We've heard the tales of friends and colleagues confronted with their "boomerang" childrenthose are the grown, often college-educated children who have returned home to live with their parent(s) indefinitely. For many marketers, this population re-inhabiting childhood bedrooms or camping out in their parents' basement have come to define Gen Y (aka Millennials, Echo Boomers, or Generation Me).
In fact, this group is merely a sub-segment of Generation Y, and not even the majority of the demographic. Yet these "Basement Boys" have received media coverage and academic study disproportionate to their percentage of the total generational cohort. Much fewer than 40% of 18-34 year olds are living a stereotypical Gen Y lifestyle as singles with parents providing housing, food, and a gas card as basic human rights. But that is precisely the minority that makes for more interesting headlines and screenplays and has come to define Gen Y.
But facts refute this Gen Y stereotype and make clear that the profile is a dangerous red herring to marketers who try to evolve, innovate, and communicate to 20% of the total U.S. population, based on an erroneous understanding of them.
For example, more than 60% of Gen Y households have their own children. Repeating for emphasis here--nearly two thirds of Millennials have their own children. Perhaps this is the backlash of the fertility-challenged women who were inclined to establish a career before seriously pursuing the business of motherhood. Popular culture supports the trend of very young mommies like Brittany and Ashley and Amber and Bristol. Absent is the scarlet "A," replaced by the embrace (or at least acceptance) of popular culture.
For the first time ever, more 25-34 year olds are single than married. No big surprise there--Gen Yers are much more likely to be children of divorce than any previous generation. They saw first hand that marriage is more fluid than "til death do us part." They know that the person with whom they have a child (or two) may or may not be the person with whom they live for 25 yearsor even 5 years. Perhaps if a relationship can make it through co-parenting a baby, it will be more likely to succeed long term. And isn't it wonderful when children can attend their own parents' wedding?
Financially, Gen Yers have enjoyed a window of easy credit and a generally strong economy during their formative years. They average more than three credit cards; 20% carry a balance of more than $10,000; and only 58% pay their bills on time. Obviously the heavy use of credit is an expensive and short-term approach to life. One third of young workers are uninsured and 70% don't have enough savings to cover two months of living expenses.
Many reports characterized Gen Y's heavy financial debt as reflective of blind optimism and overconfidence about their future. But more recent reports indicate Millennials' short-term financial behavior is more of a fatalistic belief that immediate needs and an uncertain future trump "saving for a rainy day." Easy credit access, online credit card/gift card transactions (vs. actual cash in hand) have further heightened their inability to establish, or even conceive, true financial security. For this generation like no other before it, money is conceptual vs. physical.
Culinary reports showing upticks of locavores, vegans, LOHAS and unprocessed foods are (perhaps surprisingly) trends not driven by Gen Y. In fact, 18-34 year olds are more than 50% more likely to buy packaged macaroni and cheese than the total population. In general, those pre-packaged, dry dinner kits in the middle of the grocery store are outselling offerings of organic, unprocessed, locally produced, semi-prepared, fresh meal options among the majority of 18-34 year old households. Convenience and price usurp higher-order nutritional aspirations of young families struggling financially, the majority of Gen Y.
When defining strategic plans, product innovation platforms and messaging, even the most disciplined marketers have been vulnerable to Gen Y platitudes and stereotypes. In the case of any food marketer targeting Gen Y, basing business decisions on stereotypes of wanting (and being able to pay for) healthier, more local, more conscientious consumption could lead to trouble. Those lofty desires and their corresponding price/value equations are not reflective of the largest segment of the Millennial demo.
Unfortunately, Gen Y stereotypes can easily become the basis for erroneous, ineffective marketing plans. For many marketers, their Gen Y target is actually a financially struggling young mom in need of convenience and value at every turn. This group is a lot less interesting to discuss at cocktail parties than trading tales of "Basement Boys," deferred adolescence, and the Freaky Friday "parent as pal" role reversalbut for many marketers, meeting the needs of struggling young moms will define marketplace success and failure now and for years to come.
