1981 - 1994
Youth – 2001 – 2014 (00’s, 10’s)
Millennials draw much from
undergoing their rights of
passage around the
millennium.
Generation Y lives on the internet.
Childhood sports, where it became
common for who ever to participated
to be rewarded with a trophy.
Primarily the offspring of
the Baby boomers and this
generation has nearly the
three times the number of
Generation X.
First generation to grow
up with almost entirely
within the Digital Era.
The youth of Generation Y craved a lot of attention. It was the first
history to grow up with almost entirely within the Digital Era.
Generation Y is known to be team oriented due to the participation and
involvement in team sports. Some main characteristics involve –
 Technology holding a massive impact on Gen Y’s youth
 The increased rates of divorce
 Different family types being more accepted
 Economic downfall
 Drugs and alcohol being a major youth issue
 People being adaptable to new things
 Being good multi-taskers
 Greater tolerance
 Being team-oriented
 Achievement oriented
 Major Involvement of physical and sexual assault
 Anorexia
The people of Generation Y were really different to Generation X and
baby boomers because Generation Y grew up with more availability of
facilities rather than Generation X and baby boomers which held a
massive impact on the youths of all the generations.
One of the major tv shows that featured between 1993-2000 was ‘boy meets world.’
This show introduced two 3rd grade best friends making their way through school. Along
the way, there are many experiences encountered with friends, girls and family life.
They run into bullies who they eventually befriend. One becomes a womanizer whilst the
other one ends up with the weirdest girl in school. They both grow up together as
brothers providing life lessons for the audience.
Another major tv show that was played through generation Y was ‘the 70s show.’ The
70s aired in 1998, around the time where many of generation Y was entering high
school. The show set in Wisconsin, is about a group of teenagers living their daily
life. This show had it all, from love, to crime, to friendship to laughter and to family
that it almost lived on for a decade.
How I met your mother was/is also another popular tv show that started in
2005 and is still living on. How I met your mother is about a group of friends
living in New York City. It’s a comedy portraying the everyday lives of a
post-college crowd.
These three tv shows were/are the most popular throughout the whole
of generation Y because it enabled the viewers to relate to the
storylines and also have a laugh. Being able to relate to the show
provided for them to be more understandable which also allowed the tv
shows to be more enjoyable.
The make-up always matched what the ladies would wear. Very bright
colours were used not only for the make up, but also for the clothing. The
fashion trend of generation Y started off with things like leg warmers, high
pants, bright tops and fancy dresses. Patterns were very popular back then,
but as time went on, the youth began creating their own fashion trends.
Shorter dresses started coming in and the clothes began to become more
revealing. Although the styles still originated from the 80s and 90s, the
youth of the 2000s used those fashions and built different type of fashion
trends upon them. Men always wore neat casual and ties were also very
popular. Hair would be neatly combed, whereas for women, hair would most
likely be teased and short. Hairstyles that were popular back then, are
usually considered as ‘strange’ now.
Generation Y had a major economic downfall.
“The nation endured a deep recession throughout 1982. Business
bankruptcies rose 50% over the previous year. Farmers were especially hard
hit, as agricultural exports declined, crop prices fell and interest rates rose.
But while the medicine of a sharp slowdown was hard to swallow, it did break
the destructive cycle in which economy had been caught. By 1983, inflation
had eased, the economy had rebounded, and the United States began a
sustained period of economic growth. The annual inflation rate remained
under 5% throughout most of the 1980s and into the 1990s.” –
economics.about.com
Generation Y was known to be the first generation growing up
entirely within the Digital era out of all the generations. New brands
and types of phones started being made, internet facilities started
arising and it came to a point where the youth of gen Y could
communicate with each other through just some sort of technology.
Before new technology arrived, adolescents would have the idea of
doing chores, helping around the house, doing some sort work or just
playing with friends and going outside. Having technology has held a
major impact in gen Y’s youth, because technology provided people to
google information, automatically wash dishes in a dishwasher, use
internet for communicating etc. Generation Y has known to become
the luckiest generation as it was so different to Gen X and Baby
boomers due to access of more facilities. Technology has started
playing such a major role since the beginning of generation Y
because now everything seems to be automatic and technology
based. Individuals are barely seen without a phone or an iPad or just
some sort of technology. Decades ago, the best possible way of
communicating with someone would be to write letters or call
someone on old home phones; now to communicate with someone, all
someone has to do is pick up their phone and send a text message.
It’s just proven how much of our world has actually developed and
changed throughout generations and over time.
www.google.com – images
http://cferreira.hubpages.com/hub/Generation-Ys-Top-3-TV-Shows
http://healthculturesociety.wikispaces.com/Mental+Health+and+Generation+Y+
-+Consumerism+and+the+effects+of+advertising+to+blame+%3F
http://economics.about.com/od/useconomichistory/a/economy_1980s.htm