Millennials certainly have a different worldview than the Generation Xers and Baby Boomers, who came before them.
Whether that’s good or bad will largely depend on if you consider yourself a millennial or not, but research company Qualtrics and venture firm Accel recently set out to provide the needed nuance for understanding why younger and older generations see the world as differently as they do.
The two companies partnered to survey more than 8,000 Millennials, Gen Xers and Boomers in an effort to better understand differences between Republican and Democratic Millennials and their beliefs regarding what they deserve from government.
The study, which is part of a broader index about intergenerational attitudes on a range of today¹s most pressing issues, found only 38 percent of Millennials say being American is “extremely important,” which is a much smaller percentage compared to 47 percent of Gen Xers and 62 percent of Baby Boomers.
Other key findings about Millennials:
91 percent of Millennials believe everyone is entitled to basic healthcare. This belief was a big selling point of failed Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders.
86 percent of Millennials say they are entitled to a livable wage. The reason? 61 percent of people making minimum wage are Millennials living with their parents under the weight of crushing student debt.
72 percent of Millennials think the U.S. will still be a global superpower 20 years from now which is a more optimistic stance than Boomers. One can only speculate as to why this is, but the low-hanging fruit is that both Millennials and Boomers realize there is a paradigm shift. That shift usually favors younger generations since they are the ones that will be making major governing decisions in the years ahead.
Of Millennials, Democrats are almost three times more likely than Republicans to believe their gender greatly affects their career opportunities.
37 percent of Millennial Republicans believe that men make better leaders, while Democrat Millennials are 43 percent more likely than Republicans to be very optimistic about the future — this latter speaks back to the point of the paradigm shift. That, while it was not enough to win the 2016 election, Millennials are more confident that liberal ideals will win out in the years to come.
70 percent of Millennials are still likely to purchase products and services from businesses they don¹t agree with politically. This finding sort of flies in the face of the idea that Millennials are intent on blotting out freedom of speech because it allows for a society with opposing views contrary to what many bemoan when they see campus protests like those at UC-Berkeley.
Lastly, dating-wise, Republican Millennials look for work ethic and humor in a partner, while Democrat millennials look for intellect.
The full study will be released on Monday, April 10, and closely follows a couple of previous studies into Millennial behaviors.
A popular time for Millennial studies
On April 5, the National Center for Family and Marriage Research at Bowling Green State University released a study finding that when comparing 25- to 34-year-olds in 1980 with the same age group today, “fewer millennials are married, live away from their parents, have children of their own, or own their own houses than the baby boomers of the same age group the year Ronald Reagan was elected president,” Breitbart reports, implying that the group is generally delaying adulthood more than their predecessors.
When aligned with the Qualtrics/Accel finding that 61 percent are living at home due to large amounts of student debt, this decision could be borne more out of financial hardship than psyche.
Another recent study concerning the Millennial generation have found that West Virginia is the worst state for Millennials while North Dakota is the best. The study from WalletHub examined each state and the District of Columbia across 24 key metrics, ranging from share of Millennials to Millennial unemployment rate to Millennial voter-turnout rate. It is available in full at this link.
Aric Mitchell's work appears regularly here at 4tests.com and across the web for sites, such as The Inquisitr and Life'd. A former high school teacher, his passion for education has only intensified since leaving the classroom. At 4tests, he hopes to continue passing along words of encouragement and study tips to ensure you leave school ready to face an ever-changing world.
Millennials certainly have a different worldview than the Generation Xers and Baby Boomers, who came before them.
