36 Facts About Generation Y in the Workplace and Beyond

More and more attention is starting to be paid to the working and spending habits of the biggest generation since the Baby Boomers: Generation Y.  There are 36 facts in the article at the bottom of the page.  I’ve pulled some of the more interesting bullets out to summarize, but I’d suggest reading the full article below.

Education:

  • About 40% of all young adults ages 18 to 24 were enrolled in either a two- or four-year college in October 2008.
  • So far, 1 in 5 Millennials are college graduates. An additional 26% are currently in school and plan to graduate from college, while an additional 30% are not in school but expect to someday earn a college degree.

Work Ethic:

  • About 37% of 18- to 29-year-olds have been underemployed or out of work during the recession, the highest share among the age group in more than 30 years.
  • About 60% of younger workers say it is not very likely or not likely at all that they will stay with their current employers for the remainder of their working life. (In contrast, 62% of Generation X workers say it’s likely they will never leave their current employer while 84% of Baby Boomers expect to remain with their current employer for the rest of their working life.)

Debt & Financial Outlook:

  • More than one in three young workers say they are currently living at home with their parents.
  • 31% of young workers are uninsured.
  • 7 in 10 young workers do not have enough saved to cover two months of living expenses.
  • In 2008, 67% of students graduating from four-year colleges and universities had student loan debt….Average debt levels for graduating seniors with student loans rose to $23,200 in 2008.
  • 60% of workers 20 to 29 years old cashed out their 401(k) retirement plans — typically a big financial no-no because such a move squanders retirement assets and forces the recipient to pay a tax penalty — when they changed or lost jobs.

Technology & Online Habits

  • 93% of teens ages 12-17 go online, as do 93% of young adults ages 18-29.
  • 75% of Millennials have created a profile on a social networking site.
  • 1 in every 5 Millennials have posted a video of themselves online.
  • 41% of Millennials use only a cell phone and have no landline.

Lifestyle, Civic Engagement, Family:

  • 1 in 4 Millennials are unaffiliated with any religion.
  • In 2008, 66% of Millennials voted for Barack Obama for president, compared with 50% of those 30 and older, the largest disparity between younger and older voters in 40 years.
  • Just 2% of Generation Y males are military veterans. (At a comparable stage of their life cycle, 6% of Gen Xer men, 13% of Baby Boomer men and 24% of Silent Generation men were veterans.)
  • 21% of Millennials are married (half the percentage of their parents’ generation at the same ages).

Please read the full article here at 36 Facts About Generation Y in the Workplace and Beyond.

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