Product Description

By the authors of the bestselling 13th Gen, the first in-depth examination of the Millennials--the generation born after 1982.

"Over the next decade, the Millennial Generation will entirely recast the image of youth from downbeat and alientated to upbeat and engaged--with potentially seismic consequences for America." --from Millennials Rising

In this remarkable account, certain to stir the interest of educators, counselors, parents, and people in all types of business as well as young people themselves, Neil Howe and William Strauss introduce the nation to a powerful new generation: the Millennials. They will also explain:

Why today's teens are smart, well-behaved, and optimisitc, and why you won't hear older people say that.

Why they get along so well with their Boomer and Xer parents.

Why Millennial collegians will bring a new youth revolution to America's campuses.

Why names like "Generation Y" and "Echo Boom" just don't work for today's kids.

Having looked at oceans of data, taken their own polls, and talked to hundreds of kids, parents, and teachers, Howe and Strauss explain how Millennials are turning out to be so dramatically different from Xers and boomers and how, in time, they will become the next great generation.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #121659 in Books
• Published on: 2000-09-05
• Released on: 2000-09-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

From Amazon.com
Building on the concepts they first developed in Generations and 13th Gen, Neil Howe and William Strauss now take on Generation Y, or, as they call them, the Millennials. Unlike their rather distressing portrait of the more reactive Generation X (the 13th Gen), or the negative stereotypes that abound about today's kids, this is all good news. According to Howe and Strauss, this group is poised to become the next great generation, one that will provide a more positive, group-oriented, can-do ethos. Huge in size as well as future impact, they're making a sharp break from Gen-X trends and a direct reversal of boomer youth behavior. Why? Because, as a nation, we've devoted more concern and attention their way than to any generation in, well, generations.

Using their trademark paradigm, which places each generation as part of a larger historical cycle with four generations to a cycle, the authors not only describe these kids as they are now (as the first year sets off for college, the last yet to be born) but launch into projections for the future. A sampling of their potential influence in this decade: pop music will become more melodic and singable and sitcoms more melodramatic and wholesome; there will be a new emphasis on manners, modesty, and old-fashioned gender courtesies; and they'll resolve the long-standing debates about substance abuse. "They will rebel against the culture by cleaning it up, rebel against political cynicism by touting trust, rebel against individualism by stressing teamwork, rebel against adult pessimism by being upbeat, and rebel against social ennui by actually going out and getting a few things done." Scanning the future further, this hero generation will have to confront some major crises. But, for a group that has never known war or famine, will it be an opportunity or a calamity? Much of Millennials Rising is familiar territory rehashed, and the profiles and prophecies just too general. But it's hard to resist this hopeful vision for our children and the future. --Lesley Reed

From Publishers Weekly
The phrase "kids these days" is infused with new meaning in this look at the generation born between 1982 and 2000. Arguing against the conventional wisdom that junior high and high school kids are disrespectful, violent and alienated, Howe and Strauss (Generations; 13th Gen) demonstrate that the children of boomers and of older members of Generation X are actually harder workers and better community builders than any generation since the G.I.s'. "Millennials," the authors argue, are different from Gen-Xers: they have grown up in a multicultural country and have never known a recession; they are wanted children (as the increase in both birth control and fertility drugs demonstrate); and protected by an unprecedented number of child-centered laws. Since birth, they have been spurred to achievement in the home, by yuppie parents, and at school, by standardized tests and "zero tolerance" disciplinary measures. The authors show how easily Millennials have swallowed all the efforts on their behalf. School uniforms, as well as uniform-like Gap and Abercrombie & Fitch clothing, are popular. Teen sex is less frequent, and virginity seems to be a cool new trend. Howe and Strauss run into a bit of trouble when they insist that each generation corrects the mistakes of the previous one. They also attempt to link Millennials to the G.I. generation, suggesting that "hero generations" come in cycles. Despite these stabs at pop sociology, this well-substantiated demographic and cultural overview of the teen landscape is intriguing and highly amusing. Charts, graphs, cartoons. (Sept.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
The Millennials, the generation "born in or after 1982--the 'Babies on Board' of the early Reagan years"--will be a force to reckon with in the twenty-first century, according to the authors. More numerous and culturally diverse than their forefathers, this generation will also be better educated and more affluent. Using a wealth of marketing reports, statistics, graphs, and testimonials, the authors convincingly argue that the millennials are returning to conservative family values, emphasizing cooperation rather than creativity, and showing a new respect for rules. The book explores the roots of this turnaround generation, who they are now, and where they are headed. Although some of the statistics seem to be bent slightly to conform to the trends, the very readable narrative and thorough analysis of popular culture will prompt serious discussion among old and young. Candace Smith
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Poor -- deception
While I do not find today's youth a particularly boisterous or "bad kid" generation, this book goes beyond assessment of the trends and into self-convincing in a very deceptive way. There are indeed trends out there, some positive and some negative (which is partly a matter of opinion anyway), but Strauss and Howe have gone a little too far this time in seeing what they want to see.

