GENERATION Y

'Generation Y' or 'Echo boomers' are terms that designate a cohort of people born immediately after "Generation X." It is one of several terms (including 'The Millennials' and the 'The Internet Generation') used to describe the same group. There is much dispute as to the exact range of birth years that constitutes "Generation Y" and whether this term is specific to North America, the Anglophone world, or people worldwide. The only consensus, by way of its relation to the term "Generation X," is that those born in Generation Y must follow Generation X. Many publications in academic, demographic, business, and governmental sources have used their own specific parameters for who constitutes Generation Y. There is no specific accepted definition thus far. The use of the term "Generation Y" is also controversial and synonyms are often used in discourse or in published works that refer to this group.
As the term "Generation X" was coined primarily to describe the post Baby Boomer generation in the United States and Canada, some people use "Generation Y" only to refer to Americans, Canadians, and other Anglophone people who were born after Generation X. Dates that define a person belonging to Generation X have also been disputed. Others have suggested that such regional restrictions of use are unnecessary in the ever globalizing world.
Generations are not defined by formal process, but rather by demographers, the media, popular culture, market researchers, and by members of the generation themselves. For instance, while the periodical ''American Demographics'' typically uses 1976 to demarcate the start of Generation Y, the demographers Howe and Strauss have consistently used "the High School class of 2000", or those born in 1982 as their demarcation. While many possible years are used as the endpoint of Generation Y, the term is almost never applied to current infants, who are part of a possibly as yet unnamed generation. Because of the flexible nature of such demographic terms, two people of the same birth year can identify as either Generation X, Y, or something that follows Y, such as the New Silent Generation and neither is wrong.
Because the term Generation Y suggests "following Generation X", and because the term Generation X was originally coined as a pejorative term, use of the term Generation Y is controversial. Numerous terms (see below) have been coined as alternatives to Generation Y, or to describe subjects of the cohort. "Millennials" is a very commonly used alternative by the popular press in the United States.
If the years 1978-2000 are used, as is common in market research, then the size of Generation Y in the United States is approximately 76 million.^[1]

Background

The term Generation Y first appeared in an August 1993 AD Age editorial to describe those children born between 1984 -1994.^[2] The scope of the term has changed greatly since then, to include, in many cases, anyone born as early as 1976 and late as 2000. There is still no precise definition of years, some theorists also place a cusp generation MTV generation between X and Y, 1975 - 1985.
Use of the term Generation Y (often shortened to Gen Y or Ygen) to describe any cohort of individuals is controversial for a variety of reasons. "Generation Y" alludes to a succession from "Generation X", a term which was originally coined as a pejorative label.
While Generation Y alludes to that cohort's successional relationship to Generation X, the term 'Echo Boomers' is used to allude to the generation's close tie to the primary childbearing years of Baby Boomers; the term 'Second Baby Boom' is also used in this way and to denote the population expansion that Generation Y represents. The terms 'Millennials' and 'Internet generation' are attempts to give the Gen Y cohort more independent names that are tied with key events and cultural trends that are strongly associated with the generation. No single term is the "correct" term to describe members of this generation.
Generation Y are primarily children of the Baby boomers and Generation Jones, though some are children of what Howe and Strauss refer to as the Silent Generation (sometimes referred to as Generation Z) or are children of older Gen X adults. Because of this, there is a perceived tendency to share social views with the Boomers and culture with Gen X, who serve chiefly as their 'older cousins' or even older siblings. The actual “Echo Boom” was a five year span between 1989 and 1993 when for the first time since 1964, the number of live births reached over four million. Previously, even the rate of 1965 (3.76 million) was not reached until 1985. Also it should be noted that the birthrate of 1971 (17.2%) has yet to be reached according to the 2000 census.^[3]
A notable demographic shift should begin to occur in 2011 when the oldest Baby Boomers (b. 1946) hit the United States' legal retirement age of 65. As Boomers retire, more members of Generation X will be expected to take roles in middle and upper management and the large membership of Generation Y should take up positions in the lower half of the workforce, a process which could have possibly begun since some definitions have members of Gen Y in their late 20s.
Many Generation Y members are labeled as being "rebellious" or "rude," but this is often an incorrect label on a generation-unique trait. Generation Yers often do not recognize authority in the same way as Boomers or Xers do. Instead of "rebelling," they react based on what or how they feel when they are approached or spoken to by authoritative figures. Members of Generation Y are additionally more inclined to firmly believe in the "an eye for an eye" principle. Generations preceding Generation Y are not as subservient to authority.
Generation Z is the Generation succeeding Generation Y with its birth years beginning in the early 1990s and its ending point hotly debated possibly the events of 9/11 or later.^[4].

