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Generation Y
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Generation Y is a cohort which consists of those people born after the Generation X cohort. Its name is controversial and is synonymous with several alternative names including The Net Generation, Millennials, Echo Boomers, and iGeneration. Generation Y consists primarily of the offspring of the Generation Jones and Baby Boomers cohorts.
As a generation is defined not by formal process but rather by demographers, the media, popular culture, market researchers and members of the generation itself, there is no precise consensus as to which birth years constitute any generation.
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Generation Y is a cohort which consists of those people born after the Generation X cohort. Its name is controversial and is synonymous with several alternative names including The Net Generation, Millennials, Echo Boomers, and iGeneration. Generation Y consists primarily of the offspring of the Generation Jones and Baby Boomers cohorts.
As a generation is defined not by formal process but rather by demographers, the media, popular culture, market researchers and members of the generation itself, there is no precise consensus as to which birth years constitute any generation. Although different groups and individuals consider different ranges of years as constituting Generation Y, those ranges of years are almost always within the outer bounds of 1976 as the earliest possible year and 2001 as the latest. The ongoing debate is in part due to the lack of a marquee event(s), like the boom in births after the end of World War II for the "Baby Boomer" generation.
If the years 1977-2000 are used - as is common in market research - then the size of Generation Y in the United States is approximately 76 million.
Controversy: Attempts to Name and Demarcate Generation Y
The term Generation Y first appeared in an August 1993 Ad Age editorial to describe those teenagers born between 1974 and 1980. The scope of the term has changed greatly since then to include, in many cases, anyone born as late as 2001. There is no precise definition of years.
Some psychology textbooks date the Generation Y individuals to be born between 1976 and 2003, which describe them as voracious consumers of electronic media (e-generation) projected to spend 23 years of their life online (1/3 of their lives)
Cameron, G. T., Wilcox, D. L., Reber, B. H., & Shin, J. (2008). Public relations today: Managing competition and conflict. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.
Use of the term Generation Y (often shortened to Gen Y) to describe any cohort of individuals is controversial for a variety of reasons. "Generation Y" alludes to a succession from "Generation X", a term which was originally coined as a pejorative label. In this sense, the use of Gen Y as a term only denotes "after Gen X" and fails to capture the cohort's unique social, political, and cultural experience. In addition, some members of this demographic group find it offensive.
Numerous alternative terms have arisen that are generally synonymous with Generation Y. While Generation Y alludes to that cohort's successional relationship to Generation X, the term Echo Boomers is used to allude to the generation's close tie to the primary childbearing years of Baby Boomers. The terms Millennials and Net Generation are attempts to give the Gen Y cohort more independent names that are tied with key events and cultural trends that are strongly associated with the generation. No single term is the "correct" term to describe members of this generation.
Howe and Strauss: "The Millennials"
Following the publication of their book, Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069, much credit has been given to the names used for various American cohorts by authors William Strauss and Neil Howe. Howe and Strauss use the term "Millennials" as opposed to "Generation Y", arguing that this cohort actually coined the term Millennials themselves and have expressed a wish not to be associated closely with Gen X. They followed up their large study of the history of American demographics with a new book specifically on that generation, titled Millennials Rising.
In Generations, Howe and Strauss use the years 1982-2001 as the birth years of the Millennial Generation, using the 18 childhood years of the high school graduating class of 2000 as their marking points. They reasoned that the high school class of 2000 received notable public attention and political initiatives during their youth that provided a contrast between Americans born before this class and those born after. This term relates to the generation's young age during the turn of the millennium.
Echo Boomers
The name "Echo Boomers" relates to the size of the generation and its relation to the Baby boomer generation.
The actual "Echo Boom" was a five year span between 1989 and 1993 when for the first time since 1964, the number of live births reached over four million. It wouldn’t be until 1985 that the live birth number would even match that of 1965 at 3.760 million. Also it should be noted that the birthrate of 1971’s 17.2% has yet to be reached according to the 2000 census.
Junco and Mastrodicasa: Research on "The Net.Generation"
In their 2007 book, Junco and Mastrodicasa expanded on the work of Howe and Strauss to include research-based information about the personality profiles of Generation Y, especially as it relates to higher education. They conducted a large-sample (7,705) research study of college students. They found that Net.Generation college students were frequently in touch with their parents and they used technology at higher rates than people from other generations. In their survey, they found that 97% of students owned a computer, 94% owned a cell phone, and 56% owned an MP3 player (iPod, Zune, Sansa, etc.). They also found that students spoke with their parents an average of 1.5 times a day about a wide range of topics. Other findings in the Junco and Mastrodicasa survey included the following:
Instant Messaging (IM)
- 76% of students used Instant Messaging
- A typical IM user was logged on to IM 35 hours each week.
- 15% of IM users were logged on 24 hours a day/7 days a week.
- IM users typically chat 80 minutes per day.
- % of IM users also use IM on their cell phone.
- 80% of IM users send messages to someone in their same physical location (dorm room or apartment).
Information Streaming
- 40% of students reported that the television was their primary source of obtaining news while 34% reported that websites were their primary source (newspapers were the primary source for 11% and radio for 8%).
- 12% of those who obtained their news from TV listed The Daily Show as the primary show they watch to obtain their news and 5% listed Colbert Report.