One reviewer notes: "One thing is that the authors know what to look for by using their generational theory. As a result of this, he [obtained] results that would surprise most people, but would not surprise anyone familiar with their previous works." Ironically, this is exactly an example of why this cannot be considered a good book. The two authors knew what they wanted to write about youth long before writing this book, in fact wanting to write whatever would fit a set of predictions about this crop of youth that these authors have had for a decade. Rather than "looking for" wholesome youth, they need to look at the whole picture of how things are.

But William Strauss and Neil Howe look for and write what they want to find. Deceptively one-sided quotes fill the pages with statements from youth who fit their preconceived paradigm and adults who observe something in youth that fits their paradigm. They had to wade through all the quotes from young speakers who fit a different paradigm. Why these teens? Why did they conduct surveys of their own county in Virginia and not some other county?

What these two authors don't mention in the book is that they pick and choose from surveys rather than showing the whole picture of the generation. For instance, they quote a CBS survey to persuade the reader of the government/parental trust of this generation ("Half trust the government to do what's right.") Why this survey, and not one of the Newsweek, Monitoring the Future or other surveys that showed more cynicism about government or a less two-dimensionally rosy picture of relationships with parents than this book would have you believe? Substance abuse, even though lower than Boomer youth rates, is higher than that of generation X, and the authors' attempt to deal with this inconvenient statistic fails to convince me. (Curiously, the same CBS survey they cite on government/parental trust has very low figures for use of ANY drug among teenagers, even less than the statistics the authors produce on substancce abuse. Hmmmm.)

They write that this is entirely an era in which the benefits of youth and children are paramount and trump all else, yet avoid mentioning the fall of school taxes or university funding to the kids who supposedly need it most, and outright deny that cheating has risen in schools, where elsewhere it has.

At one point they state, "Look closely at youth indicators and you'll see that Millennial attitudes and behaviors represents a sharp break from Generation X". Ironically, it shows a continuation of Generation X. They neglect to mention that X was the same generation that reversed the Boomer SAT slide and agrees, rather than conflicts with, these students' high scores. On the other hand, the substance abuse rates of these youth represent a turn away from Generation X's youth in the "wrong" direction -- they are un-X-like by using drugs more!

Rather than showing a balanced picture, Strauss and Howe have merely written what they wanted to see, looking for rather than looking at, and presented the reader with a rehash if their precxonceived ideas of youth. This has merely reached cult-live levels of self-assuring.

What the heck do these young kids want anyways?!
Get the answers here. Learn what the new generation wants in their workplace. This is well researched, well written and presented in a fun, modern style with sidebars of quotes and additional information. A good study of the modern generation about to take their place at the helm of this old spaceship, earth.

Next is Generation Z?
One gets the feeling from reading some of these books on generational differences that the authors have uncovered a goldmind of potential enless dimensions. The authors have devised a "Generation Y" rubric, which leaves them with "Generation Z" to come next, and then in the marvels of listings, back to "Generation AA", "BB," and so on. Books such as this say the obvious, but in such a way that jacket blurb writers can find a sentence or two to pull up and extol.