Rise of the Millennials
Type “Millennials are” into a Google search and then peruse the suggestions provided by autocomplete. You’ll find that the most popular searches of this type peg Millennials with a rather unflattering profile. Millennials tend to be labelled as lazy, narcissistic, and entitled. It is time the record is set straight on Millennials.
Millennials face unique challenges as they inherit an economy of skyrocketing tuition, stagnant wages, dissipating benefits, and an incredibly difficult job market. The following reading list delves into some of those challenges alongside a few exemplary success stories of how Millennials are rising to meet the challenges handed down to them.
"2 Billion Under 20: How Millennials are Breaking Down Age Barriers and Changing the World," by Stace Ferreira & Jared Kleinert.
"2 Billion Under 20" is a book, online community, and movement inspired by the 2 billion people in the world currently at or under the age of twenty. We stand for Millennials, Gen Z'ers, and those who want to better understand them and their unique potential. This book shows how we can all act on our passions and make a difference at any age.
"The Next America: Boomers, Millennials, and the Looming Generational Showdown," by Paul Taylor.
Drawing on Pew Research Center’s extensive archive of public opinion surveys and demographic data, "The Next America" is a rich portrait of where we are as a nation and where we’re headed—toward a future marked by the most striking social, racial, and economic shifts the country has seen in a century.
"Millenial Momentum: How a New Generation is Remaking America," by Morley Winograd & Michael D. Hais.
Drawing from an impressive array of demographic data, popular texts, and personal interviews, the authors show how the ethnically diverse, socially tolerant, and technologically fluent Millennials can help guide the United States to retain its leadership of the world community and the global marketplace. They also illustrate why this generation’s unique blend of civic idealism and savvy pragmatism will enable us to overcome the internal culture wars and institutional malaise currently plaguing the country. "Millennial Momentum" offers a message of hope for a deeply divided nation.
"End of the Good Life: How the Financial Crisis Threatens a Lost Generation - And What We Can Do about It," by Riva Froymovich.
Generation Y faces the bleakest economic landscape in modern history. The recent spikes in unemployment and debt, alongside a drop in marriage, home-buying, and childbearing rates, will have long-term consequences for a group that had no hand in creating the financial crisis. For these young adults, the American Dream is moving farther out of reach. Worse still, leaders aren't doing anything about it. Drawing on a wide range of reportage and interviews from across the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America, Riva Froymovich gives voice to those struggling in this new economy and explains the harm of shortsighted government policies.
"What Next?: The Millennial's Guide to Surviving and Thriving in the Real World," by Michael Price.
Millennials (Generation Y) were born into a world with a unique set of circumstances: Rapid technological advancement, the rise of The Internet, a new modern yet old school work place, a broken education system, and tremendous economic disadvantages. "What Next? The Millennial's Guide to Surviving and Thriving in the Real World" takes Millennial's through high school, college, Corporate America and beyond, and gives the reader insight to take on the world with ease and confidence.
"I'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves," by Ryan O'Connell.
This hilarious part-memoir, part-manifesto reveals what sets apart the latest generation of young people coming of age in an all-wired, over-educated, and underemployed world.
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