

Contrast that with the older generation who is, again, far more likely to consist of closed minded bigots (there are always exceptions but these are the general findings) and you have only 24% supporting gay marriage with 66% strongly opposed.

As James Dobson of Focus on the Family pointed out at his retirement dinner, the demographic trends have sealed the issue’s fate because the older generation dies off each day and the younger generation grows with each passing day.  Every time the Earth rotates, support has inched up a fraction of a fraction of a percent.  In a few years, it is game, set, match as I said in the analysis of Perry v. Schwarzenegger I wrote a few days ago.  (In the interest of fairness, I should point out that although I strongly disagree with Dobson on this issue and think some of his ideas are suspect, I generally think he has been a force for good in the world; it is just that I think in the long-run his legacy is damaged by his political activism, which is what people will remember.)

Attitudes About Social Changes

Millennials believe the following about social changes …

Put another way: 59% believe single women having children is a problem, 32% believe gay couples having children is a problem, 23% believe mothers working outside of the home is a problem, 22% believe people living together without being married is a problem, and 5% believe interracial marriage is a problem.  (Some people refused to answer or said “I don’t know” so the numbers sometimes only add up to 98% or 99%.)

Let’s invert the data to understand what this means in practical terms:

• 40% believe that more single women having children is not a problem
• 65% believe that gay couples raising children is not a problem
• 73% believe that mothers working outside of the home is not a problem
• 77% believe that couples living together before marriage is not a problem
• 94% believe that interracial marriage is not a problem

Do you get that?

In past generations “shacking up” was considered immoral but 77% of millennials believe there is no problem or that it is a good thing couples live together before marriage. Seventy-seven percent.  Likewise, 65% believe that children growing up in gay households is either or a good thing for society or not a problem.  These are some of the reasons the social conservatives are losing so much ground each year.  We know the fear they are selling is nothing more than lies, at worst, or ignorance, at best.

Racial Makeup of Millennial Generation

The current generation is much more ethnically diverse.

Thinking of it another way in general terms: For every 10 people alive today in the Millennial generation, 6 are white and 4 are black, Hispanic, Asian, or other. We are living diversity so we realize the world doesn’t fall apart when people are treated based upon their character, accomplishments, and actions not some arbitrary social construct.

The Younger Generation Is Much More Satisfied with the Direction of the Country

When looking at satisfaction levels regarding the direction of the country, a good “maximum” level is 50% historically.  You aren’t going to get more than half of people to be really excited about their life and in fact a level that high bodes really, really well when you consider that some people are stuck in inner-city ghettos, some are divorced and lonely in suburbs, some are addicted to drugs and struggling with sobriety, etc.

That said, take a look at the chart that shows the satisfaction difference over the past few decades by age group.

Given that the younger generation typically supports the very things that the older generation worries about due to the chains of indoctrination they have on their minds placed by decades of unchallenged thoughts (do you really think those who opposed interracial marriage are bad people or just misguided and can’t get over what they were taught as children?  I think it is probably the latter), it makes sense that they are more excited about the direction of the country.

Generally Speaking … The Bottom Line

In general terms, the older generation thinks the world is going to hell but the younger generation is excited about change in the air and the direction of the country.  This explains the question I asked a few days ago about why the people who are most angry seem to be white, middle-aged protestants with lower education levels and who are struggling financially.

As I said in that article:

Take talks of “socialism” and “tyranny”.  If income tax rates increase, almost no one will be affected but I certainly will .  If my taxes go up 3%, I’ll hate it, but my rate would still be half of what it was in the 1940’s, 1950’s, and 1960’s when these people were born and grew up!?! Those are the “golden years” to which they want to return?

I mean, the world is a FAR better place than it was even in the 1980s when I grew up.  Now we can sit in our study by the fireplace and watch 20+ years of Charlie Rose interviews, jump on a plane for $99 and be anywhere in the country in hours, carry 20,000+ songs, movies, and books on a tiny device in my car, get far more miles per gallon, have major surgery through an opening the size of a pinhole, video chat with friends and family around the world, cure certain types of blindness with stem cells, and twenty year old kids become multi-millionaires in a year from Internet businesses.

Why would anyone want to go back to the way it was?  I love America today.  Heck, I love the world today – Russia is democratic (almost) and doesn’t want to nuke us, China is capitalistic (almost) and standards of living are skyrocketing … things are getting so much better every year.

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3. Illinois Considers Raising Income Tax Rates by 75% to Deal with Massive Debt
4. Pornography Study Failed After Researchers Couldn’t Find a Single Man Who Hadn’t Viewed X-Rated Material
5. Jesus Christ vs. Captain Kirk: A Study of Mental Models (or “A Modern Example of Binary Beliefs and Cognitive Dissonance In Everyday Western Culture”)
6. The Kennon & Green Foundation Issues $1,000.00 Grant to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
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8. Major Court Ruling on Race and Patient Hospital Rights Today
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10. Our Value Investing Research Process for Stocks