The List of Millennial Characteristics

Millennials (also known as Generation Y, Digital Natives, Generation Me, Generation

Rent and Echo Boomers) are generational cohort born roughly between 1980-2000.
Millennials are likely the most studied and talked about generation to date. They
are the first generation in history that have grown up totally immersed in a world of
digital technology, which has shaped their identities and created lasting political,
social and cultural attitudes.
Like every other generation, Millennials display generalized and unique traits that
make them different from their predecessors.
Mainstream media has drawn a picture of Millennials as lazy, narcissistic and
entitled selfie-lovers. To balance out the perception, Ive listed more unbiased view
of Millennial characteristics backed up by some research below.
This list is an ongoing work, which eventually should morph into The Ultimate List
Of All Millennial Characteristics You Can Think Of.
NB! Since majority of Millennial research is done in the USA, I will try to dig up some
more data on UK Millennials soon.

Millennials The Largest Generation in

Western History1
Millennials are the largest generation in Western history. As of 2012, it is estimated
that there are approximately 80 million U.S. Millennials and 14.6 million Millennials
in the UK (according to Debunking the millennial myth research done by Initiative )

This year (2015) more Millennials surpass Generation X to become the largest share
of the American workforce, according to new Pew Research Center analysis of U.S.
Census Bureau data.
Our massive size ensures that we will dominate everything for years to come, just
as the Baby Boomers have for the last 30 years.
It is estimated that by the year 2048, Millennials will represent 39 percent of the
nations electorate. This will give us incredible voting power. In fact, we are already
having a huge impact on elections. In 2008, Millennials were the number one
reason why Barack Obama won the Democratic nomination during the primary
season.

Millennials The Most Educated

Generation in Western History
Millennials are on track to become the most educated generation2 in Western
history.
34 percent of 25 to 29 year-olds Americans held a bachelors degree, masters
degree, professional degree or doctoral degree last year, a higher share than in any
year in data going back to 1968, according to Matthew Chingos, a senior fellow at
Brookings. The share will probably increase as Millennials, usually described as
those born after 1980, mature.
The Millennial women are outperforming the Millennial men in the classroom.
Overall, Millennial girls tend to outperform boys in elementary and secondary
school, getting higher grades, pursuing tougher academic programs, and
participating in advanced placement classes at higher rates.
Additionally, 57 percent of todays undergraduates are women, and women are
now earning 170,000 more bachelors degrees each year than men.
While in 1970 fewer than 10 percent of medical students and 4 percent of law
students were women, today women represent roughly half of the nations law and
medical students and 55 percent of the nations professionals overall.

Without a doubt, educational achievement and getting a college education is very

important for Millennials. The majority of us think that education is a big factor to
achieving success in life and we are willing to put ourselves into debt in order to get
that increasingly expensive piece of paper.

Millennials are Technologically Savvy

We are the first generation to grow up constantly connected to the world, and are
what the Pew Research Center has labeled Digital natives in a land of digital
immigrants. Without a doubt, we have embraced technology like no other
generation.
Millennials clearly adapt faster to computer and internet services because they
have always had them.
A global study of Millennials conducted by Telefonica in 2014 reveals that mobile
technology is important to Millennials across the board, and its not all for fun and
games. In addition to entertaining themselves and keeping up with social contacts,
46 percent of US Millennials and more than 60 percent of Latin Millennials said they
use their devices for research and education.
The Telefonica study interviewed 6,700 men and women age 18 to 30 in the US and
Western Europe.
The vast majority of Millennials everywhere see themselves as being on the cutting
edge of technology, though they dont necessarily want a tech career.
72 percent reported owning a smartphone and 28 percent had a tablet. This year,
the numbers rose to 80% and 45%.
Millennials do everything tech-related in higher percentages than all other
generations. We are the most likely to use the internet and send or receive an email
at least occasionally (90 percent reportedly do), although Gen X and Boomers arent
far behind (at 87 and 79 percent, respectively).
And Millennials are not only most likely to have created a profile on a social
networking site, but we are also most likely to visit our profile page several times a
day (29 percent say they do, compared to 19 percent of Gen Xers and 11 percent
of Boomers).

Millennials also have more positive attitudes about technology than other
generationswe are the most likely to say that technology makes life easy rather
than harder, are the most likely to say technology brings people closer together
than drives them further apart, and are the most likely to say that technology
allows people to use their time more efficiently.

