Education & Distance Learning Enthusiasts- A Power Of 21

Home | Education & Distance Learning Articles | Article

A Power Of 21 - Generation Y

American Demographics - September 1, 2003

Byline: John P. McManus

Demographic time ticks like a grandfather clock. Its hands move, not at Internet speed, nor with the hasty urgency of Wall Street quarterly earnings reports, but slowly and deliberately. Urgencies arise from looking 20 or more years hence, recognizing that a detail here and a detail there will be different than they are today, and acting accordingly. Demographically, to be wise you need distance, either backward or forward in time. That's different from any other way to be smart in organizations today. The dimension of remove, for time as well as for clarity, is what sets demographics apart from purely statistical disciplines.

Take the importance of 21-year-olds in 2003. There are slightly more than 4 million of them for about the fourth consecutive year. The number of people reaching that age each year will vary insignificantly for another 12 years or so. Between now and 2015, 48 million more Generation Y men and women will be assuming the powers, privileges and responsibilities of adulthood. The reason age 21 today gets its larger-than-life stature, in our minds, goes beyond the fact that individuals who are that age contribute, on average, $45,000 apiece to the nation's consumer economy.

It's more about the metaphor of being 21, of being an About-To-Be. Although many states have established a legal age of majority at age 18, and although many social scientists could make a good case that the True North of adulthood occurs closer to age 30, we'd argue that 21 is the moment people start to exercise their full powers as consumers.

Further, as Contributing Editor Michael J. Weiss notes in this month's cover story, "To Be About-To-Be," Gen Y 21-year-olds are different. More connected, more worldly-wise, more diverse, more entitled media sophisticates, they're refreshingly matter-of-fact in assuming that marketers of consumer goods and services will bend over backward to court them.

Gen Y 21-year-olds, our About-To-Be's, will change things.

To reinforce that, let's turn back the clock to 1971, the demographically equivalent year in the Baby Boom cycle - four years after the first Baby Boomer turned 21. Then, 43.4 percent of women over age 16 were in the workforce. Now, about 60 percent of women find employment outside the home. What changed when Baby Boomers reached adulthood was just about everything - the economy, workplace culture, aspirations, luxury and the American Dream.

That's where we are as the About-To-Be's step up. So it's especially intriguing to consider Contributing Editor Peter Francese's observation in his "Trend Ticker" analysis that, in earning college degrees, women now outnumber men. Twenty years hence, we'll be looking at how Gen Y re-redefined the economy, workplace culture, aspirations, luxury and the American Dream.

If you would like to discuss any of the issues raised in this article with hundreds of other Education & Distance Learning enthusiasts from around the world, please feel free to visit the discussion forums & post a message.

Discuss this article in the discussion forums now.

Popular Education & Distance Learning Discussions From The Past

Great Quotes Site - LitQuotes (1 posts)
by MPerry8304 - Last post on: 01-09-04 11:17
Hello, I wanted to let you know about a great new site featuring quotations from literature. The site is LitQuotes at: http://www.litquotes.com LitQuotes contains: * A quote of the day - A daily selection from our database of over 500 quotations. * Quotes by topic - There are over 60 top... (Read More)

University of New Mexico Neurosurgery Program (1 posts)
by Demosthenes - Last post on: 12-26-03 13:09
Hello all, Any out there know what happened with the UNM Neurosurgery Program? D. ... (Read More)

Re: ---------> free phone dating - call and meet someone now!!!!! 3977 (2 posts)
by wawbill - Last post on: 09-09-03 13:18
You may offer college classes in phonesex RG but we offer Phone Sex college classes! http://www.phone-sex-guestbook.com +----------------------------------------------------------------+ | Attachment filename: zen.jpg | |Download attachment: http://ww... (Read More)

pcdi medical billing (4 posts)
by usapie - Last post on: 10-06-03 12:19
Hi I am thinking of taking the medical billing at PCDI distance learning, has anyone taken the course and is it any good. Pleae let me know is the program acredited. --- View this thread: http://www.online-college.info/article1323.html usapie---------------------------------------------------... (Read More)

You must register before posting in the Education & Distance Learning discussion forums. It's free & only takes a few seconds. Please also remember that no advertising is allowed...
Enter The Forums Here