Millennials from Goldman

Goldman, like all the other major banks, came out with an interesting infographic on Millennials. I usually hate the Millennial generalizations. I tend to find them to be incredibly lazy in their thinking and the stereotypes teach nothing.

However the Goldman version had a lot of interesting data, combined with a very slick interface. I recommend checking it out.

I frequently wonder about a couple of the attitude changes that do seem to be a distinctly Millennial trend and what it is that caused such a culturally disparate group of people to all make a shift. Specifically I find the change in our attitude about marriage to be a real shift. Maybe it’s because my generation watched our parents become the most divorced a disillusioned generation yet on that front.

I get why people have moved in with parents. That’s really a waste of time. That’s not a generational change. It’s just an economic issue.

I also don’t get where the car stats come from. Do they only survey people in NYC and San Fran? Maybe I’m biased living in the Gulf Coast, but I don’t know anyone who doesn’t have a car if they can afford one. Looking at the slide, it looks like an internal survey of interns. Let me just make a suggestion to Goldman. Survey college kids living on campus and then interning in NYC means you are polling the 1 group of people in the US who can get by without a car. NYC and college campuses are designed for walking and have all the basic needs right there.

The next few slides basically say, we’re trying to eat well and workout. Also that we think brands aren’t that important and we comparison shop on our phones. Not really sure why that’s revolutionary, but there it is.

Even though half the stats are pretty much junk, it’s an interesting infographic. Take a look.