Millennials are Civic-Oriented

Millennial generation have a strong sense of community both on local and global
scale. Compared to previous generation, Millennials focus on larger societal needs
rather than individual needs.
People born between 1980 and 2000 are the most civic-minded since the
generation of the 1930s and 1940s, claimed USA Today.
Millennials believe in the value of political engagement and are convinced that
government can be a powerful force for good.
According to Deloitte Millennial Survey 2014, Millennials consider government to
have the greatest potential to address societys biggest issues. Almost half feel
governments are having a negative impact on areas identified as among the top
challenges: unemployment (47 percent), resource scarcity (43 percent), and income
inequality (56 percent).
Also, the majority of Millennials say that the rising inequality gap is a serious
problem in this country. A 2004 National Election Survey found that 84 percent of
18-to-26-year-olds felt that the gap between rich and poor had grown in the last
twenty years and 94 percent said that this was a bad thing, a higher percentage
than all other generations.
Millennials are likely to support a progressive tax system, to want an increase in the
minimum wage, to support free trade, and to believe that government regulations
on businesses are necessary in order to keep them in check and to protect
consumers.

Overall, Millennials feel obligated to do our part to make the world a better place,
and we believe that we can.
Civic generations tend to bring about times of greater economic equality and more
inclusive racial and ethnic concerns. Thus, it isnt surprising that a Civic generation
like Millennials shows high levels of compassiona characteristic will certainly be
instrumental in helping us to build a powerful legacy.

Millennials are Conscious

When it comes to health, social, economical and environmental issues, Millennials
are the most conscious generation to date.1
Millennials are often referred to as conscious capitalists, which means that they
look up to businesses that serve the interests of all major stakeholders
customers, employees, investors, communities, suppliers, and the environment.
In fact, a whopping 81 percent expect companies to show their commitment to
corporate responsibility.
Nielsen global online study found that Gen Y continue to be most willing to pay
extra for sustainable offeringsalmost three-out-of-four respondents in the latest
findings, up from approximately half in 2014. This is a generation that truly believes
that it can influence the world with the power of the wallet (or credit card).
Socially conscious mindset is one of their most defining trait of Gen Y. As the most
ethnically and racially diverse generation in US history (43% of adults are nonwhite), Millennials have learned to embrace the differences in one another.

Millennials are Global Citizens

The majority of Millennials see themselves as global citizens, who have a
responsibility to make the world better. They are less patriotic and more globally
minded, which enables them to contribute to the general welfare of society.
A global citizen respects and values diversity, is outraged by social injustice, is
willing to act to make the world a more equitable and sustainable place and takes
responsibility for their actions.

Millennials are Entrepreneurial

Millennials are startup kids. They grew up on entrepreneurship watching Steve Jobs
lead the renewed Apple, Mark Zuckerberg create a social media sensation and
other young innovators disrupt traditional industries.
Millennials have built new businesses out of the ruins of a recession since 2008,
and in doing so, theyve changed the career expectations for a whole generation.
More Brits are joining the freelance ranks. 1/6 of UK workforce are selfemployed and western society hasnt seen a change this significant in more than a
century.
Since the crash of 2008, self-employment has skyrocketed in the UK. Today (2015),
there is about 5 million self-employed people in Britain, which is a significant
proportion of the total 30.94 million employed (2015).
Recession has shown that there is no job for life and that we live in the economy of
SELF, where only YOU are responsible for what is going to happen with your life.
Millennials are enthusiastic about creating their own luck and work opportunities
through life.
Millennials are realising that starting a company, even if it fails, teaches them more
than sitting in a cubicle for 10 years. And learning is the number one force for a
societal and personal progress.
Millennial entrepreneurs worldwide have launched about twice as many businesses
as boomers and millennials are discovering entrepreneurship significantly earlier
than boomers did: while the boomers launched their first businesses at roughly 35
years old, so-called millennipreneurs are setting out around 27.
In the US, only 13% of survey respondents said their career goal involves climbing
the corporate ladder to become a CEO or president. By contrast, almost twothirds (67%) of said their goal involves starting their own business.

