Credit: AP Photo / M. Spencer Green
This segment originally aired on June 1st, 2018.
Economist John Quiggin wants to change the way we talk about millennials. That is, he thinks we should stop talking about them altogether. In a New York Times editorial, Quiggin argued that the notion of generations is a pop-culture myth. He thinks we should focus on how people are affected by more significant traits like class, gender, and age.
Three Takeaways:
- The idea of generational divide is fairly new, and it really picked up steam after World War II. In Quiggin's view, the Baby Boom was a significant change in American demographic make-up. But Baby Boomers as a uniform social force? They don't exist. Indeed, 20 year-olds today are pretty similar to 20 year-olds in 1970.
- While significant world events do affect the people who live through them, the experience doesn’t necessarily unify a generation. The Vietnam War draft divided Americans along economic and social lines, affecting young, lower-class men of color most. Their white, upper-class peers were able to more effectively circumvent the draft.
- Social norms and attitudes change over time, but Quiggin says that your beliefs and worldview don’t depend on the precise year you're born. What matters is the social context you're born into. Societal shifts occur on a larger, more long-term scale than the 15-year periods we label as generations.
More Reading:
- Quiggin references the Strauss-Howe Generational Theory as influential in how we view generations today. Here's an article by William Strauss and Neil Howe in which they describe their theory and apply it to different groups.
- Pew Research redefined what it means to be a "millennial." Read about how they research and define generations here.
- Confused by the contradictory claims of all these generation experts? They are, too, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