Blogs
- 28% reported owning a blog and 44% reported reading blogs.
File Sharing
- 49% reported downloading music using peer-to-peer file sharing (15% reported downloading movies and 16% reported downloading software).
Facebook
- 69% of students reported having a Facebook account.
- Students who had Facebook accounts reported typically logging in twice a day.
Trophy Kids
The Generation Y are sometimes called the "Trophy Generation", or "Trophy Kids," a term that reflects the trend in competitive sports (as well as many other aspects of life) where "no one loses" and everyone gets a "Thanks for Participating" trophy. Although it seems that this educated, technologically advanced, success-driven generation would be ideal workers, corporate Human Resource (HR) departments are reporting the opposite"Some employers are concerned that the members of Generation Y have too great expectations from the workplace and desire to shape their jobs to fit their lives rather than adapt their lives to the workplace. To better understand this mindset, many large firms are currently studying this conflict and are trying to devise new programs to help older employees understand Millennials, while at the same time figuring out ways to entice Millennials to remain on board. For example, Goldman Sachs conducts training programs that use actors to portray Millennials who assertively seek more feedback, responsibility, and involvement in decision making. After the performance, employees discuss and debate the generational differences they have seen played out "
In the Trophy Kid generation high demands placed on children to succeed has increased. The desire to meet model beauty standards is still increasing particularly in women. Noted by radical feminists are unrealistic dolls such as Barbie and the infamous Guess Jean Ads. Institute of Psychiatry in London found a three fold increase in anorexia and bulimia between 1988 and 1993. Genetic traits linked to anorexia and bulimia may be obsessional, perfectionist, and anxious personality styles. One orientation designed to bridge gaps between generation X med students and millennial med students outlined traditionally believed ideals of Generation X. The believed ideals of dominance, vigilance and privacy were not valued in Generation X medical students, while self-reliance and openness to change were. Trophy kids developed pressure to excel not only in school, but also hobbies , sports and service work. They are the most educated generation in the United States currently. Trophy kids were included in their parents "family decisions" making them want to be "heard" instead of "seen."
Millennials and Multiculturalism
Being amongst the first generations to be born and actively grow up in an American society desegregated by law (Brown v. Board of Education), imposing sexual equality by law (Title IX), and proactively defending the rights of various minority groups by law, in addition to the effects of 60's and 70's era influence on their generation, Millennials to some extent have been conditioned by the state, educational insitituion, and cultural influence to take a more neutral outlook on multiculturalism.
Social studies education has changed significantly particularly during this generation's childhood and adolescence, with tolerance and multiple points of views on divisive issues being introduced into school literature (such as Columbus controversy, MLK, civil rights era, sexual education, etc...).
Most were not born subject to direct institutionalized bias (even many of their parents weren't), nor would have benefited directly from said bias and as such have some difficulty relating to the full impact of pre-60's era American society.
From this outlook you will find petitions to abolish affirmative action to a seemingly conflicting proactive support for extensive multiculturalism. During their formative years this generation has seen the largest ethnic demographic shift in the US so far, exposing the millennial generation to far more cultures and foreign influences than any previous one. The role of the increasingly available and global internet even prior to the web has had a substantial impact in exposing them to more cultures than previously possible for any preceding generation's youth.
These combined influences have served to in some manners create what may seem to be a more culturally tolerant generation. However real and deep-rooted issues of race, culture and identity have not been eradicated. And the increased exposure both internal and external has to some degree created a backlash or helped support groups and organizations which may be considered "anti-multicultural". (See KKK, Neo_Nazi, minutemen, nation of islam).
Generation Y globally
In many rich countries, the 1980s and 1990s were a period of rapidly falling birth rates. In Southern Europe and Japan, and less markedly in Northern and Eastern Europe, Generation Y is dramatically smaller than any of its predecessors, and its childhood years tended to be marked by small families, both immediate and extended, small classes at school and school closures. In the Soviet Union during the 1980s, there was a "baby boom echo" similar to that in the United States, and Generation Y there is relatively large; however, birth rates decreased dramatically in the 1990s to extremely low levels. This meant a lot of individual attention from parents in a period in which society was becoming intrinsically more risk averse.
The child poverty rate was still relatively high in many Western countries throughout the 1980s and '90s.
The increasing stratification of wealth in many societies has led to an increase in the societal differences between poor and rich members of this generation. Although many middle class and wealthier families arrange many extra-curricular activities for their children, less affluent families cannot afford such extras, increasing the pressure on their own children. Since much of the generational character is tied to the prevalence of "extracurriculars" and relatively expensive technologies such as computers, some feel that the description of the generation only applies to wealthy members or at least the broadly middle class.
In Eastern Europe, Generation Y is the first generation without mature memories of communism or dictatorial rule. In newly rich countries such as South Korea or Greece, Generation Y has known nothing but developed world standards of living, while their grandparents often grew up in developing world conditions, causing considerable social changes and inter-generational difficulties as the young reject many traditional ways of life.
Generation Y was the first generation in countries like India and China to experience modern western amenities on a wide scale due to the liberalization of their economies.
See also
External links
International
- From a Gen Y'ers point of view, not PR or marketing-related. March 2009
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