Millennials are Pragmatic Idealists

For a long time pragmatic and idealist were seen as opposites. Now Millennials are
saying We want to change the world and we know its not going to be easy, but we
going to have a plan to get there.
From an early age, Millennials witnessed firsthand what it takes to be agents of
change and as a result, 61% are worried about the state of the world and feel
personally responsible to make a difference.
A typical beliefs of pragmatic idealists:

Believe in your dreams and the only thing that stands between dreams and
reality is your own hands to make it happen.1

Millennials are Liberal

According to The Economist, surveys of political attitudes among Millennials in the
UK suggest increasingly liberal attitudes with regard to social and cultural issues, as
well as higher overall support for classical liberal economic policies than preceding
generations.
Millennials are more likely to support same-sex marriage and the legalization of
marijuana. Data released by the Pew Research Center found that acceptance of gay
marriage is at an all-time high among young adults, so its much more likely we will
be seeing more progress if our generation votes and continue to be vocal.
Seventy-seven percent of Democratic-leaning millennials and 63 percent of their
Republican counterparts support legalized marijuana, according to the latest data
from Pew. Those are the highest numbers among any age groups. It turns out that
being subjected to anti-drug lobbying for most of their adolescence hasnt
prevented todays 20-somethings from coming to the conclusion that marijuana
is less harmful than alcohol, and that, if your goal is to promote a healthy and just
society, it might not make much very much sense to legalize the latter and put
people in jail for the former.

Millennials are Compassionate

Another 2006 Harvard Institute of Politics survey found that 74 percent of 18-to-25year-olds said that their number one reason for volunteering was to help other
people, and 11 percent said it was to address a social or political problem.
None said that it was because it was a requirement to graduate from high school. A
2006 UCLA survey of 26,000 freshman found that two-thirds said that it is essential
or very important to help others, the highest percentage to agree with this
statement in 25 years.
Millennials volunteer mainly because we want to help people. We want to be a part
of changing and improving lives and we have quite a bit of disdain for selfishness.

Millennials are Progressive

Millennials dont just accept the status quo and they will challenge the system if
theres something we could improve on.
We think independently despite the system were operating within. We constantly
question the messages society puts out through the media.
According to the numerous studies conducted on Millennials, we are a very
progressive generation. This may not be very surprising to many since it is
commonly believed that young people are always progressive, but then become
more conservative as they age. More than likely Millennials will largely retain our
progressive views even as we age.
To us, being progressive is about wanting to move the country forward, to advocate
change, to advance new ideas and policies.
In fact, a November, 2008 Pepsi Refresh Optimism report on Millennials found that
we tend to embrace change, and 95 percent make positive associations with the
word. The top words Millennials associated with change were new (79 percent),
progress (78 percent), hope (77 percent) and excitement (72 percent).
And according to the 2007 Greenberg Millennials Study, participants reported that
one of the top defining characteristics of their generation is the ability to embrace
innovation and new ideas.
Social issues are where Millennials hold the most progressive views. In terms of
homosexuality, interracial relationships, gender roles, immigration, and religion,

poll after poll and study after study confirms that Millennials hold decidedly more
progressive views than all other generations alive today, and in history.
Couples are more progressive. More women are becoming breadwinners and
coparenting with their partners.

Millennials are Confident

Nearly nine in ten high school students in the US today say that they would use the
word confident to describe themselves.
PwC Millennial survey (2015) revealed that British female Millennials are the most
confident and ambitious of any female generation. 49% of them starting their
careers believe they can reach the very top levels with their current employer.
And according to a November, 2008 Pepsi Refresh Optimism report found that 81
percent of Millennials chose the word hopeful to describe their feelings about the
future, 65 percent chose optimistic and 57 percent chose the words confident
and excited.
Millennials have been raised to believe that we can accomplish anything. Our
parents, teachers, coaches and all adults who have been a part of our lives, have
drilled it into our heads that if you believe you can achieve it, you probably can.
Our sense of specialness is what drives our confidence. It isnt an individual
confidence that fuels this attitude, it is a collective confidence.
We just arent letting these immense challenges that we have before us dampen
our spirit. Instead, we are becoming increasingly determined to work together to
solve these problems. We really do believe that things will get better.

Millennials are Diverse

Millennials are Americas most ethnically and racially diverse cohort ever. Among
Millennials ages 13 to 29: 18.5% are Hispanic; 14.2% are Black; 4.3% are Asian; 3.2%
are Mixed Race or Other; and 59.8%, are Caucasian (Keeter, 2010).
Millennials are more accepting of all kinds of people. No matter what colour their
skin is, how they dress, or what religion they are.

