In April of this year, our friends across the aisle at Harstad Strategic Research conducted a national online survey of 2,004 millennial adults (for this survey, millennials were defined as adults age 18-31). The survey results were released publically (it can be seen here), and among many interesting findings was the somewhat contradictory views millennials have on their economic futures.
From a broad perspective, millennials are confident in their economic future. The vast majority (87{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}) say their economic future is up to them, 79{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} say they will be either better off (39{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}) or the same (40{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}) as their parents, and 70{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} say they are optimistic about their economic prospects.
This economic optimism is in SPITE of the fact that, according to a recent study by Pew, millenials are burdened with higher levels of student loan debt, poverty, and unemployment than previous generations had at that same age. Millenials are also currently experiencing lower levels of wealth and personal income than the generations that preceded them.
However, when it comes to more specific aspects of their economic future, millennials do not express the same level of optimism. Millennials were asked to rate how worried they were about eight personal economic conditions on a one to five scale, where five would be worried a lot and one would be not worried at all. For seven of the eight issues tested, a majority rated their level of worry as either a four or a five.
|
Economic Condition |
{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}Rate Their Level |
{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}Rate Their Level |
{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222}Rate Their Level |
| Finding a good job |
41{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
25{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
66{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
| Paying your bills |
35{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
25{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
60{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
| Being able to afford to have a family |
35{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
24{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
59{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
| Low wages |
33{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
24{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
57{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
| Paying for the high cost of college |
33{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
23{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
56{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
| Being able to afford a home mortgage |
31{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
22{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
53{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
| Parents having money for retirement |
27{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
23{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
50{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
Earlier this month, my colleague Nicole McCleskey wrote about how everyday economics are most important to women, and the data among millennials certainly reinforces this. Millennial women worry more than millennial men about all seven of these key personal economic conditions
| Economic Condition | {09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} of Men Who Rate Their Level of Worry a 4 or 5 |
{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} of Women Who Rate Their Level of Worry a 4 or 5 |
| Finding a good job | 61{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} | 72{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
| Paying your bills | 53{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} | 68{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
| Being able to afford to have a family |
54{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} | 64{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
| Low wages | 50{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} | 64{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
| Paying for the high cost of college |
50{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} | 61{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
| Being able to afford a home mortgage | 47{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} | 59{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
| Parents having money for retirement |
46{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} | 55{09f965da52dc6ab4c1643a77bd40d1f729d807040cd8db540234bb981a782222} |
Millennials, especially millennial women, are optimistic about their long term economic future, but worried about certain aspects of their short-term economic future. Thus, economic messaging to this key group should be specific and focus on how Republican policies can create job opportunities for young people in the near future that will allow them to pay their bills and be able to afford to have a family.
