NEWSWIRE: 12/11/17
- Mattress company The Ace Collection is now selling giant mattresses for parents and kids who want to “co-sleep.” After kick-starting the co-living and co-working frenzies, Millennials appear to have found yet another thing to do together in a group. (Simplemost)
- NH: Millennials were themselves increasingly raised to be 24/7 close to their Boomer parents. That went into overdrive with late-wave Millennials--born since 1993, the year William and Martha Sears' Baby Book appeared. That bible of "attachment parenting" (telling parents to "wear" their children, hold their children, sleep with their children, etc.) has been hugely influential among Gen-X parents. So lots of Gen-Xers are already onboard with this co-sleeping idea, even as their children are getting older. And lots of Millennials just now having their first babies have never known any other way to go. Most pediatricians advise against any co-sleeping with infants under one year old due to the danger of SIDS (though Sears thinks it's safe). For older children, well, it's Sears versus Brazelton: an angry red-zone vs. blue-zone culture war--with evangelicals (and immigrants) tending to make common cause in favor of attachment parenting and many feminists thinking it's a code word for the re-enslavement of women. Yes, believe it or not, co-sleeping carries all that freight! One more observation: These beds are huge. Someone ought to inform Ace Collection that only 14% of all moms by age 45 have given birth to four or more children.
- Columnist Amy Zimmer investigates what’s behind the Boomer boom in apartment rentals. For some Boomers, it’s all about finding amenities that make life easier in old age: In the words of 60-year-old renter Russ Chung, “If I fall down and hurt myself here… Why am I even worried? I’m going to pick up the phone and call the front desk.” (CNBC)
- NH: We've already written about how small upscale urban apartments marketed for Millennials are being snatched up by Boomers. (See: "Boomers Splurge on Luxe, Urban Apartment Rentals.") Here we see something more interesting: How many of these Boomers don't mind living among Millennials--or even with them (see co-living arrangements like Ollie). Boomers get along well personally with their own Millennial kids. Ditto, apparently, for Millennial strangers.
- A joint research report contends that declining U.S. fertility makes children today more important than ever. The report’s authors make a key point that often goes unmentioned in policy circles: Legislators must prioritize the needs of today’s young, who will be leaned upon in the coming decades to finance the aging of Boomers. (Lucile Packard Foundation/Children’s Hospital Association)
- NH: No need to read this very long-winded report. But it does help contextualize the annoyance among many GOP supply-siders at the proposal by Senators Rubio and Lee to widen the eligibility and amount (from $1,000 to $2,000) of the child tax credit. (These libertarians fear such generosity will force them to trim the size of the corporate tax cut.) Amazing how much we expect future generations to pay. We keep adding to the formal public debt, now projected at over 140% of GDP by 2040--plus an extra surcharge due to the new tax reform plan. We expect them to bear the ever-weightier cost of the pay-as-you-go entitlements we all expect to receive (unfunded liabilities of at least $100 trillion). And we publicly spend ever-less on them: Our infrastructure is rusting out and we now expect kids to take out a mortgage to afford college. Someone needs to remind these Chicago-trained free marketers to make some allowance for the "positive externality" of raising the next generation--if America is to have any long-term future at all.
- A consumer survey measuring useful work traits ranks Xers as the most valuable generation of employees. In classic self-deprecating Xer fashion, this generation of reliable workers gave themselves lower scores on average than they received from other generations. (LendingTree)
- A new column contends that Millennial women are rejecting “the pill.” While this trend seems counterintuitive for a risk-averse generation that has been driving down unplanned pregnancy rates, many women are indeed replacing the pill with planning apps that offer similar efficacy without the adverse medical side effects. (Vogue)
- NH: Since the mid-1990s, according to CDC data, hormonal contraceptive pills (and condoms) are declining as a share of all contraceptive methods among women--and are declining fastest among young adults. What's rising? A newer (safer and more effective) generation of IUDs, "hormonal awareness" (periodic abstinence), and "emergency contraception" (day-after pills). Injections (like Depo-Provera), which had been rising after 2000, especially among nonwhite women, are now in decline. More recent data show that, among teens, day-after pills have been strongly rising, which suggests that late-wave Millennials have been trading negative day-to-day side effects for back-up efficacy. All that said, the biggest reason pregnancy rates are down so dramatically among the youngest age brackets is less sexual activity to begin with. (See: "Millennial Teens Just Aren't Having Sex.")
