Have you ever heard of the Generation Gap? That difference in behavior and opinions between generations is often noticeable, but between Millennials and Baby Boomers, it has become a stark contrast. According to the National Center for Family & Marriage Research, a study of 25-34-year-olds in 2015 and 1980 has provided some interesting results. Here are some of the major differences:
- Millennials are more ethnically diverse– Only 57 percent of Millennials are white compared with 79 percent of Baby Boomers in 1980. Hispanics and Asians show the largest growth with a thirteen and five percent growth respectively.
- Millennials are more likely to be immigrants- Foreign born Millennials were 17.5 percent in 2015 compared with 7.5 percent of Boomers in 1980.
- Millennials are more likely to have a college education– Interestingly, the edge goes to Baby Boomers in secondary education who obtained only a High School Diploma in 1980 with 38 percent having a diploma compared with 24 percent of Millennials obtaining one. However, when it comes to higher education, Millennials have a 34 percent obtainment of a college degree while Baby Boomers in 1980 only reached 23 percent. Those who did not graduate high school were 16 percent for “nineteen-eightyians” and 10 percent for “two-thousand-fifteenites.” This leaves 23 percent of Baby Boomers who attended college but did not receive their B.A. degree with 32 percent being true of the Millennials.
- Millennials tend to live in the West and South– Compared to their Grandparents, 37 percent of Millennials lived in the South while the elder generation comes in at 33 percent. Also, 25 percent lived in the West while 21 percent of their elders lived there. The biggest disparity is in the Midwest where there is a gap of 25 to 20 percent which Baby Boomers taking the lead. The least likely place for Millennials to live is in the North East with only 17 percent of them residing there.
- Millennials have worked more- When asked if they had worked in the past week 23 percent of Millennials stated that they had not, while 26 percent of Baby Boomers had not. However, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in 1980 was 7.1 percent while that in 2015 was 5.3 percent.
- Millennials are less likely to get married- Baby Boomers in 1980 had a rate of round 68 percent who were married while Millennials come in around 40 percent.
- Millennials live longer with others- Only 9 percent of Baby Boomers in 1980 lived with their parents or grandparents while Millennials arrive at over double the number at 22 percent. Before anyone begins sounding the alarm bell, it is interesting to note that this percentage has usually been higher in the past with it arriving at a low from the 1960’s to 1980 (soon rising after that year) and (records) beginning at an all time high in 1940.
- Millennials are less likely to live with their biological child- Millennials are at around 55 percent for living with their flesh and blood offspring while Baby Boomers were at 68 percent in 1980.