You Hear One Thing About Millennials. The Data Says Another

Older generations have historically despised the younger ones as frivolous, good-for-nothing, and responsible for ruining the world. The perception of millennials today is no different. One telephone survey found that 71% of Americans believe millennials to be selfish, while another 65% find them entitled. People make sweeping generalizations about millennials, ranging from how all they do is spend their parents’ money to just calling them flat out losers.

Replace the word “millennial” with any individual race, religion or gender and you’d rightly spark mass outrage. Somehow, though, it is okay to make sweeping generalizations about the largest and most diverse generation in American history, at 81.1 million of the population, born between 1981 and 2000.

Are millennials really that different from previous generations, or are we just describing young adults?

With an endless supply of articles trashing millennials, we decided to take a closer look at the data to better understand real trends versus tired stereotypes.