The millennials (those 29 or younger) are much more likely to embrace change than either Gen Xers (30-45) or baby boomers (46-64). That's sort of always been in the job description of the younger generation, and it's still true today. They are more likely to have a tattoo (two-fifths, compared with a third among Gen Xers and 15 percent among boomers), have created a profile on a social networking site like Facebook (three-quarters, compared with half and 30 percent) and posted videos of themselves online (a fifth, 6 percent, 2 percent). More of them support gay marriage and interracial marriage than those of older generations. They also supported Barack Obama's hope and change message, voting 2-to-1 for him. In surveys, they say that they're more likely to accept a big and activist government.
But the economic slowdown has also hit them harder than anybody else. And as government consumes more of our output as the bills start coming in for the generational theft we've been committing, it's just going to get tougher for them:
As baby boomers retire, higher federal spending on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid may boost Millennials' taxes and squeeze other government programs. It will be harder to start and raise families.
Millennials could become the chump generation. They could suffer for their elders' economic sins, particularly the failure to confront the predictable costs of baby boomers' retirement.
Ready to come over to my side, kids? Reality may not be pretty, but you really can't keep running from it.
