Millennial Massacre!

“Well, duh!  It’s time somebody noticed! ” is probably what a lot of young people said when National Journal, a cousin of the Atlantic, revealed its recent polling data and analysis of the impact of the recession on the Millennial Generation. http://www.nationaljournal.com/njmagazine/nj_20100505_2490.php

But the numbers are still stunning.  Millennials, born between 1981 and 2002 (what happened in 2002?), outnumber the reviled Baby Boom generation by at least 16 million.  According to National Journal, one third of them are now living with parents or relatives (a European level 39% of those 18-24).  28% of those aged 20-24 with less than a high school degree are unemployed, as are 20% who are only high school grads.   Only 16% of the generation say they are making enough to live comfortably and save an adequate amount. Twice as many are “barely getting by” every month.

A major theme of the polling: this generation has a broad and deep commitment to public service.  Perhaps not surprisingly given the grim labor market, Millennials have swamped federal public service programs.  Teach for America, which recruits college grads to teach for two years in poverty areas, has seen its applications double, to 46,000 since 2008, and Peace Corps applications have reached the highest level since the program was created in the Kennedy Administration. 

The brutal recession has also not extinguished Millennial optimism:  twice as many Millennials believe that their own efforts, rather than outside events, will determine their economic future.  One fifth say that starting their own businesses holds the greatest potential for career success.  Many have responded to unemployment by creating micro-businesses, what some have called “necessity entrepreneurship”.  I’ll bet more than a few of these businesses end up taking off in the recovery and become permanent additions to the economy.  What National Journal called the labor market’s “escalator” has been broken for going on three years.  When it is finally repaired, expect the Millennial generation to power an American economic boom which will dwarf that of the 1980’s and 1990’s. 

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