11 Things Boomers Think Are Luxuries That Millennials See As Bare Minimum

Boomers and millennials grew up in very different times, and have very different perspectives as a result.

Things Boomers Think Are Luxuries That Millennials See As Bare Minimum Nicoleta Ionescu / Shutterstock
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Each generation is bound to have its differences. Growing up in different time periods with different societal expectations means that values and priorities change. This is particularly true for baby boomers and millennials, who seem to differ in some of the biggest ways.

Research published in The Society for Personality and Social Psychology suggests that boomers and millennials hold a “mutual animosity” for each other. Millennials feel boomers are ruining their chances at career advancement because they refuse to retire, whilw boomers think of millennials as endangering their more traditional worldview. This shows that boomers and millennials are clearly at odds, and the fact that many things millennials see as the bare minimum were considered luxuries by boomers doesn’t help resolve their issues.

Here are 11 things boomers think are luxuries that millennials see as bare minimum

1. Getting a college education

woman getting a college education Drazen Zigic | Shutterstock

The first thing boomers see as a luxury but millennials think is part of the bare minimum is getting a college education. According to Pew Research Center, 37% of millennials have at least a bachelor’s degree, compared to only 25% of boomers. Quite simply, receiving a college education was not as essential to the baby boomer generation, which still had the silent generation’s beliefs about education to reckon with.

Writing for New America, Wesley Whistle pointed out that in quarter two of 2019, 15.1 million millennial aged borrowers held $497.6 billion in student loan debt, which averaged out to approximately $33,000 per person. Student debt is a difficult thing to compare between generations as costs of education have changed dramatically and boomers held less debt because higher education was simply cheaper for them. However, the high amount of student loan debt that millennials hold is an indicator of their striving for a college education.

The idea that everyone should go to college was new to baby boomers, and many did not follow this line of thinking. However, millennials have definitely bought into this idea and have the student loans to prove it.

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2. Women being a part of the workforce

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Again, many baby boomers were children of the silent generation, in which women were expected to stay home and care for their children and their household while their husbands did the work and made the money. Boomers were really the generation to challenge and change this concept, but many boomer women still chose to stay home as the previous generation had.

On the other hand, millennials have fully embraced the idea that women belong wherever they feel most comfortable — and, if that’s the workforce, that’s where they end up. According to Pew Research Center, 72% of millennials women are employed currently, compared to 25% who are not.

Unfortunately, not everything has changed. CNN contributor Julia Carpenter noted that while millennial women are much more likely to be seen in the workforce, they are also still primarily responsible for household and childcare duties, meaning they are just engaged in more work all around. Not only is this exhausting, but it’s also a sign that true gender equality has yet to be reached.

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3. Racial and ethnic diversity

diverse group of friends hanging out Prostock-studio | Shutterstock

Something else that millennials simply expect in their lives is diversity. Admittedly, this all began with boomers, who took part in the beginning of the civil rights movement. However, diversity, equity and inclusion practices were largely ignored or actively fought against for many years before they were fully accepted. For this reason, diversity was more of a luxury than a reality for boomers.

The founder of The Courage Collective, a firm that consults on DEI, Daniel Oppong said, “That is the genesis of why some of these programs exist. It was an attempt to try to create workplaces where more or all people can thrive.” CNN’s Nicquel Terry Ellis noted that the idea of greater diversity began with President Kennedy’s affirmative action executive order.

It’s unclear how future generations will be able to view diversity, though. While younger people are known to be more accepting of diverse backgrounds and profiles, affirmative action was struck down by the Supreme Court, and the Trump administration is currently dismantling DEI policies.

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4. Receiving financial support or housing from parents

woman being supported by her parents VGstockstudio | Shutterstock

When it came to finances, boomers were largely on their own. Of course there were the outliers who received assistance from their parents or other relatives, and this certainly doesn’t mean that boomers were rudely cut off in some way. However, they were mostly independent because they had no other choice.

Millennials have experienced the world a bit differently. Pew Research Center said, “Millennials, hit hard by the Great Recession, have been somewhat slower in forming their own households than previous generations. They’re more likely to live in their parents’ home and also more likely to be at home for longer stretches.”

This seems to be one of the reasons for resentment between boomers and millennials, as boomers see this as laziness or mooching on the part of millennials. Meanwhile, millennials live in a very different financial landscape that requires spending and saving in different ways.

RELATED: 6 Ways Millennials Refuse To Follow In Their Gen X & Boomer Parents’ Footsteps

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5. Choosing whether or not to get married

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These days, it’s not uncommon for millennials and other young people to choose to delay getting married, or to choose not to marry at all. In fact, Pew Research Center estimated that 46% of millennials were married, but 67% of boomers were at the same age. This 21% difference shows a major shift in values and what is considered most important.

Interestingly, money is a major factor in this decision for millennials. A survey conducted by the Thriving Center of Psychology found that 73% of millennials and Gen Zers thought marriage was too expensive. 85% felt it was unnecessary for a healthy relationship. The same survey revealed that two in five respondents thought marriage was “an outdated tradition.”

Meanwhile, marriage was not really a choice for most boomers. It was a revered tradition that they treasured. They also lived at a time when family was the most important thing in one’s life and having children out of wedlock was frowned upon. Attitudes about these things have greatly relaxed, giving millennials more freedom to choose their own paths forward.