Millennials view diversity as a way to create unity in a country as opposed to using

so-called identity politics to divide the country. In fact, a January, 2010 Pew
Research Center Study revealed that 67 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds agreed that
increasing ethnic and racial diversity is a good thing.
Our diversity will be crucial to us as we attempt to overcome some big issues like
racism, immigration, sexism, homosexuality and religious differences.
Millennials are very open-minded about diversity, so we dont really care about the
color of your skin, what country you come from, what gender you belong to, what
gender you are attracted to, and even what God or Gods you pray to (if any at all).
A majority support same-sex marriage, we almost unanimously agree that
interracial relationships should be accepted by society, a large majority support
equal pay and opportunities for women, we are the most likely to feel that
immigration is a good thing for our country, and we are the most religiously
tolerant generation alive today.

Millennials are Practical and ResultsOriented

Millennials are interested in processes and services that work and speed their
interactions. They prefer merit systems to others (e.g. seniority).
Millennials are practical, if they are offered a service, they expect it to work and
they have no tolerance for services that do not continuously and reliably add value.
Millennials are furious when they feel they are wasting their time; they want to
learn quickly and move on.

Millennials are Team-Oriented

After many years of collaborating at schools, sports teams and peer-to peer
networks, most Millennials like working in groups and we highly prefer a sense of
unity and collaboration over division and competition.
Teamwork is something Millennials actually enjoy, because working together is far
more effective than doing it alone.
Contrary to previous generations, Millennials were brought up in an atmosphere of
equal relationships and co-decision-making, and they have a community-oriented
we can fix it together mindset.
Also, the 2007 Greenberg Millennials Study found that when respondents were
asked about the best way to address the challenges facing the country, the leading
choice by far was through a collective social movement.
The Millennial generations attraction to teamwork could be, and arguably already
is, a big factor in strengthening our civil and political engagement.

Millennials are Non-religious

In the UK
Over half of Millennials polled in the UK in 2013 said they had no religion nor
attended a place of worship, other than for a wedding or a funeral.
25% said they believe in a God, while 19% believed in a spiritual greater power
and 38% said they did not believe in God nor any other greater spiritual power.
The poll also found 41% thought religion is the cause of evil in the world more
often than good.
In the US
In the United States, Millennials are less likely to practice organized religion than
older generations, and are more likely to be skeptical of religious institutions.
While the majority of American Millennials are religious, one in three is irreligious,
continuing a trend towards irreligion that has been increasing since the 1940s.

29 percent of Americans born between 1983 and 1994 are irreligious, as opposed
to 21 percent born between 1963 and 1982, 15 percent born between 1948 and
1962 and only 7 percent born before 1948.

Millennials are Multi-taskers

Millennials excel at juggling several tasks at once since this an efficient and practical
use of their time.
Multi-tasking can enable them to accelerate their learning by permitting them to
accomplish more than one task at the same time. They do want to use their time
most efficiently and multitasking offers them more options. For example, a student
may download and listen to a lecture while doing his/her laundry or exercising.
The research shows that Millennials will almost never instant message someone
without doing some other task(s) simultaneously.

Millennials are Nomadic

The nomad, defined as an individual with no fixed location who wanders in search of
pasture, can represent a cultural ideal for this generation. In the face of social and
financial pressure, many are attempting to remain free from the feeling of
restriction.
Millennial have also nomadic communication style they are prolific
communicators, whose communications are speeded by using shorthand, coded,
or abbreviated text.
They love and expect communication mobility; to remain in constant touch
wherever and whenever. This is their firm desire to do whatever they need to do,
obtain any services independent of their geography or distance.
Millennials are much more likely to instant or text message more frequently than
they email and they typically have more buddies on their IM lists than the older
generations.
Millennials love flat, networked world and expect nomadic connectivity, 247.

Millennials are Impatient

Millennials are impatient We Want It Now generation. We are the products of our
society we are bombarded with more than 5,000 marketing messages a day and
as a result cant hold attention for more than 8 seconds.
On demand services like Google, Amazon, Netflix, Uber, Deliveroo dont add to our
patience either. We expect instant gratification, instant answers and instant
services.

Millennials are Adventurous

Millennials are looking for adventures.
Im reluctant to put this phenomenon down to youthful wanderlust alone, because
the breadth of experiences this generation craves suggests theres something more
to it:
Far more Millennials than Non-Millennials report a desire to visit every continent
and travel abroad as much as possible, according to Boston Consulting Group.
More than twice as many Millennials as those in other age brackets say they are
willing to encounter danger in pursuit of excitement, according to Barkley.
When Millennials dine out, theyre often in search of something exotic,
adventuresome, memorable to explore during the experience.