Millennials and baby boomers: Is a showdown coming?
March 28, 2014
The Daily Show
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A new book by Paul Taylor and the Pew Research center, “The Next America: Boomers, Millennials, and the Looming Generational Showdown,” describes a different America in years to come.
Millennials, born after 1980, are well educated, tech savvy, and underemployed.
About 40 percent are living with their boomer parents and postponing marriage because they see themselves as not able to financially support a family.
Millennials may be the first generation to not be as well off as their parents.
By 2050, non-Hispanic whites, who made up 67 percent of the population in 2005, will be 47 percent in 2050. Hispanics will rise from 14 percent to 29 percent, blacks will remain about the same at 13 percent, and Asians will rise from 5 to 9 percent.
And, Taylor said, millennials are more politically progressive. They voted for Obama, and they’ll make up a larger percentage of voters in years to come.
Taylor said, that while millennials and boomers aren’t at war now over government payments to boomers, tensions between the generations might heat up. He thinks the safety net should be readjusted to meet the needs of all generations. But, Taylor said, the political will to address big issues seems to be absent in Washington, D.C.
Right now, there are 76 million boomers and 80 million millennials in the country.
More than 10,000 baby boomers are retiring every day, most of them not as well prepared financially as they’d hoped, he said.
Interesting report -- and looks like an informative book. We have four Millennials in our family, and we're trying to keep them happy so they'll support us in our old age.
Posted by: Tom Sightings | March 30, 2014 at 12:17 PM
Hi Tom,
That's a good goal.
I have two GenXers in my family, and I'm trying to keep them happy, too.
Rita
Posted by: Rita | April 10, 2014 at 12:32 AM