- A new report recounts how the U.S. workforce has changed since the onset of the Great Recession. Important changes that we’ve seen since 2007 include the graying of the workforce, the economy-wide shift toward services, and the persistent plunge in labor force participation. (Pew Research Center)
- NH: While total labor force participation remains sizably lower than in 2007, most of this is due to the changing age profile of the population--away from 35-55 (where participation is always highest), and toward younger and older brackets (where participation is always lowest). Stripped of this "composition effect," we are nearly back at our 2007 employment-to-population level. (See: "A (Modest) Hurricane Rebound.") The rest of Pew's results are unexceptional--except the observations that the duration of unemployment is considerably higher today than in 2007 and that service-sector growth continues (despite the latest 12-month resurgence in energy and manufacturing employment).
- According to a new poll, two-thirds of Millennials have more fear than hope about the country’s future. Much of this teamworking, left-leaning generation worries about where America is headed under its divisive new leadership. (Harvard Institute of Politics)
- NH: Republicans, be afraid... be very afraid. According to this latest IOP poll, Millennials favor Democratic control of Congress in 2018 by 65% to 35%, with young Democrats more engaged (and young Republicans less engaged) than before the 2014 election. Only 25% approve of Trump, while 65% disapprove of him. On the plus side for the GOP--if you want to call it that--few Millennials are enthusiastic about the Democrats' leadership, either. Sidenote: Both Democratic and Republican Millennials believe social media platforms (like Facebook and YouTube and Twitter) have "an obligation to regulate fake news" by a 3-to-1 margin.
- By next year, Google wants to grow its fleet of in-house YouTube content moderators to 10,000, with a focus on ensuring age-appropriate content. Given today’s societal emphasis on ensuring brand safety and protecting the innocence of young children, Google’s strategy is a sound one. (Kidscreen)
- NH: No doubt Google feels it has no choice given the widespread public demand that someone needs to police what YouTube shows (given how YouTube dominates content options). Inevitably, this will merge with demands for the policing of "fake news" (see previous bullet) and for the supervision of so many other ways in which Google prioritizes information without public consent. The long-term outcome that Google and Facebook most fear? Public regulation (as with AT&T of yore) as an information "common carrier."
- Contributor Richard Watts issues an apology on behalf of Boomers to their Millennial children. Here's a Boomer saying that parents who who complain about Millennials being scared of failure and not having passions should blame themselves for having shielded them from every possible danger and instructing them always to go the safe route. (Forbes)
- NH: I have mixed feelings about these sorts of parental mea culpas. See for example this notorious put-down of Millennials by Simon Sinek, who limply tries to soften his tirade by saying, hey, you Millennials aren't to blame for being so pathetic--we parents did this to you. (Oh, wow, thanks Dad!) It's great for Boomers to acknowledge things they may have overdone as parents. It's even greater for them to concede that Millennials have certain strengths as young adults (such as risk aversion and teamwork) that young Boomers never had and that may actually be virtues our country needs more of right about now.
- In April 2018, luxury cruise operator Uniword will launch a river cruise that will be open only to 21-to 45-year-olds. While immersive, Instagram-worthy experiences are perfect for Millennials, the cost of this luxury getaway will be prohibitive for many. (Quartz)
DID YOU KNOW?
The Beat Goes On. Have a ratty old band T-shirt buried in the back of your closet? You may be sitting on a gold mine: The Wall Street Journal reports that vintage band tees are back in style. While particularly rare shirts from yesteryear’s most popular acts (like The Rolling Stones) often sell for over $1,000, even garb from history’s more forgettable groups can cost three figures. The epicenter of the boom is Brian Procell’s Lower Manhattan vintage clothing shop, where Procell peddles bestsellers to the general public and celebrities alike. What’s behind this boom? Part of it is aspirational: After all, catching a glimpse of Justin Bieber in a vintage Pink Floyd shirt significantly ups its appeal. Generational effects are also at play: Thanks to the unprecedented cultural influence of Boomers, yesterday’s top musical acts are still revered by today’s consumers. These two tailwinds have created the perfect storm, according to Procell: “When you combine nostalgia and aspiration, that’s some powerful stuff.”
