The Story: In order to gain a better understanding of the Millenial generation, Glenn T. Stanton and Andrew Hess of Focus on the Family produced a report that “examines a number of important aspects of this current generation while comparing it with other recent generations of Americans.”
The Background: As the report notes, “Generational study and comparisons are important because they provide a smarter context for understanding one’s work to reach and assist present generations in developing thriving families and growing faiths. And to do this, one must have a realistic, reliable research-based picture of how these generations are changing and how they compare and contrast with one another, regardless of the story those findings might tell.” Stanton and Hess compiled their report based on government surveys, academic research, and independent survey data from the Pew Research Center.
The Takeaways: Some of the more interesting finding from the report include:
• Millennials include almost as many births as the original baby boom. They will become the largest generation of any living during the century.
• Millennials are less likely to be currently married as their parents at the same age married, but they express a strong desire to eventually marry.
• Millennials are less likely to have children than those of previous generations at the same age, but they are more likely to have a child out of wedlock.
• Millennials are markedly less likely to say a “religious life” is important to them compared with Xers, 43% vs. 53%. Silents and Boomers were 68% and 59%.
• Millennials were less likely to think about social problems, make efforts to conserve natural resources, be interested in or participate in government, voting, contacting their representatives, participate in demonstrations or boycotts or giving money to political causes.