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6. Having children later in life or not at all

mom who decided to have kids young fizkes | Shutterstock

Just like marriage is not as much of a priority for millennials as it was for boomers, having children has also been placed on the back burner. When polled by Pew Research Center, 30% of childless young adults said they were unsure that they ever wanted to have children, while 18% said they definitely did not want to.

Writing for the American Psychological Association, Anna Medaris pointed out multiple factors holding couples back from starting families, such as a rough economy, concerns over the state of the world and childhood trauma. Amanda Chappell, Ph.D., part of Bethany College’s faculty, said, “It’s not a good enough reason anymore to say, ‘I’m going to have kids because that’s what everybody else is doing or that’s what my mom wants me to do.’”

Boomers didn’t really have the chance to choose in this case. It was simply expected that they would have children, and would do so when they were fairly young. Ironically, many of those boomers are the parents of millennials who now feel the complete opposite way about this issue.

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7. The ability to switch from one job to another

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While nothing is necessarily stopping boomers from switching jobs, now or in the past, the generation favors an environment of job security and loyalty. Boomers tended to climb their way up the ladder in a company and stay there. In fact, CBS News reported that over 40% of boomers stayed at the same company for at least 20 years.

Things are different for millennials, who see job hopping as completely normal and even desirable. According to Gallup, 21% of millennials reported they had left their job and found another in the past year. Additionally, only 50% of millennials “strongly agree that they plan to be working at their company one year from now.”

Millennials view job hopping as something that is essential to their career’s wellbeing, a way to stay fresh and ensure their salary stays in a good target range. Meanwhile, boomers stuck with the same employer for decades, showing a sense of loyalty that proved job hopping was a luxury for them.

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8. Thinking of voting as optional

man who did not think voting was optional gpointstudio | Shutterstock

For boomers, voting is an important civic duty. While many millennials also have this perspective, a significant portion don’t. Erin Tor from University of Virginia’s Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy said, “Voter turnout among young Americans has been dismal since 18-year-olds earned the right to vote with the passage of the 26th amendment in 1971.” Voting just isn’t as much of a priority to young people as it is to older generations.

Researchers and professors John Holbein and Sunshine Hillygus found that young people don’t necessarily not want to vote, but rather face hurdles to doing so, like voter registration and identification and finding time in their schedules. In the 2016 presidential election, 60% of boomers voted, compared to 51% of millennials, Pew Research Center reported.

While this doesn’t necessarily mean that one generation thinks voting is less important than the other, it does mean that millennials view it as more of an optional task, or something they can do if they have the time. Older generations like boomers see voting as a necessity, and not doing so as a luxury.

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9. Having a healthy work-life balance

woman with healthy work-life balance ViDI Studio | Shutterstock

For people entering the workforce now, having a healthy work-life balance seems like the most obvious, essential thing in the world. How could anyone not want that? Well, whether boomers wanted it or not, they didn’t really have it. Boomers are known for their strong work ethic, which often meant they put work above all else.

Writing for Johns Hopkins University, Hanju Lee stated that boomers are often thought of as “workaholics” and “career-focused.” Conversely, millennials’ “childhood environments resulted in a highly progressive, empathetic generation that was the first to integrate moral values into the workplace: striving to only work in environments that aligned with their core socio-political values, even at the cost of a pay-cut.”

This could be another point of contention between millennials and boomers, as they have completely different values regarding work. While a healthy work-life balance would have seemed like a luxury to boomers, millennials expect it and are willing to move on and find it elsewhere if needed.

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10. Accepting immigrants as part of their generation

man who is accepted as an immigrant PintoArt | Shutterstock

This may not be something that is so much of a luxury to boomers as it is something that they’re just not used to. Regardless, millennials are much more likely to accept immigrants into their ranks. In fact, Pew Research Center said that 84% of the silent generation was considered “non-Hispanic white,” while only 55% of millennials identify this way.

“This change is driven partly by the growing number of Hispanic and Asian immigrants, whose ranks have increased since the boomer generation,” they added. “The increased prevalence of interracial marriage and differences in fertility patterns have also contributed to the country’s shifting racial and ethnic makeup.”

While boomers are less accustomed to accepting immigrants as part of their generation, millennials see this as completely normal. It is the bare minimum for them, and just what they expect.

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11. Spaces with open layouts

office with open layout Jacob Lund | Shutterstock

Boomers are simply not used to open layout concepts. A quick look at homes built during boomers’ prime shows closed-off spaces without open layouts. Many boomers have admittedly adapted pretty well to today’s popular homes that have more of a spacious, open feel and floor plan. This change hasn’t translated well to the office, though.

A study conducted by The Harris Poll found that 41% of boomers felt comfortable sharing office space with a co-worker. On the other hand, 58% of Gen Z and younger millennials and 52% of older millennials were fine with this. Boomers are used to an era of personal offices and closed-off private spaces. Working in these modern offices is just strange to them.

Millennials, of course, are quite comfortable with this. In fact, millennials have actually been credited as the generation that started the trend of open office layouts. Millennials are more used to co-working and collaborating, and it shows in the way they expect their offices to look.

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Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.

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