NEWSWIRE: 12/4/17
- A whopping 71% of Millennials are so disappointed with the Democratic and Republican parties that they believe a third major political party is needed. For consensus-seeking Millennials, a new party that ends the current era of political divisiveness sounds like a dream come true. (NBC/GenForward)
- NH: These numbers are stunning. Nearly three-quarters of Millennials want a new major party, a share that crosses all demographic groups. Interestingly, Republican Millennials are slightly less pro-third-party (67%) than Democrats (74%) and Independents (75%). Yet men are somewhat more pro-third-party than women, and whites more than blacks. Trump is a total fail in this survey: Only 6% of Millennials "strongly approve" of him; 46% "strongly disapprove." Yet clearly the Democratic brand isn't hugely attractive to Millennials, either.
- Preliminary data indicate that the U.S. general fertility rate declined to 61.0 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44 in Q2 2017, an all-time low. This figure is yet more evidence that 2014’s fertility increase was a mere head fake. (National Center for Health Statistics)
- NH: We've been bearish on fertility for a while. (See: "U.S. Fertility: Down for the Count.") Note that every age bracket shows a statistically significant downturn in 12-month trailing general fertility from Q1 to Q2. Following recent trends, moreover, Millennial age brackets (< age 35) are showing faster decline than Xer age brackets (> age 35).
- Shoppers ages 25 to 34 were the biggest per-capita spenders during Black Friday weekend, shelling out 25% more than the U.S. average. But these figures are of little comfort to brick-and-mortar retailers, who are watching an ever-greater share of these sales migrate online. (National Retail Federation)
- The share of Americans over age 50 with no close kin (parents, children, partners, or siblings) is poised to double among whites and triple among blacks by 2060. If the current trend of declining fertility persists, millions of Americans will be left without a familial support system as they reach old age. (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)
- NH: Kinlessness over age 50 is projected to grow overall due to the rising share of people who are only children (and thus do not have siblings); who have no kids themselves; and who are never-married or divorced. Among whites, the first two reasons dominate. Among blacks, the last reason dominates. In fact, never marrying by itself largely explains the disproportionate growth in black kinlessness.
- Gen-X credit card and student loan debt has increased from $20k in 2014 to $23k in 2017, a 15% rise. This large (and growing) pile of debt is making it tough for Generation X to claw its way back from the Great Recession. (Allianz Life)
- Fully 29% of Millennials have canceled a trip over security concerns—more than any other generation. It’s not far-fetched that a generation with childhood memories of 9/11 would be overly cautious in making travel plans. (Carlson Wagonlit Travel)
- NH: Millennials are not only more concerned about security threats than Boomers (29% v. 12%), but are also more likely to buy trip insurance (49% v. 31%). That checks the risk-aversion box. And now on to sociability: Millennials are much more likely (59% v. 29%) to travel in groups.
- A new report finds that the average age at first marriage among women is rising across the globe. In the United States, Millennials have redefined marriage from as “cornerstone” to a “capstone” of adulthood—a trend that extends abroad as young people increasingly take the decision to wed into their own hands. (The Economist)
- U.K. Millennials are projected to have similar pension income compared to their Boomer counterparts by the time they reach retirement. This upbeat forecast of Millennials’ retirement prospects is largely the result of auto-enrollment and this generation’s risk-averse financial habits. (Resolution Foundation)
- NH: The study's assumption about the long-term real rate of return (RROR) on the Millennials' saved assets is of course open to much uncertainty. So will they actually end up as well off as Boomers (for whom RROR doesn't matter as much)? That's anyone's guess. The finding that Gen Xers will end up worse off than either Millennials or Boomers in retirement, however, is robust to just about any RROR assumption. Once again, Xers need to face up to being "special"--but not in a good way.
- Authors Joel Kotkin and Alan Berger contend that suburbia is making a comeback. While many experts a decade ago believed the suburbs were destined to shrink at the expense of the urban core, shifting migratory patterns and generational attitudes have made the suburbs attractive once again. (Orange County Register)
- NH: Joel Kotkin has long been a refreshing corrective to the army of aging neo-urbanists who hate the suburbs and intone endlessly about the superiority of urban living. As Kotkin demonstrates, the suburbs show no signs of going away. They continue to grow faster than core urban or rural regions. And even Millennials (after their undeniable attraction to inner cities in their 20s) are beginning to to move back there as they start to raise kids of their own.
- ESPN is bringing a version of its SportsCenter program to Snapchat in the form of three- to five-minute video segments. The initiative is ESPN’s latest attempt to reach a generation of Millennials that is less devoted to sports and less attached to traditional TV than their predecessors. (Fortune)
DID YOU KNOW?
Virtual Support Groups Tackle Mental Health. As we’ve written before (see: “Treating America’s Mental Health Epidemic”), Americans young and old are suffering from mental illness at an unprecedented rate. Millennials in particular have brought mental health awareness into the limelight with their compassionate, stigma-free attitude. Now, sufferers and loved ones can harness the power of apps and services to stay ahead of mental illness. Enter Huddle, which helps users achieve catharsis by connecting them virtually to other users experiencing similar issues. Users can upload videos of themselves discussing the trials and tribulations of their particular illness, which can even be pixelated to preserve anonymity. Sunrise Health takes a text-based approach, providing group therapy in the form of group text messages with other users experiencing a similar condition. Of particular use to families and loved ones is Concrn: In the event of a mental health crisis, Concrn will connect users to compassionate responders trained in social work, emergency medicine, and other vital skills.