Trends among members

As with previous generations, many trends (and problems) began to surface as members of Generation Y come of age.

★ Underage drinking and illicit drug use is prevalent among high school and college age members of Generation Y. In urban areas, rave culture was known for its influence on Ecstasy usage. Marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, and inhalants seem to be most favored.^[5] Drug usage prevails even in spite of (and, in some cases, because of) most Gen Y members undergoing programs such as D.A.R.E. during childhood.^[6] However, statistically, today's teens are less likely to smoke, drink, do illegal drugs, get pregnant, commit a crime, or drop out of school than their parents in the 1970s.^[7]

★ The illegal use of legal prescription medications is an emerging trend of Generation Y, including the appearance of "Pharming parties" where youths trade, share, and try each other's prescription medications.^[8]

★ Childhood obesity is another health problem that has plagued Generation Y, and X to a lesser extent before them. In response, many local school boards have started to remove junk food from school cafeterias in an effort to reverse this trend. Notably, Generation X is the first generation to have junk food readily available in schools, except in Canada with junk or overly processed foods being commonplace for Generation Y. In Victoria, Australia, there are laws that restrict the purchase of junk food at canteens in government schools to eight times a year. Planning of communities has added to this problem, as many parents of Generation Y have a commonality of moving to sprawling suburban areas with poor mass transportation and few places to walk. ^[9]

★ Members of this generation are facing higher costs for higher education than previous generations.^[10]

★ As members of Generation Y in the United States begin to enter colleges and universities in large numbers, some of their Baby Boomer parents are becoming helicopter parents. Many college advisors and administrators worry that this could have a negative effect on Generation Y's social progress, ego, and developing maturity.^[11]

★ Many Gen Yers show a trend of interest in retro-oriented culture and the potential to revive it. Most commonly is that of music trends, which show a rise in popularity of classic rock-styled bands such as Wolfmother and The White Stripes in urban cultures. Much of the rise in popularity is thought to be of Generation X's influence; i.e. youth being exposed as children to bands of the past generations such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, Simon & Garfunkel, Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Pink Floyd, the Grateful Dead, Allman Brothers, and Bob Dylan.

★ Members of Generation Y were found to be "demanding, impatient and bad at communicating" by a 2007 survey of business owners in Australia. The survey found that almost 70% of those surveyed found their Generation Y workers to be dissatisfying, with poor spelling and grammar and no understanding of appropriate corporate behaviours. However the survey also showed most employers praised the energy and charisma of their Generation Y workers. ^[12]

Technology

In their book, ''Connecting to the Net.Generation'': What Higher Education Professionals Need to Know About 'Today's' College Students, Reynol Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa (2007) ^[13] found that in a survey of 7,705 college students:

★ 97% own a computer

★ 94% own a cell phone

★ 76% use Instant Messaging.

★ 15% of IM users are logged on 24 hours a day/7 days a week

★ 34% use websites as their primary source of news

★ 28% own a blog and 44% read blogs

★ 49% download music using peer-to-peer file sharing

★ 75% of students have a Facebook account ^[14]

★ 60% own some type of expensive portable music and/or video device such as an iPod.

Internet generation

In his book ''Growing Up Digital'', business strategist and psychologist Don Tapscott coined the term "'Net Generation'" for the group, pointing at the significance of being the first to grow up immersed in a digital--and Internet--driven world.

References

1. "Scenes from the Culture Clash" ''Fast Company'' January/February 2006, pp 73-77.
2. brandchannel: Dr. Pete Markiewicz: Who's filling Gen Y's shoe's?
3. CDC report- Table 1-1. Live Births, Birth Rates, and Fertility Rates, by Race: United States,1909-2000
4. Neil Howe, William Strauss, Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069, 1992, ISBN 0-688-11912-3
5. http://www.nida.nih.gov/infofacts/HSYouthtrends.html
6. The Effectiveness of D.A.R.E., Richard Clayton, University of Kentucky [1]
7. "Drug Survey of Students Finds Picture Very Mixed" by KATE ZERNIKE, New York Times, 12/20/05}}
8. Time Magazine, August 1, 2005.
9. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,20587320-661,00.html
10. The Scapegoat Generation: America's War on Adolescents, Michael Males, 1996
11. The Wall Street Journal, 7/28/05.
12. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/13/1978431.htm
13. Reynol Junco and Jeanna Mastrodicasa Connecting to the Net.Generation: What higher education professionals need to know about today's college students, NASPA; First edition (March 29, 2007)
14. Heidi Przybyla "Obama's `Youth Mojo' Sparks Student Activism, Fueling Campaign", Bloomberg.com (May 7,2007) http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601070&refer=home&sid=aJ4wSyFVOGx8

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