Boomers vs.
Millennials: Adulthood
Living today at the age of mid-
twenties is an interesting adventure
that is filled with confusion and
complex mental growth. This
“Interesting adventure” is the one
inevitable experience that we,
millennials, are obligated to live
through. Why is this experience
different from the baby boomer
generation?
The previous generation, or the
baby boomers, experienced life
differently than
the millennials
during their
mid-twenties.
Baby boomers
are the ones
who chased
after adulthood
without fear or
hesitation.
Baby boomers
are the ones
who rushed to
be on their own
without any
help from their parents. This
generation was influenced that work is
life and life is work, which meant that
they would be less on the support of
their parents and leaned more
towards independence. Baby boomers
are known to be goal-oriented people.
Why compare generations of the
baby boomers and the millennials?
Because millennials are the official
offspring of baby boomers, it is
interesting to see how different they
are to the older generation.
Before I go on, I would like to
cancel out things that are obviously
different between boomers’ world and
millennials’ world, which includes
technology, transportation, fashion,
entertainment, and communication.
The one thing that I am only going to
focus on for this argument is
adulthood.
The term “emerging adult” is a
stage where a person is in the process
of becoming an
adult. This
particular stage is
traditionally placed
upon people that are
in the ages 17-19 in
terms of biology.
Another term,
“adult,” is a stage
where a person is a
full-grown person,
which is placed upon
people that are
between the ages 19
and over. If we view
both terms as independence in our
society, they would mean something
completely different.
For baby boomers, they are
known to enter and master the stage
of “adult” at an early age of 17-20. For
the millennials, they are known to
stand on the stage of “emerging adult”
at the ages 19-24, which is a slower
process than the boomers. This
particular change is the reason why
people in their twenties like to say,
“This is what it’s like to be 20
something today.”
Whenever I search on the web
or read anything that concerns my
generation, generation y, authors or
writers like to mention why we are not
hard-workers, why we are lazy, or why
we are self-centered. When I read or
learn something about baby boomers,
it is the complete opposite, which I am
not saying it’s a bad thing. It is just
something that we are constantly
reminded of. So, why is that? Well, I
would like to believe that it is because
we are at the slower process of
entering the stage of adulthood in life
than baby boomers, as mentioned
before.
Baby boomers are the
generation of “workaholics”, according
to an article titled Marketing to the
Generations by Kaylene Williams and
Robert Page. This article informs
readers how a marketer might
successfully “gain the attention” of the
“divers buyers,” such as the different
generations today, which lists
characteristics/information of each
generation. Both authors described
boomers as people who “value
individualization, self-expression,” and
“optimism,” in which they consider
their self-identity to be inlined with
their chosen careers. An important
information that both authors stressed
was that baby boomers are mainly
concerned with health, maintaining a
good life and seek low prices, which
they suggested to market beauty
products, traveling opportunities, or
“every-day low prices” products. In
terms of the millennial generation, the
authors described them as “self-
absorbed,” “image-driven” and “open-
minded.” The authors made it clear
that this generation was in line with
what is popular, new/young, and
entertaining. Based on the authors’
descriptions of the millennials, they
suggested to market products that are
in areas of “apparel, accessories,
footwear, room furnishings, action
sports equipment, and
entertainment.” The description and
suggested product marketing towards
both generations, you can easily
imagine the differences in interests,
influences that lead to their interests
and appearance.
In another article, titled
Managing generational diversity at
the workplace: expectations and
perceptions of different generations of
employees written by Tay Angeline,
also called Baby boomers as
“workaholics” and called millennials
“technologically more adept.” This
article from an academic journal
informs its readers how each
generation works in a working
environment and informs how a
person might manage a diverse group
like these. This author described baby
boomers as hard-working employees
who “rarely job hop.” Angeline also
mentioned that this generation is
“dedicated,” “diligent,” and “self-
motivated” as employees. In terms of
management or a person who is a
manager, the author predicted that
baby boomers to be “individualistic,”
“imperialistic” and “bossy,” which is
why they have “good work ethic,”
“focused,” and are “responsible.” For
the millennials, the author described
them as “confident, civic-minded, and
fast learners who are easily motivated
by prompt praises and recognition.”
The author also mentioned that
generation Y expect more of flexible
work and are the type of employees
who are concerned more with moral
rights that include diversity,
environment, and inclusion. Unlike
boomers, the author mentioned that
the millennials are the ones who like
to explore new things in which may
result in “job hopping.” From the
information that I gathered from this
article, I think you can understand
how different both generation are in
terms of the working environment.
You can also imagine why generation
y is the generation known to be
considered to be slightly naïve,
responsible in a non-traditional way,
and living life differently that may be
unfamiliar. However, these differences
are not the reasons why that this
generation have difficulty achieving
adulthood.
Sources:
Williams, K.C. and Page, R. (2010). “Marketing to the Generations”. Journal in Behavioral
Studies in Business. 3. 37-52
Angeline, T. (2011). “Managing generational diversity at the workplace: expectations and
perceptions of different generations of employees.” African Journal of Business Management
Vol. 5(2), pp. 249-255
There are two possible reasons
why the millennials are the ones who
are considered to be the generation
that is slow in terms of adulthood. The
first reason is age restriction. The
millennials are more likely to be the
first generation to experience age
restrictions from their childhood to
today and actually follow those
restrictions because of the
supervisions of their parents. Age
restrictions, even though may helped
to improve the lives of the youngsters,
could’ve played a role into their
transitions from childhood to
adulthood and might be the reason
why this generation hesitates to step
into complete independence. In
contrast, boomers grew in a time
where age restrictions began to be in
recognition. The second is that this
generation has “redefined” adulthood,
which is where adulthood is when a
person is still in the support of their
parents for a while and has nothing to
do with achieving complete
independence. These reasons are just
what I personally believe is the case,
not facts.