Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation

by Neil Howe and William Strauss

Book Overview

By the authors of the bestselling 13th Gen , an incisive, in-depth examination of the Millennials--the generation born after 1982. 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 provide the definitive analysis of a powerful generation- the Millennials.Having looked at oceans of data, taken their own polls,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375707190
• ISBN13: 9780375707193
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 7.3" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

Three years later and the analysis holds

I've used info from Millennials Rising in the classroom (MBA marketing) and in my marketing consulting practice, and I can tell you that the premise resonates with Xers and Boomers who live and work with Millennials. Yes, these kids are REALLY different from previous generations--in many ways better, in a few others disappointing--but this book is critical to identifying and understanding those differences. Think, for example, about how A & F has failed to connect with today's youth after dominating the post-teen clothing market for a decade--actually, their sales dove just as the first Millennials went off to college. Understanding generational change is extremely important to marketers and I highly recommend this book to anyone whose business targets certain age demographics.

Reviewer's reactions prove there's been a generational shift

I give this book a very high rating, not because I believe everything in it, but because the authors (unlike most 'Gen Y' marketers) recognize a change. And there has been a huge change, which anyone who lived through the 60s and 70s can see. True, lots of kids are irritated with the restrictions placed on them. But, confronted with similar restrictions in the 60s, we bombed buildings. It's the response that's significant.Some reviewers who identify themselves as Millennials are very angry about this book. To be blunt, 10 years ago no kid would have given a second thought about its contents. If nothing else, Millennials care what people think about them, and that is massive change.Second: Any young person who thinks they're radical or rebelling should check out a book like David Frum's How We Got Here: The 1970s. Current generations can't begin to match the radical climate of that time. Third: It's true that the stats in the book are biased, and reflect the upper-middle class. But this is exactly what happened in the 1960s -- the revolt started with wealthy college students at Ivy League schools and spread to the rest of society over the next 20 years.Fourth: Howe & Strauss do mention the recent rise in drug use, in particular pot. Their actual claim is that if pot use becomes accepted, it will fill the same role that alcohol did for earlier generations -- just check out a film from the 50s and see them getting smashed at every turn. Not a biggie.Finally, I should note that this book is very well written. Part of the anger in reviews comes from this source. It gets people excited. If it were a dry statistics text it wouldn't arouse such ire.

Glimpse of Things to Come

Strauss and Howe have written a book that is very much in tune with the trends currently occupying today's teens. Oddly enough, much of the criticism on this review page stems from a lack of ability to COMPARE generations. Students who cannot see a contrast between youth ten or twenty years ago and youth today cannot fully comprehend the change that has happened.Indeed, the people who appreciate the concept of Millennials best are educators. Educators who have been in education for some time have noticed the shift and are the best people to consult on how youth culture has changed. Interestingly, it is these educators who have given the book the most positive reviews.The change is very real. While I understand concern about not wnating to "label" a large group of people, the trends are undeniable. SAT scores, international test comparisons, teen crime, teen pregnancy, drug usage. With a few exceptions and statistical aberations, and media frenzies around horrific spectacles like Columbine, the trends are wholly positive. All are improving. While still not at the levels that they should be, the TREND is the important aspect of the theory. Unlike Boomers, Millennails a generation of improving trends and youngest members will be "better" than the older ones. Contrast this with Boomers -- who through their entire youth brought about a 17-year slide in SAT scores, worsening crime, and explosive drug use.But the message of Strauss and Howe is the thing that is most often misunderstood. The authors are not calling for fascist regimentation of today's teens, but rather, a LOOSENING of that regimentation. They merely want pundits, the media, and the culture to appreciate today's youth as wholesome. A generation to be encouraged, not scorned. And certainly not one that should be held down by EXCESSIVE zero tolerance and testing policies. Far from calling for more regimentation, the book is pointing out the excesses of the Millennial's elders.I highly recommend this book -- an excellent portrayal of what's going on in today's changing youth culture.

Foresight 20/20

Having just finished this book, I am amazed to find so many people disagreeing. This book conclusively resembles my life--And I was born in 82! The book itself seems not to be an insult to Boomers or Gen Xers, and not even a complement to Millennials; it takes into account painstaking research and uses it to make delicate generalizations about an entire generation of Americans.Whoa! That's a big deal AND really hard to do! I understand the disgressions people have with parts of the theory, but it's been my experience that the Strauss/Howe model is a complete understanding of American history. (And it works!) Reviewing their predictions since 1991, Strauss and Howe have precisely calculated the heartbeat of American culture and given an equation that is practical and applicable to all of their readers.In regards to my own generation, I read this book and recalled their portrayal of Millennials to be very descriptive of my own childhood environment. Living in the cusp of third and fourth turning societies, I can't help but recognize all of the social trends with greater awareness after reading this book.I more generally found the book a delightful read. Strauss and Howe's writing is natural and easy to read and understand. Even if you have no dealings with cultural anthropology or today's youth, I still recommend this book for it's value of collected information about our society, and its implications, in a very reader friendly way.

An excellent, even-handed look at the next American generati

Millennials Rising, in short, is an excellent start of the examination of the next American generation, the Millennials, born 1982 to the present. Neil Howe and William Strauss are the two preeminent generational historians writing today. In their groundbreaking work Generations, they meticulously researched American generations all the way back to the 16th century. They followed this up with an examination of Generation X in 13th Gen that helped explain the why and how of an entire generation that had previously been all but ignored. Then in Fourth Turning the authors advanced their generational theory to convincingly outline a model that explains the cyclical nature of generations. Now, with Millennials Rising they are embarking on something that hasn't been done before, namely charting the course of an entire generation as it grows up. They have done an excellent job of defining the generation as a whole, rather than examining individuals within it. They identify the major trends, the dominant themes, that make Millennials what they are as a group (and they are nothing, if not a group). Then they give concrete examples that back up the theory. Rather than shoehorn teens into a preconceived stereotype, the way many marketers do today, Howe and Strauss show how these preconceptions don't fit and build a new model for the next generation. Where Boomers were the generation of feeling and interpersonal reflection, Millennials are more focused on the rational and the outer world. Where Xers became individualized, thanks to (un)parenting that made them define themselves with little formal structure, Millennials entire lives are structured by an entire nation of parents with an emphasis on team work and group action. The authors have highlighted these differences in past books, and do so again here. And they go one step further, expanding the model to show the unique place in history that the Millennials hold and how that shapes them as a group, and forms them also as individual members of that group.Having a fair amount of interaction with high school age kids the past few years, I have noticed myself that today's teens are vastly different from those of my own high school in the mid 1980s (admittedly my examination is less precise and my sample a whole lot smaller). And while not everything that that authors write about is exactly right on, I can see clearly that their overall approach is on target . Again, it's the big picture that is important and no one else writing on generational issues today paints that picture as clearly as Howe and Strauss.Who should read this book? Millennials Rising is a must read for any serious historian, and anyone interested in generational issues. The book will be a boon to those who are looking towards the future, such as policy makers both in the public and private sectors. Anyone who is interested in trends in politics, pop culture, or society as a whole would be well served to read Millennials Ris