What is the most important national issue for Millennials? Harvard Institute of Politics posed this open-ended question in its 15th annual poll among 2,400 18-24 year olds in September/October 2007 and again in 2008. (Thank you! John Della Volpe at Social Sphere for sending this!) The answer (see chart) is the state of the economy (53%). The economy trumps the war (9%) and healthcare (5%) by a wide margin. This is not a surprise, given that the poll was conducting during the financial crisis and two economy-focused presidential debates. The surprise is how different things looked a year ago, when the war was the top issue and the economy was mentioned by only 5%. Admittedly, my priorities have shifted a bit as well, so this is not solely a Millennial phenomenon. But it’s interesting to explore how this new awareness is affecting Gen Y, beyond the presidential election. In this regard, nothing has really changed: according to the poll, 18-24 year olds choices are pretty pretty much the same as they were before crisis.
I have firsthand evidence they are thinking about the crisis. I asked a young man I met in the Dallas airport last week who attends Farragut HS in St. Petersburg whether they were discussing the crisis in his economics class. He replied with a grin, “It’s ALL we talk about.”
My daughter who is a college freshman reports her friends are concerned about their parents ability to pay tuition and that scholarships and loan availability will be affected by the new economic reality.
On the job front, business schools are reporting an uptick in enrollment. According to a report, Grads Fear Gloomy Job Prospects, by Medill at Northwestern, there is additional pressure on students college career centers . (Check out the great video of students across the country talking about their job prospects). We are about to conduct a series of focus groups among recent alumni on behalf of Notre Dame’s Alumni Services; I expect to hear there is extra pressure on young employees to perform, making the already stressful transition from college to work even more taxing.
Here are some other predictions:
High school students will begin to defer going to college in favor of jobs or to wait until older siblings have graduated. Applications may be down this year for the first time in many years, despite the demographic bulge for the class of 2013. Others who normally would go for a 4-year school will opt for community college.
We will see parents become even more important to young graduates. Already 50% of men and 33% of women 18-29 live with their parents. Look for this to increase, with no increase in raised eyebrows.
We may even be relieved from hearing more whining about Millennials’ unrealistic workplace expectations over the next few years.
Finally, Millennials’ civic mindedness may also combine with necessity to drive more to public service. Many may prefer underemployment that helps ‘make a difference’ to unemployment. The Harvard Institute poll I referenced earlier confirms other studies in this regard, and goes on to specifically outline what they might do to serve:
“Three-in-five (59%) of America’s youngest
citizens (18-24 year olds) say that they are
personally interested in engaging in some form
of public service to help the country — 19 percent
very interested….In addition, the subgroups that seem most
intense in their interest to engage in national
service are African Americans (25% very
interested) and Hispanics (24% very interested).
Among the 59 percent who say that they are
interested, following are the ways in which they
would consider engaging:
• 75 percent, part time in their community
• 47 percent, work for the federal, state or
local government
• 32 percent, use the Internet to collaborate
with government
• 32 percent, get involved in a political
campaign
• 25 percent, join the foreign service
• 23 percent, join national service program
full-time like Teach for America or City
Year
• 17 percent join the military, and
• 17 percent run for political office.
Those are some impressive figures. If Millennials follow through, there could be a silver lining to the crisis after all.
