Talkin' about my generation

I interviewed Neil Howe, co-author of Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation, earlier for a QSR Magazine piece on how Millennials will continue to impact the way America does business in general and the restaurant industry in particular. Along with William Strauss, Howe literally wrote the book on the Millennial Generation (a.k.a. Gen Y), which he defines as the cohort born been 1982 and approximately 20 years thereafter. This generation is set off from Gen X'ers and the Boomers, Howe says, by being community-oriented, establishment-friendly, supportive of the military, not brand- and corporation-phobic, generally confident and optimistic, and politically engaged.

While at first blush I agree with many aspects of Howe's assessment of the Millennial generation -- my generation -- I find others surprising. For one, Howe finds us optimistic in our financial outlook. In an essay titled "Yes We Can," Howe and co-author Reena Nadler found that 65 percent of youths between the ages of 18 and 25 expected to be more financially successful than their parents.

Really? I know I'm not banking on it, and many friends and acquaintances, despite their master's degrees and whatnot, aren't either. And why would they, what with unemployment up around 10 percent, the economy backing away from a cliff, et cetera et cetera? Even more surprising is Howe's belief that the Great Recession of 2008 likely won't change the Millennials' sunny outlook re their bank accounts. "The recession leaves the underlying life goals in tact," he said in our interview.

A few more surprising/interesting tidbits from the interview:

• Citing parenting practices that have led Generation Y'ers to consider themselves "special," Howe says Millennials are more likely than earlier generations to demand more benefits from employers, such as retirement funds, investment options, counseling, evaluation and other forms of back patting. This could be significant for the restaurant industry, notorious for being stingy with fringe benefits as well as for high turnover. Expect a more loyal worker base once benefit packages become the norm, Howe says.
• Howe labels Millennials risk-averse and, hence, trusting of big brands. Basically, we find comfort in Wal-Mart, Google and McDonald's because of their prominence, whereas earlier generations, particularly the Boomers, distrusted corporations for precisely this reason. While this bodes well for household names in the years ahead, I hope it doesn't spell trouble for independently owned businesses. For what it's worth, I retain a healthy aversion to the big boys and would hate to see places of character and quality fall under consumer suspicion merely because of their size. On the bright side, Howe says our risk-aversion may lead to greater emphasis on public health (a prediction ostensibly validated by the slow-moving FDA Modernization Act.)
• Obama wasn't a fluke, says Howe. He sees our generation as tearing down the myth of political apathy among youth. "It's going to surprise people how politically powerful this generation is going to be," he said.

Well, that's all for now. I have an article to write (coming out in August) and don't want to empty the notebook prematurely. For now, I leave you with this: