tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/generation-z-40884/articlesGeneration Z – The Conversation2024-02-14T17:07:42Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2215442024-02-14T17:07:42Z2024-02-14T17:07:42ZGeneration Z may not need mortgages, here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/575630/original/file-20240214-22-ieqy9q.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=5%2C20%2C3493%2C2239&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/es/image-photo/young-happy-lesbian-couple-hugging-laughing-1896484951">Ground Picture/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Ask many Millennials – the generation currently in their late 20s to early 40s – about the possibility of home ownership and they will probably laugh in your face. The idea of getting a mortgage with just their own income is often unthinkable, and those who do own property often have an uncommonly early inheritance to thank.</p>
<p>While housing crises rage across Europe, many members of Generation Z – those born after the year 2000 – may soon find that the shoe is on the other foot. By analysing mortgage trends and other data, my research has predicted a gradual shift away from long term mortgage commitments among this generation.</p>
<p>Inheritances will play a key part in this change. Slowing population growth, smaller families, and a concentration of property ownership in the ageing Baby Boomer generation (born between 1946 and 1964) mean that inheritance rates have been climbing year on year. </p>
<p>Generation Z therefore stands to benefit from Europe’s declining birth rate, one of the lowest in the world at <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Fertility_statistics">1.53 children per woman</a>. Put simply, there will be fewer young people to inherit houses, and more houses for them to inherit.</p>
<h2>Mortgages: an increasingly unattractive prospect</h2>
<p>Getting a mortgage is daunting at the best of times, as banks require savings, income, stable employment and a hefty deposit. If you meet these criteria, you are then locked into, on average, a 25-year commitment. </p>
<p>In a labour market characterised by <a href="https://feps-europe.eu/publication/605-living-with-uncertainty-the-social-implications-of-precarious-work/">temporary jobs and low, stagnating wages</a>, many people will struggle to ever sign a mortgage, let alone pay one off. The prospect of getting one is especially unappealing at a time when <a href="https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2023/03/24/European-Housing-Markets-at-a-Turning-Point-Risks-Household-and-Bank-Vulnerabilities-and-531349">rising mortgage rates are driving the cost of living up</a> in Europe and beyond. This panorama is already affecting <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2023/09/29/gen-z-faces-financial-challenges-stress-anxiety-and-an-uncertain-future/">Generation Z’s attitude to long term milestones</a> such as buying a home.</p>
<p>The fact that <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/c585cc68-880c-44af-95e4-8be50676b095">fewer mortgages are being signed</a> across the continent is therefore unsurprising, especially given a <a href="https://www.ey.com/en_gl/news/2023/12/decade-low-european-mortgage-growth-forecast-this-year-and-next-as-high-borrowing-costs-and-a-weak-economy-drive-down-demand">steep rise in interest rates</a> and soaring property prices. This decline seems set to continue into the long term, for a number of reasons.</p>
<h2>Home ownership in Europe today</h2>
<p>In the European Union, the average age at which people first acquire property is 34. The average mortgage duration is 25 years, meaning payments are typically completed by the age of 59, just before retirement age (65 in most EU member states).</p>
<p>As of 2022, 69.1% of Europeans owned their home, but only <a href="https://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/economic-bulletin/focus/2021/html/ecb.ebbox202101_05%7Ea872597edd.en.html">24.7% had mortgages</a>. This does <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/957803/homeowners-with-and-without-an-outstanding-mortgage-in-eu-28-per-country/">vary widely</a> across the continent, and there is little correlation between ownership rates and the number of active mortgages. </p>
<p>In some Northern European countries, the number of mortgages is actually rising. In the Netherlands, for example, <a href="https://www.dnb.nl/en/current-economic-issues/housing-market/hight-mortgage-debts-in-the-netherlands-risks-and-solutions/">61% of homeowners currently have a mortgage</a>.</p>
<p>In contrast, this percentage is far lower in countries like Italy, where only <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/957803/homeowners-with-and-without-an-outstanding-mortgage-in-eu-28-per-country/">14.6%</a> of homeowners have a mortgage. This disparity may be due to the more common use of liquid funds, or stronger, more longstanding traditions of inheriting property in certain countries.</p>
<h2>Spain: a case in point</h2>
<p>We can take Spain as an example of the changes that are already underway. It is above average in life expectancy and rates of home ownership (especially among older generations): the average Spaniard first purchases property at age 41, and receives an inheritance at 51. </p>
<p>The number of inheritances, however, is reaching new highs year on year. From 2021 to 2022 the number of homes inherited in Spain rose by <a href="https://www.ine.es/jaxiT3/Datos.htm?t=6154">3.7%</a>, with over 17,800 homes inherited per month within its borders. </p>
<p>With only a 10-year gap, on average, between signing a mortgage and receiving an inheritance, the average Spanish person may see little benefit in tying themselves to a variable, potentially volatile 25-year loan.</p>
<h2>Leaving the family home</h2>
<p>The ongoing surge in property inheritance shows no signs of slowing, and is big enough to potentially decrease the long-term demand for mortgages. However, the value of inheritances varies widely across different countries and wealth distributions, and it is difficult to make predictions for all of Europe. </p>
<p>There is also huge variation in factors such as <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/w/ddn-20230904-1">the age of leaving the family home</a>. Southern Europe is generally higher in this regard, with adults typically staying with their parents until age 30.3 in Spain, 30.7 in Greece and 30 in Italy. </p>
<p>In Finland, on the other hand, people typically leave home at age 21.4, with similarly low figures across Scandinavia. France sees adults move out at 23.4, and Germany at 23.8. According to Eurostat data, many of these average ages showed long-term increases between 2012 and 2022.</p>
<p>However, higher youth independence does not directly correlate with more mortgage signings. <a href="https://www.ine.es/jaxiT3/Tabla.htm?t=3200&L=0">Spain’s staggering drop of 62.54%</a> in new mortgages from 2007 to 2023 is reflected in data from across Europe. From 2022 to 2023, <a href="https://www.nbb.be/fr">Belgium recorded a 33.8% decrease</a>, and between 2021 and 2022 <a href="https://www.banque-france.fr/fr/publications-et-statistiques/statistiques/panorama-des-prets-lhabitat-des-menages">France has witnessed an approximate decrease of 47.49%</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://economic-research.bnpparibas.com/pdf/fr-FR/marche-immobilier-residentiel-zone-euro-epreuve-normalisation-monetaire-17/01/2024,49230">Annual data from the European Central Bank, released in November 2023,</a> also shows annual decreases of 61% in Slovakia, 57% in Austria, 40% in Luxembourg, and 23% in Estonia. Across Europe as a whole, the number of new housing loans dropped by 32% last year. </p>
<h2>Impacts on Generation Z</h2>
<p>Though they will face plenty of other problems, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335555065_Precarious_work_and_labour_regulation_in_the_EU_current_reality_and_perspectives">such as securing stable employment contracts</a>, housing might not be the primary concern for much of Generation Z in the future.</p>
<p>An ageing baby boomer population means that massive amounts of property are already being passed down among the wealthiest households: as far back as 2015, inheritances on average corresponded to <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/e2879a7d-en/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/e2879a7d-en#:%7E:text=Inheritance%20and%20estate%20taxes%20are,taxes%20on%20donors'%20overall%20estates.source">$196,247 per person in the wealthiest 20% of OECD countries</a>. This figure had already increased by 50% in less than a decade. </p>
<p>This will benefit Millennials to a certain extent, but with <a href="https://www.americansurveycenter.org/the-lonely-childhood-of-generation-z/">fewer siblings</a>, many wealthier members of Generation Z might not need to divide inheritances from parents who often own multiple properties. This outlook, coupled with the conditions for accessing a mortgage in an inhospitable job market, will raise a simple question for much of Generation Z: Why take on the risk, long term commitment and extra cost of a mortgage if I don’t have to?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221544/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Geoffrey Ditta no recibe salario, ni ejerce labores de consultoría, ni posee acciones, ni recibe financiación de ninguna compañía u organización que pueda obtener beneficio de este artículo, y ha declarado carecer de vínculos relevantes más allá del cargo académico citado.</span></em></p>Europe’s ageing population means that Generation Z stands to inherit huge amounts of property in the coming years, resulting in reduced demand for mortgages.Geoffrey Ditta, Geoffrey Ditta Ph.D. Profesor de Economía y Negocios Internacionales. Director del Máster Universitario en Internacionalización de Empresas. Facultad de Economía y Empresa, Universidad NebrijaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2193752023-12-08T18:40:11Z2023-12-08T18:40:11ZNorman Lear’s ’70s TV comedies brought people together to confront issues in a way Gen Z would appreciate<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/564432/original/file-20231208-19-54ndew.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C53%2C6917%2C3995&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"> Producer Norman Lear on the set of his hit TV series 'All In The Family,' standing between its stars, Jean Stapleton and Carroll O'Connor.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/left-to-right-is-actor-jean-stapleton-producer-norman-lear-news-photo/1835678866?adppopup=true"> Bettmann Archive/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Even Americans who strongly disagree with each other may <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/how_to_use_stories_to_bring_us_and_them_togetherg-stories-brings-people-together">find common ground</a> when they watch the same TV shows and movies, especially <a href="https://annenberg.usc.edu/sites/default/files/2015/04/29/Entertainment-Education%20Sheila%20Murphy.pdf">those that make us laugh or cry</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://apnews.com/article/norman-lear-died-87300f0e49b54c05803ab315dfdf9933">Norman Lear</a>, who died on Dec. 5, 2023, at 101, created television shows that did just that.</p>
<p>“All in the Family,” “Sanford and Son” and his other biggest hits began to air in the 1970s, a time when the U.S. desperately needed to bridge divides.</p>
<h2>‘All in the Family’</h2>
<p>In the late 1960s, the U.S. was in the throes of the Vietnam War and the country was divided on many issues. Many young people were beginning to <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/2006/02/21/youth-and-war/">vehemently protest</a> – and not just against the war. They sought greater equity for people of color and an end to what they perceived as unjust military operations on the other side of the world.</p>
<p>Yet TV, the dominant media of the time, largely portrayed a <a href="https://stacker.com/tv/top-100-tv-shows-60s">sanitized version of society</a>, with visions of domestic bliss, a world where few were poor and racial tensions seemed nonexistent.</p>
<p>Lear changed the face of television when he teamed up with fellow producer <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005570/">Bud Yorkin</a> to create “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066626/">All in the Family</a>.”</p>
<p>The situation comedy, which aired from 1971-79, revolved around Archie Bunker, a working-class conservative unafraid to blurt out his bigotry. It emphasized interactions with his family, particularly Archie’s modern-minded, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jYDpAf4XLM&ab_channel=TheNormanLearEffect">liberal son-in-law Michael Stivic</a>, portrayed by future director <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001661/">Rob Reiner</a>. The show tackled issues such as racism, sexism and social change, often using humor to address these complex and sensitive topics.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.songlyrics.com/archie-and-edith-bunker/those-were-the-days-all-in-the-family-theme-lyrics/">show’s theme song</a>, sung at the beginning of each episode, was an earworm aptly titled “Those were the Days.” Its lyrics parodied Archie’s stuck-in-the-past mindset: “And you knew who you were then. Girls were girls and men were men.”</p>
<p>“All in the Family” unveiled the hidden conflicts simmering within numerous American families and throughout American society. More than just a sitcom, the show was a reflection of its time and a catalyst for hard conversations about everything from <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0509824/">civil rights</a> <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0509864/">to menopause</a>.</p>
<p>CBS executives initially <a href="https://www.rogerebert.com/tributes/norman-lear-obituary">worried that the audience wasn’t ready</a> for this kind of truth telling. But viewers enthusiastically embraced the show. </p>
<p>“All in the Family” topped the weekly charts of the <a href="https://www.retrowaste.com/1970s/tv-shows-from-the-1970s/">most-viewed TV programs for years</a>. Critics loved it too – <a href="https://www.emmys.com/shows/all-family">the show won 22 Emmys</a>, including four for Lear.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">‘All in the Family’ opened with an apt theme song and ended with an old-timey tune.</span></figcaption>
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<h2>New storytelling venues</h2>
<p>Today, divisive <a href="https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/4099983-the-republicans-culture-wars-are-dooming-the-party-to-failure/">culture wars are on the rise again</a>. Many Americans pine for a <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/culture-wars-identity-center-politics-america/story?id=100768380">return to supposedly more traditional times</a>.</p>
<p>But show business has changed since “All in the Family” was on the air and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/arts/television/norman-lear-rob-reiner.html.">some 40 million Americans</a> tuned in to watch.</p>
<p>No single TV show can help bring everyone together now. Instead, a <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/xe/en/insights/industry/technology/media-industry-trends-2023.html">fractured audience</a> chooses from hundreds of TV and streaming channels, gaming platforms and social media sites that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/hcr/hqad033">often reinforce existing beliefs</a>.</p>
<p>When people consume entertainment and the media, it can isolate rather than unify.</p>
<p>But as a <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0853945/">former movie executive</a> who now <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xTZ0V0YAAAAJ&hl=en">conducts research about the power of storytelling</a>, I firmly believe that storytelling still can play a unifying role.</p>
<p>My research team has <a href="https://www.scholarsandstorytellers.com/css-teens-and-screens-2023">found that members of Generation Z</a>, people <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2019/01/17/where-millennials-end-and-generation-z-begins/">born between 1997 and 2012</a>, yearn for storylines that address social issues, such as inequity and bias against marginalized communities, and that mirror their personal lives. These themes, which include their relationships with their parents, are reminiscent of Norman Lear’s work.</p>
<p>Archie Bunker, for example, was <a href="https://www.outsider.com/entertainment/all-in-the-family-creator-norman-lear-says-he-based-archie-bunker-his-father/">modeled on his own father</a>.</p>
<p>Norman Lear’s legacy offers storytellers a road map for meeting the needs of Americans coming of age today. I believe that we need more storytellers who, like Lear, hold up a mirror to our world, showcasing its complexity and imperfections – both the good and the bad.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/219375/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yalda T. Uhls does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The TV producer showed how storytelling can bridge divides and serve as a beacon of truth in a complex world.Yalda T. Uhls, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Scholars & Storytellers and Assistant Adjunct Professor in Psychology, University of California, Los AngelesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2033882023-09-04T15:26:09Z2023-09-04T15:26:09ZBrand-backed influencer campaigns can be hard to spot – how to tell if a company is behind a social media post<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545952/original/file-20230901-25-zovk4b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C0%2C6659%2C4003&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/cheerful-caucasian-millennial-woman-fitness-coach-2045181803">Prostock-studio/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nearly three-quarters of Generation Z (people born between 1996 and 2010) follow at least one influencer on social media platforms and <a href="https://www.marketingdive.com/news/gen-z-relies-on-influencers-for-purchase-decisions-kantar-says/582890/#:%7E:text=Almost%20half%20(44%25)%20of,study%20shared%20with%20Mobile%20Marketer.">44% buy things</a> based on influencers’ recommendations.</p>
<p>This age group is estimated to comprise as much as <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/03/gen-z-unemployment-chart-global-comparisons/">30% of the global population</a>, so marketers sit up and take notice when influencers become popular among this age group. Having a popular influencer talk about your product on social media can make your brand go viral.</p>
<p>Companies understand this and many are prepared to rejig their marketing plans to collaborate with influencers <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesagencycouncil/2023/01/04/what-sho/?sh=13dcfe642793">to boost brand awareness and sales</a>. But it’s reasonable to be suspicious of such collaborations. </p>
<p>Some <a href="https://www.influencerintelligence.com/blog/zM/brand-vs-influencer-the-fight-for-creative-control">research shows</a> 45% of marketers want to control the content and aesthetics of this type of influencer post. More specifically, 39% of US and UK and 55% of German marketers want complete control over the creative content of the influencers they work with, just like with other types of ad.</p>
<h2>An unvarnished opinion</h2>
<p>But part of the appeal of an influencer is that they are supposed to be a real-life person trying out a product and giving their natural reaction. So followers typically expect influencers to provide genuine information rather than to succumb to the control of a brand. Blatant promotion of unrealistic or unsustainable lifestyles, or the misrepresentation of facts by influencers, could result in a flood of unfollows. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/mar.21749">research shows</a> Gen Z consumers are more intolerant towards influencer campaigns perceived to be explicitly marketer-controlled versus more natural recommendations by social media personalities.</p>
<p>And people are more likely to “punish” social media influencers with larger follower numbers for sharing biased and fake campaigns, according to our research. Companies sponsoring the campaigns are not insulated from the ire of the followers either. We found that brands seen to be sponsoring these campaigns can suffer as a result. </p>
<p>Volvo’s influencer marketing campaign in collaboration with Chriselle Lim, a beauty, fashion and lifestyle influencer is <a href="https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/521880674.pdf">a good example</a> of this. <a href="https://www.affable.ai/blog/4-lessons-learnt-from-influencer-marketing-failures">Lim partnered with Volvo in 2015</a> to create a professional video highlighting that the brand is environmentally responsible and safety conscious, which was significantly different from her usual beauty content. Her followers <a href="https://brands.joinstatus.com/brand-influencer">reportedly</a> questioned the credibility of the tie-up as a result.</p>
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<img alt="Woman in yellow top and blue jeans, white shoes sitting cross-legged with phone and disapproving expression." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545955/original/file-20230901-25309-6t1m2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545955/original/file-20230901-25309-6t1m2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545955/original/file-20230901-25309-6t1m2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545955/original/file-20230901-25309-6t1m2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545955/original/file-20230901-25309-6t1m2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545955/original/file-20230901-25309-6t1m2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545955/original/file-20230901-25309-6t1m2h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Fed up with influencers.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/full-body-photo-cute-young-girl-2230835971">Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Of course, some posts are clearly marked as ads for a brand. Some influencers will even sign up to be an official spokesperson for a brand. But it’s not always very clear that an influencer is a front for a corporate campaign. The UK Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) provides <a href="https://www.asa.org.uk/resource/influencers-guide.html">guidance for influencers</a> but its <a href="https://www.asa.org.uk/advice-online/recognising-ads-social-media.html">research shows</a> social media users still struggle to tell advertising content apart from non-advertising content on social media. </p>
<p>So how can you tell a brand-backed campaign from a real-life review?</p>
<h2>1. Sponsorship Tags</h2>
<p>Campaigns that are marketer-controlled are evident by sponsored tags on some platforms. Meta has “<a href="https://en-gb.facebook.com/business/help/221149188908254">sponsorship disclosures</a>” for its platforms, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. Influencers must declare whether their campaigns are sponsored through a “paid partnership” or not. Meta says it will <a href="https://en-gb.facebook.com/business/help/1045368982822304#:%7E:text=Branded%20content%20posts%20that%20do%20not%20comply%20with%20the%20above%20policies%20are%20subject%20to%20removal%20from%20Meta.">remove any posts</a> that violate its rules on sponsored content.</p>
<p>Some influencers will also use an “in collaboration with” tag for certain campaigns to make their claims credible and authentic if a platform doesn’t have its own official tag. In a marketer-controlled campaign, the brand is often tagged multiple times, making it more of a “brand prominence” post than a typical influencer post.</p>
<p>Without an official sponsorship tag, an influencer could very successfully push biased views and surreptitiously promote brands’ messages for them.</p>
<h2>2. Different types of posts</h2>
<p>During our research, we found that brand-backed influencer posts are sometimes quite different from their regular posts. Influencers act or behave in a different way than their normal content, or the creatives of the posts – how they look and sound – are different. In such situations, a brand becomes the hero of the post rather than the influencer. </p>
<p>Taking this too far can make it very apparent to followers that the influencer is trying to push the agenda of the brand rather than giving their actual opinion on a product. Such unnatural partnerships put the authenticity and credibility of the influencer at stake. </p>
<p>Rachel Arons, a Gen Z influencer, explains <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/17/business/tiktok-influencers-gen-z.html">how online personalities remain authentic</a> when she says: “We go on camera and speak like we’re on Facetime with a friend, which is probably less cringe” than a edited brand campaign.</p>
<h2>Making posts more transparent</h2>
<p>To keep their followers happy and engaged, most influencers need to remain real and give their unbiased opinions. They should always make it clear when they are partnering for a campaign or risk losing followers – not to mention customers for the brand. Voluntarily disclosing partnerships could even help build brand credibility. </p>
<p>In fact, brands should partner with influencers to come up with interesting and realistic product depictions instead of just trying to push their own message. Advertising standards should also be more consistent, bringing all platforms accessed by consumers under similar rules – perhaps even those used for advertising and promotions in print and TV ads. </p>
<p>Followers trust these influencers and engage with them and this trust should be protected.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203388/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Fake social media campaigns can negatively affect both influencers and brands.Abhisek Kuanr, Lecturer in Marketing, University of EssexDebasis Pradhan, Professor of Marketing, XLRI Xavier School of ManagementLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1978742023-02-02T21:22:52Z2023-02-02T21:22:52ZOur economic future depends on young reformers, not ineffective revolutionaries<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506689/original/file-20230126-36898-mw7z01.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C0%2C5973%2C3988&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">While young folks may view revolutions as more exciting than reforms, we need our future leaders to be open to the reality that meaningful and lasting change will be incremental.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many of our capitalist institutions <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781487508425/connected-capitalism/">have been damaged</a> <a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2016/05/05/comparing-crony-capitalism-around-the-world">by cronyism</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/food-giants-reap-enormous-profits-during-times-of-crisis-184223">greed</a> and a <a href="https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2016/10/3/13141852/short-term-capitalism-clinton-economics">short-term mindset</a>. But capitalism is more than its faults and the unpleasant outcomes brought on by a selfish class.</p>
<p>Revitalizing capitalism begins with reform, which means introducing changes within the existing structure. However, the newest cohort to enter corporate life, Gen Z, <a href="https://iea.org.uk/publications/left-turn-aheadsurveying-attitudes-of-young-people-towards-capitalism-and-socialism/">has little confidence in the corporate system</a>. They are unwilling to play a game where they don’t trust the rules or referees.</p>
<p>While we don’t have an extensive amount of research on this cohort, we do know that <a href="https://www.ceeol.com/search/article-detail?id=531928">Gen Z seems to be less involved</a> in civil engagement and reluctant to engage in teamwork. </p>
<p>And according to <a href="https://ethisphere.widen.net/s/rgmldwrwxc/ethisphere-2023-ethical-culture-report-jan2023">a recent study from Ethisphere</a>, Gen Z both embraces the strongest ethical commitments and is the least likely to report bad behaviour at work. Nearly 39 per cent of Gen Z respondents chose not to report misconduct when they witnessed it — an 11-point gap from their Gen X and Boomer colleagues. </p>
<p>Gen Z employees don’t believe reporting corporate misbehaviour is worthwhile because they fear retaliation and have no confidence corrective action will be taken. So how can Gen Z be effective agents of reform in a system they don’t believe in?</p>
<h2>Why trust matters</h2>
<p>The Ethisphere study found that the younger the employee, the less confidence they had in corporate anti-retaliation policies. This finding is echoed by broader data showing that <a href="https://morningconsult.com/form/gen-z-worldview-tracker/">Gen Z doesn’t trust institutions</a> in general. Why does this matter?</p>
<p>Scholarly research explains that corporations are driven by <a href="http://www.patriciathornton.com/files/Thornton_AJS_1999.pdf">institutional logics</a> — socially constructed, historical patterns of practices, values and rules that guide day-to-day action in a corporate environment. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young woman sitting at a desk reading a sheaf of paper" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506687/original/file-20230126-14416-caqvkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506687/original/file-20230126-14416-caqvkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506687/original/file-20230126-14416-caqvkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506687/original/file-20230126-14416-caqvkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506687/original/file-20230126-14416-caqvkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506687/original/file-20230126-14416-caqvkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506687/original/file-20230126-14416-caqvkd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A recent study found that Gen Z had little faith in the corporate system.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These institutional logics correspond to <a href="https://ecommons.cornell.edu/bitstream/handle/1813/36441/Imprinting2013.pdf?sequence=1">historical imprints of past environments</a>. Imprinting goes beyond history itself — the effects of imprints vary over time, reflecting an interplay of the past and the present, as they persist despite changes in the social environment.</p>
<p>Organizations adhere to these imprinted logics to enhance their image and help us better understand our social environment and the parameters for how we should act.</p>
<p>Resistance to, and criticism of, outdated institutional logics has led to an environment amenable to change. For example, there was a time when the dominant institutional logic about the purpose of a firm <a href="https://philosophia.uncg.edu/media/phi361-metivier/readings/Friedman-Increase%20Profits.pdf">was only to increase profits</a>. </p>
<p>But over decades of resistance and criticism, we have arrived at a new logic where the purpose of the corporation has been redefined to <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Robert-Phillips-19/publication/337990788_On_the_2019_Business_Roundtable_Statement_on_the_Purpose_of_a_Corporation/links/5fda46c9299bf1408816d7a7/On-the-2019-Business-Roundtable-Statement-on-the-Purpose-of-a-Corporation.pdf">include all stakeholders — not just shareholders</a>.</p>
<p>The shift from shareholder to stakeholder logics represents a complete reversal of earlier institutional mindsets. The old ways of doing things, ingrained as they may be, are now challenged when corporate leaders get confronted with <a href="https://doi.org/10.5465/19416520.2011.590299">new ways of doing and seeing things</a>.</p>
<h2>No shortcut to transformation</h2>
<p>While taken-for-granted beliefs and habitual practices are finally being questioned, the change is slow. Institutional theory research tells us that conflict between old and new values will be <a href="https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2014.0405">resolved through episodic change</a>. </p>
<p>This kind of change involves periods of openness when one can affect meaningful change, interspersed with periods of stability when change doesn’t occur.</p>
<p>It’s understandable why young folks may view revolutions as more exciting than reforms. But we need our future leaders to be open to the reality that meaningful and lasting change will be incremental. Patience and commitment are required.</p>
<p>Change will come from millennials expecting capitalist enterprises to <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/About-Deloitte/deloitte-2019-millennial-survey.pdf">prioritize high-quality products and jobs over profit</a> and all workers <a href="https://theconversation.com/management-is-so-passe-its-co-creation-that-workers-are-demanding-171574">demanding better working conditions</a> from their organizations. </p>
<p>And it will happen when those who see through the recent explosion of standards and products that have added complexity to business ethics — <a href="https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/three-ways-companies-are-getting-ethics-wrong/">without improving ethical performance</a> — refuse to buy in.</p>
<h2>Win back the young with trust</h2>
<p>Gen Z is right <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-large-corporations-make-huge-profits-from-hidden-markups-at-the-expense-of-consumers-197274">not to trust the system as it stands</a>. Writer and political commentator David Frum <a href="https://utorontopress.com/9781487508425/connected-capitalism/">explained to me a few years back</a> that “any reform coalition needs to take very seriously the problems of the young.” </p>
<p>Frum observed that, so long as the elite illustrates that “‘capitalism’ means stagnant living standards, college debt, unaffordable childcare, impending environmental catastrophe,” they will seek alternatives.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of young adults sitting and chatting in an office" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506684/original/file-20230126-43817-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/506684/original/file-20230126-43817-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506684/original/file-20230126-43817-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506684/original/file-20230126-43817-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506684/original/file-20230126-43817-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506684/original/file-20230126-43817-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/506684/original/file-20230126-43817-3jz1on.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The highest priority of the establishment must be rebuilding trust with younger generations.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>And it’s not just Gen Z who has lost trust. A <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/02/15/americans-trust-in-scientists-other-groups-declines/">2022 survey from the United States found</a> that public trust in business leaders and politicians has also reached historic lows. A <a href="https://www.hilltimes.com/story/2021/03/15/public-trust-in-government-business-media-erode-following-dramatic-spring-2020-surge-according-to-survey/229151/">Canadian survey</a> from a year earlier highlighted a similar trend. </p>
<p>Perhaps more worrisome is a poll finding that only <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-ca/news-polls/only-one-third-of-Canadians-believe-most-people-can-be-trusted">a third of Canadians believe their fellow citizens can be trusted</a>, no matter what their identity.</p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/001872679304600907">Trust has been defined</a> as “the mutual confidence that no party to an exchange will exploit another’s vulnerabilities.” In contrast, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250150912">“trustworthiness” can be understood</a> as “the attribute of being worthy of the trust of others in not exploiting any adverse selection, moral hazard, holdup or other exchange vulnerability.”</p>
<p>Under conventional capitalist thinking, <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/managing-with-meaning/202203/trustworthiness-is-the-antidote-to-todays-trust-deficit">it’s worth being trustworthy</a> if it leads to cost savings. We need to depart from this reductionist view. </p>
<p>When the youth don’t trust the system, the highest priority of the establishment must be rebuilding that trust. Seeking to be seen as trustworthy is what will convince the next generation skeptical of our institutions to work with us on reform.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197874/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Weitzner receives funding from SSHRC. </span></em></p>How can Generation Z serve as effective agents of economic reform in a system they don’t believe in?David Weitzner, Assistant professor, Administrative Studies, York University, CanadaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1957832022-12-19T19:44:41Z2022-12-19T19:44:41ZHow Gen Z is using social media in Iran’s Women, Life, Freedom movement<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501644/original/file-20221216-12-m8pap4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=14%2C0%2C4965%2C3322&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A woman cuts her hair during a protest against the death of Iranian Mahsa Amini, in Istanbul, Turkey.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Emrah Gurel)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/how-gen-z-is-using-social-media-in-iran-s-women--life--freedom-movement" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>Iran’s attorney general recently indicated that the country’s <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63850656">morality police had been disbanded</a> after protests calling for the country’s hijab mandate to be lifted. However, the government has not confirmed the attorney general’s remarks and local media have reported that he was “misinterpreted.” </p>
<p>The uncertainty over Iran’s morality police comes after several weeks of protests that started after the death of 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman <a href="https://www.historytoday.com/archive/history-matters/women-life-freedom">Mahsa (Zhina) Amini</a>. Amini died in the custody of the morality police on Sept. 16 after being arrested for allegedly breaching Iran’s mandatory hijab law.</p>
<p>In the first three months of the protests, demonstrations have taken place in almost all of Iran’s 31 provinces. <a href="https://www.hra-news.org/periodical/a-129/">People in 160 cities and 143 universities</a> have taken part in demonstrations against the mandatory hijab laws. <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/9219563/iran-protests-berlin-germany/">Many Iranians living abroad have also taken part in protests</a>.</p>
<p>These protests are part of a long history of women’s rights movements in Iran. But what makes this movement different is how young women are tapping into social media to elevate their own agency and challenge the country’s patriarchal laws. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1572321424794333186"}"></div></p>
<h2>Women’s rights movements in Iran</h2>
<p>Iran has witnessed multiple protests since the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Iranian-Revolution">1979 revolution</a>. But the <a href="https://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/a41957175/women-life-freedom-iran-protest/">Women, Life, Freedom</a> movement has launched a new generation of young women to the forefront of the movement.</p>
<p>The first wave of women’s rights movements started more than a hundred years ago with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-protests-in-iran-are-part-of-a-long-history-of-womens-resistance-191551">constitutional revolution in Iran</a>. Many clerics and religious figures were opposed to such a change at the time. Although the constitutional revolution aimed to establish legal and social reforms in Iran, conservative elements “<a href="http://wrrc.wluml.org/sites/wluml.org/files/import/english/pubs/pdf/misc/women-movement-iran-eng.pdf">frequently made political use of "Islam” to erect obstacles to women’s demands for equity</a>.“</p>
<p>After the Islamic revolution in 1979, many women’s rights, <a href="https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/reconstructed-lives-women-and-irans-islamic-revolution">such as the family protection law, secured before the revolution were suspended</a>. </p>
<p>Since <a href="https://theconversation.com/hijab-law-in-iran-over-the-decades-the-continuing-battle-for-reform-192037">April 1983</a>, the mandatory hijab law has been enforced on all women in the public sphere in Iran. The third wave of women’s rights movements started after the 1979 revolution and various campaigns such as <a href="https://tavaana.org/en/en/content/one-million-signatures-battle-gender-equality-iran">"one million signatures”</a> have demanded gender equality in Iran. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1590755534948270081"}"></div></p>
<h2>Women, Life, Freedom</h2>
<p>The latest feminist movement in Iran has changed the equation. Those taking part in the Women, Life, Freedom movement have used social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter to amplify their message. </p>
<p>Campaigns like the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-middle-east-42954970">#GirlsofRevolutionStreet</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-40218711">#WhiteWednesdays</a> are a few examples of hashtags that have been used to mobilize young women on and offline against compulsory hijab laws.</p>
<p>In an authoritarian context where women’s bodies are being policed, social media has empowered young women to express themselves online. They learn they can be influencers and agents of a movement under the slogan <a href="https://worldcrunch.com/world-affairs/iran-protests-women-life-freedom">Women, Life, Freedom</a> and challenge conservative religious and patriarchal values that have been enforced onto their daily lives through education, media and policing.</p>
<p>Social media became “<a href="https://www.institutmontaigne.org/en/analysis/irans-women-led-protests-what-it-means-islamic-republic">an antidote to state violence and its suppression of facts</a>.” Protesters are using social media to connect with one another, vocalize their demands, highlight their bravery and civil disobedience tactics and show the government’s brutality.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/z8xXiqyfBg0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Baraye by Iranian musician Shervin Hajipour has become one of the anthems of the protest movement in Iran.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Social media has provided a new generation of young Iranians the ability to detach themselves from the patriarchal rules of the government. <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/11/01/iran-protests-gen-z-mahsa-amini-social-media/">Generation Z</a>, who have grown up in the social media era, are able to educate themselves on gender equality and engage with global feminist movements online. </p>
<p>This includes learning about the values, beliefs and challenges that women are facing all over the world and the ways these challenges can be highlighted and addressed using online platforms.</p>
<p>The #MeToo movement raised awareness worldwide about the sexual abuse and violence many women continue to face. <a href="https://www.todayonline.com/world/metoo-iran-women-break-their-long-silence">In Iran</a>, #MeToo was more focused on ending the taboo on talking about sexual assault and violence, and increasing awareness about the issue. The movement started in the country after <a href="https://twitter.com/sara_zare71/status/1292108401191858177">female journalists shared their experiences of being harassed while on the job</a>. Many other women soon went online to expose the <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/09/09/iran-having-its-metoo-moment">harassment and abuse</a> they had experienced. </p>
<p>Social media has made it easier for Iranians to tap into global feminist movements and enabled feminist activists to tell their own stories. Generation Z, as the progressive leaders of the Women, Life, Freedom movement, are making their demands clear both online and offline and challenging the barriers toward achieving women’s liberty in Iran.</p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/social-media-and-society-125586"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498128/original/file-20221129-22-imtnz0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=144&fit=crop&dpr=1" width="100%"></a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195783/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Farinaz Basmechi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Younger Iranians have tapped into social media to connect with one another, vocalize their demands and highlight the government’s brutality.Farinaz Basmechi, Doctoral researcher, Feminist and Gender Studies, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of OttawaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1893482022-12-19T16:23:57Z2022-12-19T16:23:57ZGen Z beauty brands can use ‘friendly’ chatbots to boost body image as well as sales, research shows<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/498308/original/file-20221130-14-yjbbq9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=96%2C88%2C5170%2C3294&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Some members of gen Z spend hundreds of pounds every year on makeup.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/top-view-young-teenage-girl-recording-2109862970">Anastasiia Vyshnevska / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Some members of “generation Z” – people <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/05/14/on-the-cusp-of-adulthood-and-facing-an-uncertain-future-what-we-know-about-gen-z-so-far-2/">born after 1996</a>, the oldest of whom are turning 26 in 2022 – spend hundreds of pounds per year on <a href="https://www.pipersandler.com/teens">beauty products</a>. In fact, gen Z members are often more willing to spend on beauty and skincare products <a href="https://assets.ctfassets.net/inb32lme5009/7wDIuSsLOnSxTUqPmRb081/603b8ffb77757549d39034884a23743c/The_Youth_of_the_Nations__Global_Trends_Among_Gen_Z.pdf">than previous generations</a>. </p>
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<p>But research also shows that <a href="https://www.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/12465/dickman_christina.pdf;jsessionid=8B007CA9A5AC55D4F8861509D6B787C1?sequence=1">young women’s body image</a> is linked to cosmetics use. They often use beauty products to conceal perceived flaws or compensate for body parts they may not like. Members of gen Z are particularly plagued by <a href="https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/gen-z-least-confident-generation">negative perceptions of body image</a> and low self-esteem. This has been linked to <a href="https://wp.nyu.edu/dispatch/2019/04/09/marketing-to-gen-z-amid-social-media-panic/">the high use of social media</a> among this age group. </p>
<p>So, cosmetics companies that are trying to sell to this age group – as most of them are – should be mindful of these self-esteem issues, particularly where makeup purchases are involved. Research I conducted with colleagues shows they can incorporate this awareness into the technology tools they offer shoppers – in particular, the new breed of “beauty chatbots” – in order to help boost body confidence while also making sales.</p>
<h2>Beauty tech</h2>
<p>Cosmetics brands often use <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/mar.21699">cutting-edge technology</a> to sell their wares. Companies such as <a href="https://graziamagazine.com/me/articles/mac-cosmetics-launches-augmented-reality-makeovers/">Mac</a>, <a href="https://www.retaildive.com/ex/mobilecommercedaily/sephora-tries-on-augmented-reality-update-for-real-time-facial-recognition">Sephora</a> and <a href="https://www.cosmeticsdesign-europe.com/Article/2022/07/12/L-Oreal-patents-makeup-artist-virtual-makeup-app-for-Augmented-Reality-images-and-video-streaming#:%7E:text=International%20beauty%20major%20L'Or%C3%A9al,services%20and%20image%20sharing%20platforms.">L’Oréal</a> all use tech including artificial intelligence, augmented reality and data analytics to help customers discover and choose new makeup these days. </p>
<p>In particular, augmented reality has been used to develop <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563220302983">virtual try-on tools</a> that help online shoppers test makeup online to see how it looks, based on things like skin type and hair colour, before buying. Research shows this experience supports people’s <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296318305228">existing perception of their body image</a>, whether those perceptions are positive or negative.</p>
<p>Alongside such tools, <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-chatgpt-chatbot-is-blowing-people-away-with-its-writing-skills-an-expert-explains-why-its-so-impressive-195908">chatbots</a> are often used by makeup brands to support online shopping. As an AI-powered online sales assistant, a chatbot can communicate with shoppers via a small box on-screen, into which a person can type questions or answers while they’re browsing a website. This allows makeup buyers to interact with brands through <a href="https://chatbotsmagazine.com/how-chatbot-helps-businesses-improve-customer-service-121530ebe60f">online conversations</a>.</p>
<p>Around 80% of <a href="https://www.servicebell.com/post/chatbot-statistics#:%7E:text=How%20many%20companies%20are%20using,rely%20on%20a%20small%20number.">companies worldwide use chatbots</a>, and they can also be a way to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563220302983">collect data</a> about site users.</p>
<p>Two of the benefits of using chatbots are the ability to personalise interactions with customers – such as when they are using virtual try-on tools – and to automatically <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563220302983">offer relevant products and services</a>. Of course, any salesperson knows the power of personality when it comes to enticing shoppers to buy, but can chatbots charm in the same way? </p>
<h2>Friendship goals</h2>
<p>Our research analysed how <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/mar.21715">experiences of using various cutting-edge technologies</a> when shopping for beauty products affect body image, self-esteem and purchase behaviour among younger females. Our data was collected from three studies, a survey and two experiments involving 1,568 gen Z women. </p>
<p>While these tools are designed to provide a better customer experience, our research shows there are benefits to programming chatbots to be “friendlier”.</p>
<p>The majority of cosmetics brands currently offer chatbots with two types of personality: friend or assistant. Assistant types offer intelligent, factual and organised support and information in response to customer enquiries. But chatbots that also have friend‐like characteristics – such as being sassy, perky and humorous – encourage stronger feelings of warmth.</p>
<p>We found that, for women in this age group, receiving support from a chatbot in the form of a “virtual friend” can have a more positive effect on their body image and self-esteem. The type of communication used by these chatbots was characterised by our respondents as being helpful, nice and friendly. The findings also show that that chatbots with these characteristics positively affected participants’ self-esteem and buying behaviour when using beauty brands’ virtual applications. </p>
<h2>Sales boost</h2>
<p>As well as improving gen Z women’s interactions with virtual makeup try-on applications, friendlier chatbots can encourage people to buy more as well. We found that purchase behaviour was stronger when the gen Z women in our study had conversations with chatbots that they categorised as being helpful, nice and friendly. </p>
<p>But beauty brands that offer chatbot services can create benefits beyond increasing sales and improving customer relationships. They can also boost shoppers’ body image – an important benefit for gen Z beauty-lovers.</p>
<p>Brands should keep this in mind when choosing the style of language used by their chatbots. Using a more personalised, conversational style when interacting with young female customers will not just increase sales, it could also boost their body confidence.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189348/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nisreen Ameen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Boosting body confidence should be as important as boosting sales to beauty brands.Nisreen Ameen, Senior Lecturer in Digital Marketing, Royal Holloway University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1893462022-09-06T17:25:50Z2022-09-06T17:25:50ZGen Z smartphone addiction can boost compulsive buying – but businesses can help them kick the shopping habit<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482270/original/file-20220901-19-drhz6r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C2837%2C1783&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Gen Z smartphone addiction can support compulsive buying habits. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-fashion-friends-watching-on-their-1254124996">AlessandroBiascioli / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>People born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s – so-called <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/%7E/media/McKinsey/Industries/Consumer%20Packaged%20Goods/Our%20Insights/True%20Gen%20Generation%20Z%20and%20its%20implications%20for%20companies/Generation-Z-and-its-implication-for-companies.ashx">generation Z</a> – face many financial challenges, from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/jun/08/average-uk-house-price-hits-record-but-market-starts-to-cool">more expensive housing</a> to <a href="https://fullfact.org/economy/how-have-wages-changed/">lower wages</a>. Many are already delaying life plans such as buying a home and saving for <a href="https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/personal-finance/articles/is-gen-z-facing-a-financial-crisis-heres-what-the-data-says/">retirement</a> as a result. But recent research on the connection between smartphone addiction and compulsive buying behaviour in this age group shows the potential for even more financial damage. </p>
<p>Gen Z makes up <a href="https://www.schroders.com/de/ch/wealth-management/insights/markte/what-investors-need-to-know-about-gen-z/">a third</a> of the global population and is estimated to spend <a href="http://www.millennialmarketing.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Barkley_WP_GenZMarketSpend_Final.pdf">US$143 billion</a> (£124 billion) annually, as well as having a significant influence on <a href="https://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/94jvqr/generation_z_as?w=12">family spending</a>. Members of gen Z also often share some unique financial characteristics. For example, they are <a href="https://www.aecf.org/blog/what-are-the-core-characteristics-of-generation-z">financially minded</a>, worry about their future prospects and have an <a href="https://www.oxford-royale.com/articles/7-unique-characteristics-generation-z/">entrepreneurial mindset</a>. </p>
<p>Having grown up using the internet and digital technologies, this age group also tends to be online a lot more than others. In fact, some <a href="https://99firms.com/blog/generation-z-statistics/#gref">research shows</a> 55% of gen Z use their smartphones for five or more hours a day and 31% feel uncomfortable if they are without their phone even for 30 minutes or less. Besides being a primary vehicle for social interaction, smartphones are also an <a href="https://www.accenture.com/t00010101T000000Z__w__/gb-en/_acnmedia/PDF-44/Accenture-Retail-Customer-Journey-Research-2017-Infographic.pdf#zoom=50">increasingly popular way</a> for this generation to shop. </p>
<p>Such extensive reliance on phones could be interpreted as unhealthy and smartphone addiction among gen Z has previously been shown to cause various mental health problems such as stress and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smi.2805">anxiety</a>, as well as being related to <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563215300169">escapism</a>. <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563222002266">New research</a> I conducted with colleagues also shows smartphone addiction among this generation of consumers is strongly related to compulsive buying behaviour. </p>
<p>Compulsive buying is an addiction associated with guilt, harm and a repetitive urge to buy goods that may be inexpensive and useless. These purchases are usually made without considering the financial consequences, which is troubling in normal times but particularly when consumer prices in the UK are expected to rise by <a href="https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy-summary-and-minutes/2022/august-2022">more than 13%</a> this winter.</p>
<h2>Mood management</h2>
<p>The data for our research was collected via a survey of students aged between 18 and 24 years enrolled in high schools and universities. The <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0747563222002266">findings suggest</a> there are two factors that enhance the connection between smartphone addiction and compulsive buying behaviour in this age group. </p>
<p>First, young people with smartphone addiction may use these devices to manage unpleasant <a href="https://www.iihs.edu.lk/pluginfile.php/18502/mod_resource/content/1/emotions.pdf">moods</a> and deal with negative emotions. Second, we found this can lead a person into a “<a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2000-12701-000">flow state</a>”, which means they are totally absorbed in an activity – in this case, browsing on their phone. They experience pleasant feelings and lose track of time. </p>
<p>Compulsive buyers also experience a short-term improvement in their mood as they make a purchase, which acts as a positive reinforcement and encourages them to continue buying. Further, online shopping allows people to buy things without using cash and remain hidden from the scrutiny of others. These features may also trigger compulsive buying behaviour. </p>
<p>What this all means is that smartphones can be a very easy way for Gen Z’s compulsive buyers to satisfy an uncontrollable urge to shop. So what can be done to help them save their money for their financial futures?</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482274/original/file-20220901-23-k5pnkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482274/original/file-20220901-23-k5pnkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482274/original/file-20220901-23-k5pnkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482274/original/file-20220901-23-k5pnkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482274/original/file-20220901-23-k5pnkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482274/original/file-20220901-23-k5pnkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482274/original/file-20220901-23-k5pnkl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Online retailers can take action to help prevent compulsive buying.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/new-normal-social-distancing-concept-view-1891125859">Fit Ztudio / Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>Possible solutions</h2>
<p>Gen Z customers with compulsive buying behaviour need help to kick this habit, particularly in the current economic downturn. This help could take many forms. Public institutions, especially those involved in education, could develop ad hoc programmes aimed at educating people about the risks related to smartphone addiction. </p>
<p>As well as compulsive buying, it can affect performance at <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352853217300159">work</a> and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451958821000622">school</a>. Proper financial education should also be standard for this generation, not to mention every other age group. </p>
<p>But what about companies themselves? It may seem ridiculous to expect a retail firm to sacrifice a boost in sales from smartphone-fuelled compulsive buying, but this could be an opportunity for socially responsible action. </p>
<p>For example, retailers could develop algorithms to identify Gen Z consumers with compulsive buying behaviour, remove them from shopping newsletters or introduce a limit on spendable money in a certain time frame. Such targeted action by online stores and brands could boost these companies in the eyes of consumers that <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1331677X.2018.1547202#:%7E:text=Specifically%2C%20CSR%20creates%20value%20for,ethical%20aspects%20of%20consumer%20need.">increasingly value</a> corporate social responsibility. </p>
<p>The cost of living is already a <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/deloitte-2022-genz-millennial-survey.pdf">major concern</a> for Gen Z. Implementing some ethical and socially responsible marketing to reduce the risks of compulsive buying and spread a culture of responsible spending could address some of the economic uncertainty currently faced by members of this generation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189346/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nisreen Ameen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Recent research highlights the links between Gen Z smartphone addiction and compulsive buying.Nisreen Ameen, Senior Lecturer in Digital Marketing, Royal Holloway University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1877362022-08-02T12:57:52Z2022-08-02T12:57:52ZWhy food insecurity among Gen Z is so much higher than for other age groups<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476195/original/file-20220727-14-nkxvg5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=121%2C56%2C4995%2C2926&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">About 30% of Gen Z adults needed help from a food bank or other charity to get enough food in 2022. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/FoodBanksUtah/71a3a68e5d4f4c85869e41ca301802ed/photo?Query=food%20bank&mediaType=photo&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=2982&currentItemNo=35">AP Photo/Rick Bowmer</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476532/original/file-20220728-20112-skb7td.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/476532/original/file-20220728-20112-skb7td.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476532/original/file-20220728-20112-skb7td.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476532/original/file-20220728-20112-skb7td.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=255&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476532/original/file-20220728-20112-skb7td.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476532/original/file-20220728-20112-skb7td.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/476532/original/file-20220728-20112-skb7td.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=321&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>Adult members of Generation Z are experiencing food insecurity at <a href="https://ag.purdue.edu/cfdas/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Report_06-2022.pdf">over twice the rate of the average American</a>, according to our latest consumer food survey. In fact, about 1 in 3 Americans born from 1996-2004 have had trouble affording enough food in 2022.</p>
<p>That compares with fewer than 1 in 5 millennials and members of Generation X, and fewer than 1 in 10 baby boomers. </p>
<p>We run the <a href="https://ag.purdue.edu/cfdas/about/our-team/">Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability</a> at Purdue University, and every month, through our Consumer Food Insights survey, we query over 1,200 Americans with the goal of tracking national food security as well as many other behaviors, attitudes and preferences related to food. </p>
<p>Food insecurity means <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-u-s/definitions-of-food-security/">having a lack of money or other resources for food</a>. And when food insecurity surges, it can take a long time for affected populations to recover. After the Great Recession that ran from 2007 to 2009, <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2019/10/03/food-insecurity-us-households-2018-down-2017-continuing-trend-and-returning">food insecurity increased by 34%</a>. It took a decade for food insecurity to drop to its pre-recession levels.</p>
<p><iframe id="AzPLk" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/AzPLk/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>With COVID-19, food insecurity increased again, particularly among the most vulnerable groups in society, <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13099">such as seniors</a> and <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13069">households with children</a>. </p>
<p>But it also increased for members of Gen Z, who were the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_01082021.htm#:%7E:text=HOUSEHOLD%20DATA%0ATable%20A%2D10.%20Selected%20unemployment%20indicators%2C%20seasonally%20adjusted">most likely to face unemployment</a> due to the pandemic. And for those attending college, the pandemic reduced essential food services on campus and <a href="https://hechingerreport.org/more-students-are-dropping-out-of-college-during-covid-and-it-could-get-worse/">increased the number of students dropping out of school</a>.</p>
<p>Now, with <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CPIAUCSL">inflation soaring at the fastest pace in 40 years</a>, those who lost jobs during the pandemic and college students with fixed incomes must stretch their limited resources even further at the grocery store.</p>
<p>We have found that education, income and race are three of the biggest factors driving food insecurity among America’s youngest generation. Members of Gen Z without a college degree or who make less than the <a href="https://aspe.hhs.gov/topics/poverty-economic-mobility/poverty-guidelines/prior-hhs-poverty-guidelines-federal-register-references/2021-poverty-guidelines">federal poverty line</a> have a much higher risk of being food insecure – over three times the risk of other Gen Z households. The rate of food insecurity among Gen Z Black and Hispanic households is almost double that of white and Asian households. </p>
<p>Other research shows that factors like marriage and owning your own home <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/aepp/ppt024">typically improve food security</a>. Since young people typically aren’t married or own a home, Gen Z by and large isn’t benefiting from these factors.</p>
<p>Additionally, full-time college students are generally <a href="https://www.fns.usda.gov/snap/students">not eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program</a>, formerly known as food stamps. Although student eligibility has been expanded during the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency, the paperwork required to apply <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/puar.13497">can potentially discourage young people</a> who have much less experience navigating the government bureaucracy. </p>
<p>Our survey also shows a significant portion of Gen Z – 30% – has relied on free groceries from a pantry, church or other charity.</p>
<p>Prices for food consumed at home are currently jumping at over 12% a year. That’s the <a href="https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CUSR0000SAF11#">fastest pace since 1979</a>. Our survey data only reflects some of these recent price gains, so it’s unclear yet how much this will affect food insecurity. But what is clear is that Gen Z Americans, like other vulnerable groups, need more support to ensure they can access an affordable diet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187736/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>About a third of American adults in Generation Z lack the money or resources needed for reliable access to nutritious food.Sam Polzin, Food and Agriculture Survey Scientist, Purdue UniversityAhmad Zia Wahdat, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Agricultural Economics, Purdue UniversityJayson Lusk, Professor of Agricultural Economics, Purdue UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1840252022-06-09T13:21:46Z2022-06-09T13:21:46ZHybrid working post-COVID: how young professionals can optimise their time in the office (and why they should)<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467736/original/file-20220608-12-zugn60.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C20%2C6720%2C4446&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-serious-businessman-concentrating-on-network-1149710480">Pressmaster/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>During the pandemic, <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/insights/focus/technology-and-the-future-of-work/impact-covid-19-european-workforce.html">around 100 million people</a> in Europe switched to working from home – nearly half of them for the first time. This shift was rapid, with employees quickly noticing the benefits of remote work. These can include freedom from commuting, more time for personal wellbeing and increased productivity.</p>
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<iframe id="noa-web-audio-player" style="border: none" src="https://embed-player.newsoveraudio.com/v4?key=x84olp&id=https://theconversation.com/hybrid-working-post-covid-how-young-professionals-can-optimise-their-time-in-the-office-and-why-they-should-184025&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=D8352A&playColor=D8352A" width="100%" height="110px"></iframe>
<p><em>You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/audio-narrated-99682">here</a>.</em></p>
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<p>As we move on from pandemic restrictions, we’ve seen a strong, global demand for more flexible forms of working, particularly to retain an element of remote work. While some employees want to work from home permanently, most want what’s coming to be regarded as the <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4068741">best of both worlds</a>: hybrid working. Only <a href="https://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/dp1790.pdf">a minority</a> of workers now want to return to the office full time.</p>
<p>One group which may be particularly keen on hybrid working is young professionals. And for this group, time spent in the office could be especially valuable.</p>
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<img alt="Quarter life, a series by The Conversation" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/451343/original/file-20220310-13-1bj6csd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><em><strong><a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/quarter-life-117947?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">This article is part of Quarter Life</a></strong>, a series about issues affecting those of us in our twenties and thirties. From the challenges of beginning a career and taking care of our mental health, to the excitement of starting a family, adopting a pet or just making friends as an adult. The articles in this series explore the questions and bring answers as we navigate this turbulent period of life.</em></p>
<p><em>You may be interested in:</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/long-social-distancing-how-young-adults-habits-have-changed-since-covid-183837?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Long social distancing: how young adults’ habits have changed since COVID</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/working-in-the-metaverse-what-virtual-office-life-could-look-like-180444?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Working in the metaverse: what virtual office life could look like</a></em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/six-misunderstood-concepts-about-diversity-in-the-workplace-and-why-they-matter-181289?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=UK+YP2022&utm_content=InArticleTop">Six misunderstood concepts about diversity in the workplace and why they matter</a></em></p>
<hr>
<h2>Young people and remote work</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/worklab/work-trend-index/hybrid-work">Surveys</a> undertaken during the pandemic indicated that generation Z (those born after 1996) were more likely to say that they were struggling with work-life balance and post-work exhaustion than older generations.</p>
<p>There are several possible reasons for this. Younger people may find it more difficult to establish a good homeworking set up, depending on their living arrangements. Those early in their careers may have smaller professional networks, leading to greater isolation. Or they may simply have less experience managing the boundaries between work and life outside of work, which can be made more difficult when there’s no physical office to leave at the end of the day.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A group of young people collaborating at work." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467734/original/file-20220608-21-hcl2yz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467734/original/file-20220608-21-hcl2yz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467734/original/file-20220608-21-hcl2yz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467734/original/file-20220608-21-hcl2yz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467734/original/file-20220608-21-hcl2yz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467734/original/file-20220608-21-hcl2yz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467734/original/file-20220608-21-hcl2yz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Younger workers are interested in flexible working arrangements.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-multi-ethnic-executives-discussing-during-638045977">Jacob Lund/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite this, emerging evidence suggests that younger workers want remote and flexible work rather than a return to the office full time. <a href="https://www.ipsos.com/en-uk/young-people-and-working-home-wfh-pandemic">Surveys</a> vary, but generally indicate that around two-thirds of members of generation Z working in office jobs want a hybrid working pattern in the future – and they’re prepared to move employers to find it.</p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/hybrid-work-making-it-fit-with-your-diversity-equity-and-inclusion-strategy">a recent survey</a> by management consulting company McKinsey, employees aged 18–34 were 59% more likely to say they would quit their current role to move to a job with flexible working compared with older employees aged 55–64.</p>
<h2>It’s worth going into the office sometimes</h2>
<p>Remote and hybrid working can bring many benefits. For employees, remote work provides the opportunity to reallocate costly and sometimes stressful commuting time into activities that support work-life balance and health. Indeed, more than three-quarters of hybrid and remote workers report <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/ishybridworkingheretostay/2022-05-23?utm_source=pocket_mylist">improved work-life balance</a> compared with when they worked in an office full time. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, hybrid work provides autonomy and choice for employees. They can combine time at home for focused and independent work with time in the office for collaboration and connection. A hybrid working model can be good <a href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/publication/microsoft-new-future-of-work-report-2022/">for productivity</a>, inclusion and motivation.</p>
<p>However, the belief that work is best done in an office environment is pervasive – and <a href="https://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/article/1745141/young-people-benefit-most-being-in-office-warns-sunak">young people</a> in particular are thought to need to go into the office to build professional networks and to learn.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/hybrid-working-how-to-make-it-a-success-165189">Hybrid working: how to make it a success</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>There could be some truth to the idea that young people early in their careers uniquely benefit from going into the office. <a href="https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/orsc.2018.1265">Research</a> conducted prior to the pandemic has associated being out of sight while working remotely with also being out of mind. Notably, people who work exclusively at home are <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/labourproductivity/articles/homeworkinghoursrewardsandopportunitiesintheuk2011to2020/2021-04-19">less likely</a> to receive promotions and bonuses.</p>
<p>Conversely, being with colleagues in person has been associated with greater <a href="https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/10.1287/orsc.2018.1265">career advancement</a>. In part, this is probably because being physically present in the office appears to signal commitment to the organisation.</p>
<p>Can hybrid work address the risks of fully remote work and preserve the rewards associated with face-to-face interactions in the office? Only time will tell.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young woman working at a laptop with a dog on her lap." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467737/original/file-20220608-19-x86j0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/467737/original/file-20220608-19-x86j0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467737/original/file-20220608-19-x86j0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467737/original/file-20220608-19-x86j0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467737/original/file-20220608-19-x86j0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467737/original/file-20220608-19-x86j0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/467737/original/file-20220608-19-x86j0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Working from home has its benefits.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-woman-working-on-laptop-homecute-1688045716">eva_blanco/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Finding the right balance</h2>
<p>Before 2020, remote work was still relatively rare. Hybrid working at scale is a new concept. </p>
<p>But throughout the pandemic, perceptions about working from home have <a href="https://wfhresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Global-Working-from-Home.pdf?utm_source=pocket_mylist">improved globally</a>. The latest <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/ishybridworkingheretostay/2022-05-23?utm_source=pocket_mylist">UK data</a> suggests nearly one-quarter of working adults are now hybrid. So in the future, we’ll need to understand more about the impact of remote work both on organisations and the people who undertake it.</p>
<p>The challenge for younger employees is to identify an effective working pattern that suits both them and their organisation – and supports their career goals. As tempting as it may be to ditch the commute as often as possible, younger employees may instead wish to consider a more strategic approach. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-great-work-from-home-experiment-has-taught-us-about-the-way-we-work-157836">What the great work from home experiment has taught us about the way we work</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>When in the office, they should focus on personal visibility, and building and maintaining relationships with colleagues and managers. Networking and learning must be the focus of working in-person, and wherever possible, online meetings or independent work should be saved for remote working time. </p>
<p>Combine this with good wellbeing practices when working from home, especially around switching off from work, and hybrid might just deliver on its promises of better work for everyone – young and not so young alike.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/184025/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gemma Dale does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>About two-thirds of generation Z seem to want a hybrid working pattern in the future.Gemma Dale, Lecturer, Faculty of Business and Law, Liverpool John Moores UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1822262022-05-15T20:15:14Z2022-05-15T20:15:14ZHook-ups, pansexuals and holy connection: love in the time of millennials and Generation Z<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462196/original/file-20220510-12-8t3is2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=35%2C71%2C5955%2C3916&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> </figcaption></figure><p>“That Love is all there is,” wrote Emily Dickinson, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Is all we know of Love;<br>
It is enough, the freight should be<br>
Proportioned to the groove.<br></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Does what we know of love still apply to Australian relationships today – particularly among millennials and Generation Z, whose partnerships and dating behaviours are charting new territories? </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Review: Heartland: What is the future of modern love? by Jennifer Pinkerton (Allen & Unwin).</em></p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462191/original/file-20220510-22-dgjg6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462191/original/file-20220510-22-dgjg6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462191/original/file-20220510-22-dgjg6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462191/original/file-20220510-22-dgjg6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462191/original/file-20220510-22-dgjg6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=918&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462191/original/file-20220510-22-dgjg6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1153&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462191/original/file-20220510-22-dgjg6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1153&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462191/original/file-20220510-22-dgjg6f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1153&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Online dating, hook-ups, increased access to porn. Chastity movements. Romantic partners across (or regardless of) gender orientations. <a href="https://theconversation.com/more-romantic-partners-means-more-support-say-polyamorous-couples-125867">Polyamory</a> and a still-prevalent belief in <a href="https://theconversation.com/monogamy-cheating-on-what-nature-intended-or-a-simple-choice-7147">monogamy</a>. It’s all part of the modern landscape. Many committed relationships strain and break under the burden of meeting the hopes and dreams of what we imagine to be love. </p>
<p>Are the intimate and dating relationships of recent generations making more of what we traditionally understand as love, or are they creating something different, something new?</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/men-are-from-mars-women-are-from-mars-how-people-choose-partners-is-surprisingly-similar-but-depends-on-age-161081">Men are from Mars, women are from... Mars? How people choose partners is surprisingly similar (but depends on age)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Researching love</h2>
<p>Such questions are explored in <a href="https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/books/general-books/health-fitness/Heartland-Jennifer-Pinkerton-9781760878405">Heartland: What is the future of Modern Love?</a> by Dr Jennifer Pinkerton, a Darwin-based writer, photographer, producer, academic and Gen X-er. </p>
<p>Drawing on extensive research into more than 100 “heart-scapes” of young Australians – from transgender Aboriginal sistagirls in the Tiwi Islands to conservative Catholics living in Sydney – Pinkerton’s findings break new ground in an old landscape. </p>
<p>The complex modern dating world scoped in Heartland reveals a lack of rules, something that brings with it both loss and liberation. </p>
<p>Of course, love’s essential passion and pain remains unchanged across millennia. And some aspects of sexuality that seem new have always existed, albeit with different labels or levels of social acceptance. </p>
<p>“I desire. I crave,” wrote the Ancient Greek poet <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/sappho">Sappho</a>, whose name is now immortalised in the description of female-only relationships. Shakespeare’s famous sonnet that begins “<a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45087/sonnet-18-shall-i-compare-thee-to-a-summers-day">Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?</a>” was penned to another man. </p>
<p>Pinkerton shows the “who” is not what makes love complicated today. Millennial and Gen Z attitudes are inclusive to the point of being perplexed as to why a fuss was made (and for so long) about who can love whom. </p>
<p>It is the why, how, what, when and where that are currently making dating and relationships difficult – particularly post-pandemic – despite the ease of speedy internet access to potential partners.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462198/original/file-20220510-12-u8mp23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462198/original/file-20220510-12-u8mp23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462198/original/file-20220510-12-u8mp23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462198/original/file-20220510-12-u8mp23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462198/original/file-20220510-12-u8mp23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462198/original/file-20220510-12-u8mp23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462198/original/file-20220510-12-u8mp23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462198/original/file-20220510-12-u8mp23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There are ‘lots (and lots) of labels’.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There are also lots (and lots) of labels. They go beyond LGBTQ+. There’s sistagirl (an Aboriginal <a href="https://theconversation.com/supporting-trans-people-3-simple-things-teachers-and-researchers-can-do-149832">transgender</a> person). Vanilla (people who don’t do kink). There’s pansexual (someone who is attracted to all gender types: male, female, trans, non-binary); demipansexual (someone who seeks a deep connection); polyamory (multiple lovers) and more. Much more. </p>
<p>Without such labels, explains demipansexual Aggie (29), she couldn’t explore sexuality, her gender, or even polyamory itself. “These words describe things to other people and describe things you haven’t experienced before.” </p>
<p>The labels also function as an age dividing line. It’s a “generation thing”, says Aggie. There’s even a 14-year-old who identifies as “non-binary goth, demiromantic pansexual” who asks her Gen X aunt how she identifies. “I love who I love,” her bemused aunt replies.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/from-ghosting-to-backburner-relationships-the-reasons-people-behave-so-badly-on-dating-apps-179600">From ghosting to 'backburner' relationships: the reasons people behave so badly on dating apps</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Love, romance and liberation</h2>
<p>Yet as the interviews in Heartland reveal, it is impossible to generalise within (or about) any age group. While some find labels liberating, others shun them. And some shun dating altogether. </p>
<p>According to Pinkerton, many young people have stopped dating – and some never start. Some look askance at apps and some have tired of them. Others are simply tired of it all: Pinkerton describes them as an “army of disappointeds”. </p>
<p>One “disappointed” is Saxon (23, straight), who has spent hours chatting with potential matches, yet never met up with any of them – almost as if <a href="https://theconversation.com/tinder-fails-to-protect-women-from-abuse-but-when-we-brush-off-dick-pics-as-a-laugh-so-do-we-147909">Tinder</a> were a computer game.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462207/original/file-20220510-12-3avq0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="woman in bed looking at phone and smiling" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462207/original/file-20220510-12-3avq0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462207/original/file-20220510-12-3avq0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462207/original/file-20220510-12-3avq0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462207/original/file-20220510-12-3avq0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462207/original/file-20220510-12-3avq0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462207/original/file-20220510-12-3avq0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462207/original/file-20220510-12-3avq0w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Some young people don’t like using dating apps; others are tired of them.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>For Charlotte (22), there are hook-ups and there are dates. “There’s a big difference between dating and hook-ups for me. I agonise and stress over dates.” </p>
<p>By contrast, art student Stump (30) wants friendship with extras. “To be friends and fuck and be able to talk about shit and have that cordial thing going on.”</p>
<p>“I don’t care what they do, as long as they have a job,” says Lisa (27): “He needs to have life goals.” Her friend Kaylee (25) agrees. “If they can pay half the bills, I’m happy.”</p>
<p>Yet love and romance aren’t out of the equation. “I thought it would be more liberating to sleep with someone else than it was,” says 19-year-old law student Kami. “I suppose it didn’t feel great because there was no romantic connection.” </p>
<p>We meet Ryan (25), a shy security guard, who is reading Erich Fromm’s classic <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14142.The_Art_of_Loving">The Art of Loving</a>. He is not alone in wanting to learn how to love. Pinkerton notes that many under-40s read love and sex texts, including Gary Chapman’s popular <a href="https://www.5lovelanguages.com/store/the-5-love-languages">The Five Love Languages</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/friday-essay-3-ways-philosophy-can-help-us-understand-love-155374">Friday essay: 3 ways philosophy can help us understand love</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Holy connection</h2>
<p>Pinkerton sees the experiences and concerns of millennials and Gen-Z as shaping a new approach to modern love. Genuine love, she writes, demands courage, and extends beyond the narrow confines of the couple. It’s about much more than romance. </p>
<p>Pinkerton noted her surprise at how often, for example, millennials would end conversations to friends with “I love you”. At first, she thought it was a bit intense, but she soon discovered the importance young people place on their friendships is the key to what they consider holy: connection.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462201/original/file-20220510-12-dgjg6f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="woman smiling, looking down" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462201/original/file-20220510-12-dgjg6f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462201/original/file-20220510-12-dgjg6f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462201/original/file-20220510-12-dgjg6f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462201/original/file-20220510-12-dgjg6f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=608&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462201/original/file-20220510-12-dgjg6f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462201/original/file-20220510-12-dgjg6f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/462201/original/file-20220510-12-dgjg6f.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=764&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Author and researcher Jennifer Pinkerton.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Pinkerton’s reflections on the complexities of committed relationships are embedded in the context of her own story, which she willingly shares. While from a different generation, Pinkerton has experienced the anxiety of online communication (she particularly regrets sending a rather embarrassing haiku). </p>
<p>But it is the heartbreak of her own relationship breakdown with the father of her newborn son, and the loss of her mother, interwoven with the interviews, that contextualises and humanises the book. Heartland is not cold case research: it’s a genuine search for understanding, of self and others.</p>
<p>There is also a sense of authentic place evoked in Heartland: the “thick Red Centre heat that lifts off the road in ribbons and sends chalky-pink galahs hurtling from the sky.” Pinkerton identifies generational trends in dating and relationships that are by no means unique to Australia, but imbues them with a uniquely Australian sensibility. You can feel the heat as she writes about the Top End, a landscape clearly in her heart. </p>
<p>Heat – or rather, too much of it - is also an anxiety-provoking and distressing concern for Pinkerton’s millennials and <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-research-shows-australian-teens-have-complex-views-on-religion-and-spirituality-103233">Gen Z</a> interviewees. </p>
<p>Take the usual stressors of young life and add the thought, “Maybe the planet is going to burn, and we’ll have nowhere to live”, says Helen Berry, Honorary Professor of Climate Change and Mental Health at the University of Sydney. Add dating, love, romance […] it can become too difficult to contemplate connection, in the face of so much potential risk and loss. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/love-academically-why-scholarly-hearts-are-beating-for-love-studies-104697">Love, Academically. Why scholarly hearts are beating for Love Studies</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Heartland takes love seriously, as a subject worthy of research – at a time when interdisciplinary research about love is growing. In the School of Arts and Humanities at Edith Cowan University, the new Love Studies network includes academics from every discipline. Mapping the field, we have discovered a diversity of research about love with multidisciplinary connections that are often surprising, ranging from popular <a href="https://theconversation.com/to-the-mattresses-a-defence-of-romance-fiction-72587">romance</a> studies to criminology, sexology and peace studies. </p>
<p>There is also a new Australian cross-university initiative, <a href="https://www.jcu.edu.au/this-is-uni/health-and-medicine/articles/exploring-the-heart-of-the-matter">The Heart of the Matter Health Humanities Project</a>, which aims to </p>
<blockquote>
<p>deepen our understanding of the heart and improve human well-being through fostering dialogue and innovation across the fields of health, medicine, engineering, philosophy, literary studies and the humanities.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The initiative brings together academics and scholarship from across the country to explore the intersections between medical understandings of the heart, the role of the humanities, and the heart as a symbol and vehicle of emotion, from research on artificial hearts to <a href="https://theconversation.com/bloody-hunting-slaughtermen-sieges-and-lechery-what-does-shakespeare-tell-us-of-war-181474">Shakespeare</a>.</p>
<p>Heartland maps both the agonies and ecstasies of today’s relationships. “Among millennials and Gen Zs there’s a fluidity to life and love, and an openness to testing out alternative options,” Pinkerton concludes. “Sure, this can add to the anxiety load. Equally, it might just create more rewarding sex and love.” Labels may change, yet the search for love remains. A heavy weight, worth carrying.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182226/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Reid Boyd does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>New research suggests that for millennials and Generation Z, a lack of rules around love and dating brings both loss and liberation.Elizabeth Reid Boyd, Senior Lecturer School of Arts and Humanities, Edith Cowan UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1621982021-06-08T15:25:20Z2021-06-08T15:25:20ZDepop sale: fashion retailers must move faster on sustainability – or they will be replaced by Gen Z apps<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405111/original/file-20210608-135197-wlz0nu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=142%2C44%2C4700%2C2537&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Secondhand shopping apps have become popular among Generation Z, who want more sustainable alternatives to fast fashion.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/online-shopping-using-application-on-phone-1868322547">Reshetnikov_art/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The news that Depop – Generation Z’s favourite app for selling and buying used clothing – had been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2021/jun/02/etsy-buys-second-hand-clothing-app-depop-to-tap-into-gen-z">sold to Etsy for $1.6bn (£1.1bn)</a> is a warning shot for fashion retailers. </p>
<p>For years, traditional retailers and “fast fashion” companies have moved too slowly on making their production more sustainable. Etsy’s acquisition of Depop shows that shoppers, led by an eco-conscious Generation Z, are taking things into their own hands, and it has commercial appeal. </p>
<hr>
<iframe id="noa-web-audio-player" style="border: none" src="https://embed-player.newsoveraudio.com/v4?key=x84olp&id=https://theconversation.com/depop-sale-fashion-retailers-must-move-faster-on-sustainability-or-they-will-be-replaced-by-gen-z-apps-162198&bgColor=F5F5F5&color=D8352A&playColor=D8352A" width="100%" height="110px"></iframe>
<p><em>You can listen to more articles from The Conversation, narrated by Noa, <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/audio-narrated-99682">here</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<h2>Fashion for an eco-conscious cohort</h2>
<p>The fashion industry has been slow to integrate sustainability practices into production and retailing, <a href="https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/geoj.12366">leaving a gap</a> for disruptive new redistribution models to fulfil consumer preferences. </p>
<p>In 2020, new users of Depop increased by 163% from the previous year, with a <a href="https://fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/resale-growth-during-covid-19-sellers-engage-in-quarantine-clean-out-frenzies/2020060849257">200% growth in traffic and a 300% increase of sales.</a> Its immense popularity is a reflection of the success of sustainable redistribution markets, particularly among younger users. </p>
<p>The rise of Depop and other consumer-to-consumer fashion redistribution platforms and apps (such as Vinted and Vestiaire Collective) illustrate the draw of the <a href="https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy/concept">circular economy</a> – making the most of resources already in circulation. This is especially appealing to younger consumers who are more <a href="https://fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/depop-announces-new-sustainability-vision-for-the-future/2021020153300">concerned about sustainability</a>, climate change and the future of the planet. </p>
<p>This generation has also been quick to adopt other sustainable life choices, like <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/OIR-06-2019-0213/full/html">vegan diets</a>. In contrast to the fashion industry, food suppliers from grocery stores to KFC have responded to this demand with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jul/25/uk-demand-for-new-vegan-food-products-soars-in-lockdown">increased availability of plant-based food products</a>.</p>
<p>Participation in the circular economy is an illustration of consumers adopting responsibility for post-consumption behaviours and actively creating opportunities for other consumers to adopt more sustainable fashion practices, with the added benefit of an income. </p>
<p>One benefit of Depop is the accessibility of the app. Generation Z are a cohort who have <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/julianvigo/2019/08/31/generation-z-and-new-technologys-effect-on-culture/?sh=291786ee5c2a">grown up with digital technology</a>, and apps are a familiar space for socialising, sharing and accessing information and consumption. Additionally, the inability to visit the high street due to the COVID-19 pandemic forced most consumption online. As consumers have grown used to their fashion being delivered, there is no disadvantage in shopping through Depop. </p>
<p>While consumers may want to buy more sustainable clothing, there are many <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/QMR-09-2019-0113/full/html">established barriers</a>, such as higher pricing, lack of fashion appeal, lack of information and misunderstanding of sustainable fashion terminology.</p>
<p>Consumers are not prepared to sacrifice their sense of self and identity in the name of sustainability, especially as many shoppers do not <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/0267257X.2016.1167108">understand how the fashion industry is unsustainable</a>. Over-consumption is often a <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ijcs.12516">response</a> to experiment with identity formation. </p>
<p>Depop gets around some of these barriers by creating a market where Gen Z are both the sellers and the buyers, so the fashion sold on the app is <a href="https://fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/depop-announces-new-sustainability-vision-for-the-future/2021020153300">specifically appealing to them</a>. This is an example of collaborative consumption, a system which includes a number of alternative practices to enable commodities to be used for longer and by a greater number of people. This may include redistribution markets, such as Depop, as a platform for exchanging used clothing, or renting and borrowing clothes, such as is found in a <a href="https://lena-library.com">fashion library system</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Five mannequins in fashionable clothing" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405110/original/file-20210608-27-8z7u6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405110/original/file-20210608-27-8z7u6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405110/original/file-20210608-27-8z7u6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405110/original/file-20210608-27-8z7u6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405110/original/file-20210608-27-8z7u6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405110/original/file-20210608-27-8z7u6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/405110/original/file-20210608-27-8z7u6e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Fashion retailers have been slow to respond to Generation Z’s demands for more sustainable shopping, and now risk being replaced by popular secondhand clothing apps.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/new-york-march-19-2016-inside-408501382">Sorbis/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Retailers must act fast</h2>
<p>The fashion industry lags far behind on the sustainability trend. The low cost of fast fashion encourages mindless consumption, and shoppers have been vocal about calling this out – for example, the social media campaign against online retailer Pretty Little Thing for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/nov/27/critics-slam-pretty-little-things-8p-black-friday-dress-deal">selling a dress for 8p in their sale</a>. </p>
<p>So, what can brands do to address these concerns?</p>
<p>Although some brands include a sustainable range made from organic or recycled materials, this often consists of basic items such a vests, t-shirts and leggings as opposed to “high fashion” garments. These lines are greatly overshadowed by the accelerated production of fast fashion. </p>
<p>Many retailers address sustainability by encouraging consumers to dispose of unwanted garments by donation rather than address sustainability in production and retailing – which seems like an own goal. </p>
<p>Some retailers encourage consumers to return unwanted clothing to the store – in return for a voucher to purchase new fashion. The problem of climate change and scarce resources cannot be solved through more consumption. The used clothing market in the UK is not sufficiently buoyant to resell clothes donated to stores and charity shops, meaning much of this <a href="https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/112464/rr-impact-second-hand-clothing-trade-developing-countries-010905-en.pdf?sequence=1">ends up in developing countries</a>, or, in the event of Brexit border delays, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/03/second-hand-clothing-mountain-piles-up-as-brexit-halts-exports-to-eu">stuck in warehouses.</a></p>
<p>It is somewhat remiss that the fashion industry is so out of touch with consumer trends. The COVID-19 pandemic has <a href="https://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=49196">altered social systems and consumption practices</a>, and solidified younger consumers’ sentiment for <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/4/1903">conscious consumption</a>. This new chapter, combined with the success of Depop, presents brands with an opportunity to <a href="https://res.mdpi.com/sustainability/sustainability-13-01861/article_deploy/sustainability-13-01861-v2.pdf">reconsider their business models.</a></p>
<p>One fashion retailer embracing this well is Cos, part of the H&M group, <a href="https://www.cosresell.com">which enables</a> consumers to buy and sell used Cos clothing online. And London department store Selfridges has opened a permanent <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2019/oct/31/selfridges-opens-secondhand-clothing-concession-with-vestiaire-collective">“pre-loved” department</a>.</p>
<p>Given the momentum of Generation Z’s preference for collaborative consumption, my colleagues and I are expanding our research to examine engagement on redistribution markets, via apps and physical events, as well as the potential for <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0148296320306408">renting fashion</a>. We will also examine whether younger consumers perceive a loss of authenticity in Depop being purchased by Etsy, as when L'Oreal <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38905530">bought the Body Shop</a>. It will be interesting to see whether the change in ownership affects the commercial activities of Depop.</p>
<p>It is clear from Etsy’s purchase of Depop that there is commercial appeal for more sustainable fashion. As alternative digital platforms for fashion grow in popularity, the fashion industry needs to change – and fast – if it wants to stay relevant.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162198/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elaine L Ritch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Etsy’s purchase of Depop shows that eco-conscious fashion could threaten fast fashion retailers.Elaine L Ritch, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Glasgow Caledonian UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1556942021-04-12T12:54:32Z2021-04-12T12:54:32ZGeneration Z: when it comes to behaviour, not all digital natives look alike<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393135/original/file-20210401-21-t0xkzh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=7%2C0%2C4909%2C3036&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rawpixel.com via Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Gradually over the past few years, the once-ubiquitous discussions about millennials are being replaced by an interest in the new kids on the block: generation Z – or, to give them a recently assigned alias – “Zoomers”.</p>
<p>According to most reckonings, to be genZ means <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zf8j92p">you were born</a> some time between 1997 and 2012 (although this varies depending on who you listen to – some estimates say the youngest Zoomers were born as late as 2015). GenZ is <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/05/14/on-the-cusp-of-adulthood-and-facing-an-uncertain-future-what-we-know-about-gen-z-so-far-2/">defined by</a> the influential Pew Foundation as being:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>More racially and ethnically diverse than any previous generation, and they are on track to be the most well-educated generation yet. They are also digital natives who have little or no memory of the world as it existed before smartphones.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But as with previous generations, the temptation is to lump this generation together and assume they all respond to similar experiences, attitudes and behaviours no matter where in the world they grow up. </p>
<p>Most notably, genZ has grown up in a digital world, saturated by technology. Media commentators tend to describe them as having similar consumption habits, creating a “global youth culture”. We wanted to challenge this one-size-fits-all approach, by focusing on one aspect of genZ: their use and experience of technology. </p>
<p>We looked at genZ media use in three Asian countries: Japan (east Asia), Vietnam (south-east Asia) and United Arab Emirates (UAE in western Asia). Our study has been published in a <a href="https://books.emeraldinsight.com/page/detail/The-New-Generation-Z-in-Asia/?k=9781800432215">new book</a>, Generation Z in Europe: Inputs, Insights and Implications. </p>
<h2>Are all digital natives the same?</h2>
<p>GenZ has been <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/asias-generation-z-comes-of-age">linked to hyperconnectivity</a>, a constant attachment to their smartphones and the ability to easily learn new technologies and navigate websites and apps. When it comes to internet or mobile phone use, one-third of genZ-ers in Asia spend six hours or more a day on their phones and 36% of them say they “carefully curate” their online presence.</p>
<p>There are some minor differences in the online platforms used by genZ in each country. The <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/978-1-80043-220-820201007/full/html">Japanese use</a> video-sharing websites (60.5% of respondents) the most and also play a lot of online games (50.7%). They also use social media every day – a <a href="https://www.nippon.com/en/japan-data/h00785/">recent survey</a> found that Line was the most-used platform, followed by Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Tik-Tok and Facebook. Live video broadcasting is also huge, with young people streaming on average between 300 and 500 minutes of content per month.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Young girl looking at her smartphone and making peace sign." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393142/original/file-20210401-23-ovffue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393142/original/file-20210401-23-ovffue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393142/original/file-20210401-23-ovffue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393142/original/file-20210401-23-ovffue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=389&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393142/original/file-20210401-23-ovffue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393142/original/file-20210401-23-ovffue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393142/original/file-20210401-23-ovffue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=489&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Research suggests that Generation Z, or ‘Zoomers’, spend significant time online, but this varies from country to country.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">MR.Yanukit via Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Vietnam, 99% of genZ report having a Facebook account and 77% are on local social networking app <a href="https://fintechnews.sg/26214/vietnam/vietnam-zalo-pay-super-app-which-might-be-bought-by-facebook-in-2020/">Zalo</a>. Interestingly, though, 99% say they still watch TV every day – compared with their peers in Japan where <a href="https://www.nippon.com/en/news/yjj2019112500213/more-young-japanese-tend-not-to-watch-tv-jiji-poll.html">only 12%</a> watch TV regularly.</p>
<p>As one of the most advanced digital economies in the world, the UAE also has one of the <a href="https://www.themedialab.me/uae-digital-media-statistics-2019/">highest smartphone adoption rates</a> at 96%. Generally, genZ in the UAE use their smartphones for an average of around three hours a day. But here we see the influence of the culture within different countries, as <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0747563218303753">it is reported</a> that some male family members limit the ability of their female relatives to access social networks, reflecting the traditional gender divisions within the UAE and affecting how people socialise and interact.</p>
<p>When it comes to how much genZ-ers in different countries trust what they see online, there’s quite a difference across the three countries we surveyed. A survey from <a href="https://www.decisionlab.co/download-material-genzilla-vietnam">DecisionLab</a> found that Vietnam’s generation Z reports a high level of scepticism about the internet. When it came to <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/davisbrett/2018/02/03/understanding-vietnams-generation-z/?sh=67ae8cd17529">trusted sources of information</a>, parents and “experts” topped the list at 72%, while just 13% reported trusting online reviews. </p>
<p>In the UAE, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337146109_UAE%27s_Strategy_Towards_Most_Cyber_Resilient_Nation">concerns focus</a> on smartphone security due to a national cybersecurity awareness programme targeted at the younger generation.</p>
<h2>How do Zoomers shop?</h2>
<p>When it comes to shopping, technology plays a key role in purchasing decisions across Asia. This manifests in different ways in the three countries. In Japan, the top three information sources that genZ <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/978-1-80043-220-820201007/full/html">used for purchase decisions</a> were websites, such as online retailers (66.4%), family and friends (54.2%) and social media (40.9%).</p>
<p>Young people in Japan will search the internet to find information to support purchase decisions but also say they tend to discuss their intentions with their friends on Line before buying anything. Gen Z in Japan is <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/978-1-80043-220-820201007/full/html">greatly influenced</a> in their brand selection by video content: they learn about new brands via video-based social media (YouTube or TikTok).</p>
<p>In Vietnam, by contrast, while genZ-ers also use the internet for shopping they reported being more likely to <a href="https://www.nielsen.com/apac/en/insights/article/2018/how-to-engage-with-generation-z-in-vietnam/">rely on their parents</a> for advice when shopping for themselves. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Panoramic photo of a modern shopping centre in Dubai, UAE." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393146/original/file-20210401-19-1pz76gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/393146/original/file-20210401-19-1pz76gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393146/original/file-20210401-19-1pz76gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393146/original/file-20210401-19-1pz76gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393146/original/file-20210401-19-1pz76gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393146/original/file-20210401-19-1pz76gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/393146/original/file-20210401-19-1pz76gb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Shopping centre in Dubai: the United Arab Emirates has some of the world’s most technologically advanced shopping malls.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Elnur via Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In UAE, <a href="https://www.tahawultech.com/industry/retail/gen-z-real-world-retail-over-online-shopping/">research</a> suggests that genZ-ers prefer the physical shopping experience. If they use technology, it’s more likely to be to find out where they can go to get what they want and compare prices and quality. The UAE has some of the most <a href="https://gulfnews.com/technology/uae-most-digitally-advanced-in-arab-world-1.2239034">advanced shopping malls</a> in the world, where physical and virtual worlds are integrated.</p>
<h2>How to reach your market</h2>
<p>As with the rest of the world, we found some common ground across Asia: technology and particularly social media is an important influence on the way that Zoomers interact and make choices in relation to shopping and work. But social media used by this cohort is also shaped by cultural and traditional patterns within each country. </p>
<p>So even within one continent, there are important differences within genZ in relation to the use, and the influence of, digital technology. </p>
<p>We may be looking at a cohort of digital natives who have grown up with smartphones and social media technology, but it’s far too simplistic to talk about a single generation Z in relation to its characteristics and behaviour. Advertisers take note – do this at your peril: to reach your market, you first have to know how they get their information.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155694/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Anyone who wants to market to ‘Zoomers’ needs to do their research first.Elodie Gentina, Associate professor, marketing, IÉSEG School of ManagementEmma Parry, Professor of Human Resource Management, Cranfield UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1460722020-09-23T12:32:13Z2020-09-23T12:32:13ZWant the youth vote? Some college students are still up for grabs in November<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359425/original/file-20200922-18-1y4u76j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3500%2C2326&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Encouraging students at the University of Colorado, Boulder, to vote in the midterm elections, Nov. 6, 2018.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/jeff-paley-of-boulder-colorado-encourages-students-on-the-news-photo/1058417618?adppopup=true">Jason Connolly/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>College students are a <a href="https://www.voanews.com/student-union/plenty-signs-surging-youth-vote-will-play-major-role-2020-us-election">rapidly growing</a> and increasingly coveted voting bloc. </p>
<p>Twice as many college students <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2019/09/24/college-students-take-to-the-voting-booth/#f633575253e0">voted in the 2018 midterms</a> as did in 2014, challenging the stereotype that young people are politically disengaged. According to the Knight Foundation, 71% of college students <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/24/71percent-of-college-students-plan-to-voteand-they-prefer-biden-over-trump.html">are expected to vote</a> this November. </p>
<p>Both President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are courting them, in different ways. Trump and his education secretary, Betsy DeVos, are trying to win the support of students with new <a href="https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-secretary-education-betsy-devos-delivers-promise-protect-free-inquiry-and-religious-liberty">religious freedom</a> and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/03/21/trump-expected-sign-executive-order-free-speech/">freedom of speech</a> assurances. Meanwhile, Biden is promising to enact <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/us/politics/biden-backs-free-college.html">tuition-free</a> college and <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/21/what-joe-biden-would-do-for-student-loan-borrowers.html">forgive US$10,000 in student loans</a> for all borrowers if elected. </p>
<p>There are over <a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/essay/on-the-cusp-of-adulthood-and-facing-an-uncertain-future-what-we-know-about-gen-z-so-far/">14 million</a> college students in the United States, which has about <a href="http://statchatva.org/2019/11/11/elections-2020-projecting-eligible-voters-by-state/">235 million eligible voters</a>. </p>
<p>Nearly all students were born after 1996, meaning they belong to Generation Z. This generation of expected voters is 45% nonwhite, according to the Pew Research Center. And <a href="https://firstgen.naspa.org/research-and-policy/national-data-fact-sheets-on-first-generation-college-students/national-data-fact-sheets">over half of Gen Z college students</a> are the first in their families to attend college. As with any large and diverse group, some students are more likely to vote than others. </p>
<p>So which young people are actually up for grabs?</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359423/original/file-20200922-20-10m1sg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Students wait to vote at a polling station on the campus of the University of California, Irvine" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359423/original/file-20200922-20-10m1sg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/359423/original/file-20200922-20-10m1sg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359423/original/file-20200922-20-10m1sg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359423/original/file-20200922-20-10m1sg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359423/original/file-20200922-20-10m1sg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359423/original/file-20200922-20-10m1sg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/359423/original/file-20200922-20-10m1sg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Young people are more politically engaged than they get credit for.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/students-wait-in-line-to-cast-their-ballot-at-a-polling-news-photo/1058415096?adppopup=true">Robyn Beck/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Who votes, who doesn’t</h2>
<p>Our study, the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Survey, or <a href="http://www.ifyc.org/ideals">IDEALS</a>, helps to answer that question. </p>
<p>We conducted this four-year study of 5,762 students enrolled in one of 120 colleges and universities between fall 2015 and spring 2019. Our goal was to examine the religious and political behavior of students over time. We asked participants 70 questions – among them whether, in the 2016 election, they: did not vote; voted for the Republican candidate; voted for the Democratic candidate; voted for a third-party candidate; wrote in the name of a candidate; were not eligible to vote; or preferred not to respond. </p>
<p>Respondents were also asked their race/ethnicity, gender, family educational history, college major, religion, sexual orientation and other identifying features.</p>
<p>In terms of racial groups, we found that students identifying as Asian American/Asian/Pacific Islander/Native Hawaiian were less electorally engaged, with 26.2% reporting that they did not vote in 2016. Black/African American, white and Latino students were significantly more likely to have voted in the last election. And every one of the Native American students eligible to vote in 2016 did so. </p>
<p><iframe id="s4AuZ" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/s4AuZ/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>First-generation students – regardless of race – were also unlikely to vote. Twenty-nine percent of them sat out the 2016 election, compared with 20% of students with at least one college-educated parent.</p>
<p>These nonvoting trends held as other important characteristics changed. First-generation students at public institutions were just as likely not to vote as first-generation students at private institutions. Similarly, Asian American business students were just as likely not to vote as Asian American students studying arts or humanities.</p>
<h2>Swing students</h2>
<p>These findings make historic sense. Both Asian Americans and lower-income Americans – a racially mixed group that many first-generation students belong to – are groups traditionally less likely to vote. </p>
<p>National politicians rarely make specific outreach efforts to Asian Americans, who make up <a href="https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/US/PST045219">5.9% of the U.S. population</a>. That leaves some with the “pervasive feeling of not belonging in American politics,” <a href="https://www.newamerica.org/weekly/why-asian-americans-dont-vote/">wrote Caitlin Kim for the research group New America</a> in 2017. The country’s 11 million eligible Asian American voters are an <a href="https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/asian-american-vote-2020-election-voting-rights-philadelphia-20200812.html">“untapped” power</a>,“ says Neil Goh of the Woori Center, an Asian American advocacy organization. </p>
<p>Poorer Americans, on the other hand, are historically <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/aug/12/poor-voters-turnout-untapped-power-2020-us-election">less likely to vote</a>, in part due to a slew of <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/01/why-are-the-poor-and-minorities-less-likely-to-vote/282896/">practical hurdles</a>. They are less likely to have ID, often experience longer voting lines and have more difficulty finding their polling place. Analysts say just a <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/09/10/759512938/u-s-census-bureau-reports-poverty-rate-down-but-millions-still-poor#:%7E:text=Despite%20the%20decline%20in%20poverty,two%20adults%20and%20two%20children.">small increase</a> in turnout among the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/09/10/759512938/u-s-census-bureau-reports-poverty-rate-down-but-millions-still-poor#:%7E:text=Despite%20the%20decline%20in%20poverty,two%20adults%20and%20two%20children.">38 million Americans who live in poverty</a> could shift the 2020 election. </p>
<p>Both Trump and Biden are trying to leverage their <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/donald-trump-jr-says-joe-biden-only-addressed-rioting-in-america-when-cnn-pointed-out-it-was-affecting-polls/vp-BB18C1X4">blue-collar appeal</a>, which may capture the interests of first-generation voters. But new research on Asian American voters shows their party preference, once largely Republican, <a href="https://theconversation.com/asian-americans-political-preferences-have-flipped-from-red-to-blue-145577">has firmly shifted toward the Democrats</a>. And Biden’s vice presidential candidate, Kamala Harris, has been highlighting her <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/kamala-harris-reminds-indian-americans-of-her-south-asian-descent-2280149">Asian roots</a> in an effort to appeal to Asian American voters.</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p>
<p>With Election Day just weeks away, many voters on both sides of the aisle are already strongly committed to one candidate and unlikely to change their minds, so campaigns are focused on winning over and turning out traditionally nonvoting blocs. </p>
<p>Asian American and first-generation students may be among the few votes that are still up for grabs.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146072/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew J. Mayhew receives funding from the National Science Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Fetzer Institute, the U.S. Department of Education, the Merrifield Family Foundation, and the Marion Ewing Kauffman Foundation.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christa Winkler, Kevin Singer, and Musbah Shaheen do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Researchers examined the voting behavior of 5,762 students at 120 colleges and universities. Two groups stood out as an untapped electoral resource – if the candidates can turn out Gen Z.Matthew J. Mayhew, The William Ray and Marie Adamson Flesher Professor of Higher Education, The Ohio State UniversityChrista Winkler, Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Leadership, Mississippi State UniversityKevin Singer, PhD student and research assistant with the Interfaith Diversity Experiences and Attitudes Longitudinal Study, North Carolina State UniversityMusbah Shaheen, PhD student in Higher Education and Student Affairs, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1345042020-03-29T11:42:38Z2020-03-29T11:42:38ZMaking and breaking bread during the coronavirus pandemic: Home cooking could make a comeback<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323085/original/file-20200325-168880-hb78uf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C317%2C10571%2C6724&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Self-isolating may mean many Canadians will be forced to spend more time in the kitchen, a place that's been foreign to most millennials, according to a new survey.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>These are unprecedented times. As we deal with the current coronavirus pandemic, we find our regular routines and habits altered and disrupted. Not-so-graceful displays of <a href="https://www.macleans.ca/society/coronavirus-in-canada-what-people-are-panic-buying-and-leaving-behind/">panic buying</a> have been seen almost everywhere. People have been impulsively emptying shelves, irrationally.</p>
<p>Quarantines, cancellations, closures and social distancing are keeping people at home to slow the spread of the disease. One positive thing coming out of this unfortunate situation could be that people will spend more time in their kitchens, <a href="https://globalnews.ca/news/5155947/how-to-cook-at-home-more/">a place where fewer Canadians have ventured in recent years</a>.</p>
<p>The evidence suggesting that <a href="https://www.npdgroup.ca/wps/portal/npd/ca/news/latest-reports/millennial-parents-are-ushering-in-a-new-era-in-foodservice/">Canadians are spending less time in the kitchen is mounting</a>. According to Statistics Canada, <a href="https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/11-627-m/11-627-m2019003-eng.htm">54 per cent of Canadians eat out once a week or more</a>; 40 per cent say they eat out for convenience, have no time to cook or do not like or know how to cook.</p>
<h2>Cooking is a fantasy for many</h2>
<p>The average Canadian can now watch over 250 hours of cooking or food related shows a week on television. A few networks are solely devoted to food. Still, cooking is just a fantasy for a growing number of Canadians.</p>
<p>Time has been unkind to kitchens. <a href="https://cdn.dal.ca/content/dam/dalhousie/pdf/sites/agri-food/Dalhousie%20End-Of-Year%20Survey%202019%20EN.pdf">In a survey we conducted at the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University</a>, 95 per cent of people born before 1946 indicated they ate meals prepared by parents or a caregiver at home when growing up. That percentage dropped significantly over the generations.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323088/original/file-20200325-168885-h7mow7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323088/original/file-20200325-168885-h7mow7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323088/original/file-20200325-168885-h7mow7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323088/original/file-20200325-168885-h7mow7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=371&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323088/original/file-20200325-168885-h7mow7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323088/original/file-20200325-168885-h7mow7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323088/original/file-20200325-168885-h7mow7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=466&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The empty shelves of a shut-down food shop in North Vancouver, B.C. Panic buying has been one of the unfortunate side effects of the coronavirus pandemic.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Millennials were not exposed to home-cooked meals as much, and neither was generation Z. About 64 per cent of millennials regularly ate home-cooked meals when growing up, compared to 55 per cent for gen Z. This suggests younger generations have a different appreciation for the kitchen and how food is prepared and consumed at home. The COVID-19 pandemic could potentially make younger generations more familiar with a space which seems foreign to them.</p>
<p>More time at home could be a benefit for all of us. In that same survey conducted by Dalhousie University, 68.4 per cent said they would like to spend more time preparing food at home. With the current public safety measures, many will be getting their wish.</p>
<h2>Let’s get cookbooks off the coffee table</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-gastronomy/the-best-cookbooks-of-the-century-so-far">Reading a cookbook is like watching a good movie</a>. We can project ourselves into the story, imagine we can do things we never thought possible, making us dream. Some cookbooks these days are works of art. But many cookbooks are used as coffee table books. COVID-19 could change that.</p>
<p>As we are forced to spend more time at home, and with provisions safely nestled in cupboards and freezers, the opportunity to revisit our kitchens daily has never been so good. Equipped with unread cookbooks and underused kitchen tools, Canadians now have time to take action in the kitchen. Cooking could also be an activity that brings family members and roommates together; cooking and eating together can be a wonderful bonding experience.</p>
<p>We will get through this by listening to our competent public health officials and staying home. In the meantime, let’s dust off our cookbooks and get reacquainted with the one room that can truly be considered the heart of anyone’s home: the kitchen.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134504/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sylvain Charlebois does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>One positive thing coming out of pandemic-related self-isolation could be that people will spend more time in their kitchens, a place where fewer Canadians have ventured in recent years.Sylvain Charlebois, Director, Agri-Food Analytics Lab, Professor in Food Distribution and Policy, Dalhousie UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1345802020-03-26T11:10:25Z2020-03-26T11:10:25ZCoronavirus: why lockdown may cost young lives over time<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323223/original/file-20200326-133040-4hdlwu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/flying-colors-against-cheerful-fans-photographing-1041429991">vectorfusionart/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>COVID-19 will <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/coronavirus-covid-19-scientific-evidence-supporting-the-uk-government-response">cause a lot of deaths</a> if we don’t curb the spread of infection successfully by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/24/uk-coronavirus-lockdown-rules-what-you-can-and-cannot-do">lockdowns and other recently announced measures</a>. The pandemic is anticipated to disproportionately impact older people in the “baby boomer” generation – those aged between 55 and 74. In terms of fatalities, individuals over 70 years old are at the greatest risk, alongside those with underlying health conditions.</p>
<p>But what about the young? Some in the millennial and generation Z groups have bluntly described the pandemic as a “<a href="https://www.ft.com/content/6a880416-66fa-11ea-800d-da70cff6e4d3?fbclid=IwAR0fT6_f6CRNY8RtVZ1adcV1hibDGy7NNthft4TPKSngSbbfKPjAmfDtwFo">boomer removal</a>” on some social media channels. There have also been cases of young people ignoring social distancing rules and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/18/fears-lockdown-parties-will-increase-global-spread-of-coronavirus">throwing wild parties</a>, both in Europe and North America – creating an escalating conflict between generations.</p>
<p>This may be partly fuelled by long, simmering resentment among the young of perceived widespread <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/apr/29/millennials-struggling-is-it-fault-of-baby-boomers-intergenerational-fairness">boomer entitlements</a>, such as easier access to property ownership, secure pensions and affluent retirement. Their neglect of climate change impacts is another trigger. </p>
<p>But there are other legitimate reasons for concern. In the long run, we may see death rates among young as well as old people go up as a consequence of long periods of lockdown and isolation – something we must mitigate against.</p>
<h2>Economy and death rates</h2>
<p>It is extremely difficult to estimate the net impact on death rates from the COVID-19 crisis. We know that lockdown measures will save thousands of lives. This isn’t just in terms of reducing infection, but also due to improved air quality and a reduction in traffic accidents. But we also know that the pandemic will have a <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/coronavirus-covid-19-cost-economy-2020-un-trade-economics-pandemic/">severe impact on the economy</a> over a <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-52000219">number of years</a>. This is also likely to cost lives. </p>
<p>Past downturns and crises have led to increasing unemployment but also growing mental health problems and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277953615301350">spikes in suicide rates</a> in many countries. In the UK, 6,507 people killed themselves in 2018 – that’s nearly twice the number of deaths seen in Spain from the coronavirus. And research estimates that the 2007 economic crisis in Europe and North America <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-27796628">led to more than 10,000 extra suicides</a>.</p>
<p>What’s more, in the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis, before the UK government offered financial help to support employees, many firms conveniently made people redundant and activated rapid plant or outlet closures. A number of studies have shown that substantial job displacement in other contexts <a href="https://academic.oup.com/qje/article-abstract/124/3/1265/1905153?redirectedFrom=fulltext">significantly increased mortality rates</a> over time, possibly through stress and income shocks.</p>
<p>Generally, the young have been more resilient to these problems, <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2015-23321-001?doi=1">enjoying greater success in reemployment</a> following job loss. They are also better placed to <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13676261.2016.1166192">migrate to places</a> with stronger economies. At the moment, though, poor economic prospects are becoming globally widespread – most likely for some time to come. And research has shown that poverty kills, with poor people <a href="https://www.imperial.ac.uk/news/189149/poorest-dying-nearly-years-younger-than/">dying nearly ten years earlier</a> than rich people in the UK.</p>
<h2>Current mitigation</h2>
<p>The UK government has already increased and redirected resources to the National Health Service (NHS) and civil emergency authorities. It has also put forward a substantial <a href="https://www.cityam.com/government-launches-330bn-coronavirus-business-loan-scheme/">business</a> and <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51982005">labour market</a> rescue and mitigation package. </p>
<p>While these measures will go some way to sustain business continuity and income for company employees, they are not yet comprehensive in coverage. At the time of writing, the package excludes many young adults, including those who work as freelancers, are self-employed or in “gig” economic sectors. More of the young also rent their accommodation, or live where they work (such as nannies).</p>
<p>And if lockdown measures including closed shops and restaurants remain active for several months, this will cost the economy. Despite the Bank of England lowering interest base rates to 0.1%, their lowest ever level, this is unlikely to cause an uplift or acceleration in investment plans anytime soon. </p>
<p>While the government’s package of measures <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-51935467">comprise some 15% of current UK GDP</a>, this may well turn out not to be enough. It will need to inject huge additional sums into the NHS and other direct expenditures for managing the virus.</p>
<p>Inevitably, the crisis will <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/03/covid-19-economic-crisis-recession-economists/">cause the economy to further contract</a> and the scale of the dip in economic activity could be unprecedented in peacetime – decimating the quality of life and labour market prospects of the young in particular. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323224/original/file-20200326-132965-1ffmv7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/323224/original/file-20200326-132965-1ffmv7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323224/original/file-20200326-132965-1ffmv7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323224/original/file-20200326-132965-1ffmv7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=480&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323224/original/file-20200326-132965-1ffmv7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323224/original/file-20200326-132965-1ffmv7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/323224/original/file-20200326-132965-1ffmv7u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=604&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Poverty kills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matthew Woitunski</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Despite this, Boris Johnson, the UK prime minister, has boldly suggested the country will be able to “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51966721">turn the tide</a>” of the crisis in three months. It is not entirely clear if he means peak infection or the end of the crisis, but this view seems unduly rosy. The Spanish flu pandemic (1918-1920) <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/44446153?seq=1">featured three peaks</a>, so getting to the other side quicker may simply lead to the upside of a second peak a bit faster. </p>
<h2>Living with threat</h2>
<p>Young people are <a href="https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2019/feb/depression-rise-among-young-people-antisocial-behaviour-down-new-research-shows">already struggling with depression</a>. There is now a new dread to add to the list of existing crises – climate change, Brexit, housing and pensions. That’s another zoonotic virus pandemic. The economy will have to develop resilience to that, and it will come with a considerable price tag.</p>
<p>What’s more, for those identified as “key workers”, this is a time of very high job stress. Will younger key workers get burnt out? The risk is that they may consider complete career, lifestyle and location changes going forward. If so, without incentives to stay put, it would further degrade the UK’s resilience to a similar crisis. </p>
<p>It is reasonable to ask what the likely scale of these negative consequences will be across the generations after the crisis. Is there anything we could do now to help flatten the expected spikes in unemployment, poverty, mental health problems and suicide in the aftermath of this crisis?</p>
<p>We think that access to retraining and education without the associated burden of debt will be important. The government should also consider writing off existing education debts and create measures supporting geographical relocation within the UK and across borders. This would provide a basis for enabling freedom – socially and geographically. </p>
<p>The government should obviously do whatever it can to protect as many lives as possible. But it is important that the challenge of COVID-19 isn’t framed simply in terms of lives at risk from the virus versus the economy. Prolonged periods of unemployment, the stress of job fragility and poverty can also claim lives. Timely thought and action is needed to reduce that risk too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134580/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>We must put in measures to protect the young as well as the old.Alan Collins, Professor of Economics and Public Policy, Nottingham Trent UniversityAdam Cox, Principal Lecturer, University of PortsmouthLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1337402020-03-18T12:07:50Z2020-03-18T12:07:50ZThe coronavirus could be Generation Z’s 9/11<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/320912/original/file-20200317-27643-zc9xrz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=34%2C48%2C4605%2C3032&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A pedestrian wearing a protective face mask walks past a nearly empty restaurant in New York City.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Virus-Outbreak-New-York/796bfeb498d24348bf7b2435b341080b/8/0">John Minchillo/AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Less than two weeks ago, everything still seemed pretty normal. </p>
<p>On March 6, I was returning home from a short business trip; my flight was full, and the airport was full. My phone’s newsfeed, however, was far from normal: We were, health experts said, on the cusp of <a href="https://www.who.int/dg/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-opening-remarks-at-the-media-briefing-on-covid-19---11-march-2020">a global pandemic caused by COVID-19</a>.</p>
<p>I <a href="https://theconversation.com/with-teen-mental-health-deteriorating-over-five-years-theres-a-likely-culprit-86996">research generational differences</a> and cultural trends – essentially, how cultural events impact people. That early March evening in the airport, I suddenly realized that this was the last time things were going to feel normal. I was reminded of Sept. 10, 2001 – the day before everything changed the last time.</p>
<p>Except: In many ways, the coronavirus outbreak is bigger than 9/11. It might also be bigger than the Great Recession.</p>
<p>We don’t know yet how this will play out, but the coronavirus outbreak could become the biggest and most impactful cultural event of our lifetime. Neither 9/11 nor the Great Recession so profoundly altered as many aspects of day-to-day life in such a short period of time the way the coronavirus has affected schools, work, travel, entertainment and shopping. Plus, 9/11 and the recession didn’t have as direct an impact on so many people around the world. The outbreak and our reactions to it are not a lone event – they intersect with the trends of the past and will have an impact on the future of many people, especially the generation <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/iGen/Jean-M-Twenge/9781501152016">I call iGen</a> – those born after 1995.</p>
<h2>What happens next?</h2>
<p>The outbreak is already having deep psychological effects on many people – anxiety, fear and worry are rampant. As we cut ourselves off from social interaction, anxiety may turn into depression. </p>
<p>That may be especially true for iGen, also known as GenZ. Social interaction with peers is paramount for young people, and with schools closed, working at home encouraged, and larger gatherings canceled, that is all but over. Texting, social media and video chat can help fill the void – but <a href="https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-02758-001">virtual communication is just not as good as actual face-to-face contact</a>.</p>
<p>This situation is especially concerning because this generation was already vulnerable. Between 2011 and 2018 – the most recent data available – rates of <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/abn0000410">depression</a>, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2017.13317">self-harm</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.3886">suicide</a> soared among teens. 2020 might well make things even worse – especially if mental health resources are more difficult to obtain as the pandemic worsens. </p>
<p>Some crises, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/03/07/nashville-tornado-thousands-volunteers-cleanup-effort/4990941002/">like the aftermath of a hurricane</a>, lend themselves to action. We can clean up; we can volunteer. Taking meaningful action boosts mental health; it feels good to help others and to change things. </p>
<p>But, at least so far, pandemic prep has discouraged big communal actions. While health care providers and grocery store workers rise to new challenges, most Americans have been forced to focus on passive tasks that increase anxiety rather than purpose – worrying every time we cough, standing in line for toilet paper, and reading articles about using hand sanitizer when <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2020/02/28/coronavirus-2020-preparation-more-supply-shortages-expected/4903322002/">hand sanitizer has been sold out for weeks</a>. I fear the pandemic will cement an attitude <a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/iGen/Jean-M-Twenge/9781501152016">I’ve found was already prevalent among iGen</a>: The world is not a kind or fair place. </p>
<h2>Where generations agree</h2>
<p>Despite the clear warnings of disease specialists reported in the media, until fairly recently many Americans believed that <a href="https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/mar/15/exaggerating-coronavirus-doomsday-scenario-ignores/">the threat of the coronavirus was overblown</a>. That’s somewhat understandable: In an age of social media hype and political polarization, it’s sometimes difficult to understand what’s worth our concern and what’s not.</p>
<p>But it goes deeper. The last few decades have seen a <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25205784">long, steady decline in Americans’ trust in large institutions</a>. In the General Social Survey, a nationally representative survey of U.S. adults, trust in the media fell from 85.4% in 1973 to 54.4% in 2018. Trust in Congress fell from 84.3% to 54.2%. Even doctors were not immune: While a whopping 94.1% trusted medical experts in 1973, that slid to 86.9% by 2018. This decline has been fairly similar across age groups and includes every generation. </p>
<p>Trust in institutions and experts is critical in times like these – and fewer of us have it. When trust is low and political polarization is high, we are less prepared to agree on basic facts and less prepared to work together. If you don’t trust the government, you’re less likely to listen when the government tells you to stay home.</p>
<p>Now that the scope of the challenge is clear, we’re going to have to trust each other more and listen when public health experts tell us: No, this is <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/11/health/coronavirus-washington-nursing-home-outbreaks/index.html">not a good time to visit an older relative</a>. No, it’s not a good idea to go <a href="https://twitter.com/SarahHollenbeck/status/1239621939729235968">ahead with your spring break</a> as if nothing has changed. It’s becoming clear that distrust kills. </p>
<h2>The end game</h2>
<p>Here’s the possible upside: Big cultural events can lead to big changes in attitudes. Perhaps this crisis will renew our faith in the media, in doctors and public health experts, and in government. That will be the most likely to happen if we work together – not just Republicans and Democrats, but millennials and boomers, GenX’ers and iGen’ers.</p>
<p>Boomers know that there is life on the other side of cataclysmic events, a good lesson for younger generations to hear. But that might also be why many Boomers, most of whom are in their 60s and 70s, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/millennials-say-parents-wont-take-coronavirus-precautions-2020-3">stubbornly kept going out and risked getting sick</a>. Some millennials and iGen'ers have also flouted the advice to stay in, <a href="https://www.gq.com/story/american-individualism-in-the-age-of-coronavirus">saying “I’m young – I’ll be fine,”</a> which risks spreading the virus to vulnerable people. GenX'ers are caught in the middle <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/13/how-to-talk-to-older-adults-who-arent-taking-coronavirus-seriously.html">between aging parents and iGen children</a>, just trying to hold it together.</p>
<p>Decades from now, we’ll still be talking about the pandemic of 2020. What will you say when someone asks what you did for the greater good?</p>
<p>[<em>Deep knowledge, daily.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=deepknowledge">Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/133740/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jean Twenge has received honoraria and consulting fees from Verizon and Jana Partners.</span></em></p>We don’t know how long-lasting the effects of the virus will be, but the outbreak is already having a deep psychological impact on people and disrupting life on a massive scale.Jean Twenge, Professor of Psychology, San Diego State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1326492020-03-11T12:20:08Z2020-03-11T12:20:08ZWhy so few young Americans vote<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/319133/original/file-20200306-118951-f4uzdw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C1048%2C5167%2C2559&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Not all of Bernie Sanders' young supporters are showing up at the polls.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Election-2020-Bernie-Sanders/d3c4c29a32b24c72be94d55489fd3e42/6/0">AP Photo/Matt Rourke</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The United States has one of the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/politics-international-relations/american-government-politics-and-policy/making-young-voters-converting-civic-attitudes-civic-action?format=PB">lowest rates of youth voter turnout in the world</a>. The <a href="https://cses.org/">gap between 18- to 29-year-olds and those over 60</a>, a common measuring stick, is more than twice as large here than it is in comparable democracies, like Canada and Germany.</p>
<p>And <a href="https://washingtonmonthly.com/2020/03/04/the-youth-vote-emerges-as-a-problem-for-the-democrats/">early evidence</a> from the 2020 presidential race suggests that isn’t going to change this year. Youth turnout in the first states to hold primaries and caucuses has ranged from <a href="https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/04/closer-look-turnout-young-voters-and-key-bernie-sa/">10% in Alabama</a> to <a href="https://circle.tufts.edu/latest-research/county-county-young-people-prove-pivotal-iowa-caucus">24% in Iowa</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/04/closer-look-turnout-young-voters-and-key-bernie-sa/">Fewer than 1 in 5</a> young people cast ballots in all Super Tuesday states. Compared to primaries and caucuses in the past, <a href="https://twitter.com/dellavolpe/status/1235320286314102784">fewer young people are voting in 2020</a>, while older citizens are voting at higher rates. Overall, the share of Americans who vote appears <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/3/4/21164518/super-tuesday-results-voter-turnout">to be rising</a>. </p>
<p>Recent research indicates that these patterns have fundamentally shaped the nomination process. Vermont Sen. <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/2/25/21152538/bernie-sanders-electability-president-moderates-data">Bernie Sanders</a>, a progressive candidate who draws <a href="https://circle.tufts.edu/latest-research/super-tuesday-2020">high levels of support from young people</a>, is <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/03/06/812486517/bernie-sanders-call-for-young-voters-isn-t-working-out-the-way-he-planned">not doing as well as he expected</a> because <a href="https://www.politifact.com/article/2020/mar/04/closer-look-turnout-young-voters-and-key-bernie-sa/">not enough of his young supporters</a> are turning out at the polls.</p>
<p><iframe id="27xWb" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/27xWb/2/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Continuing a long-running pattern</h2>
<p>So, why don’t more young people vote? And what might solve this problem?</p>
<p>In our new book, “<a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/making-young-voters/D8A982E9E7C9DAAAE3DF9685F1DFC037">Making Young Voters: Converting Civic Attitudes into Civic Action</a>”, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=znMJcvwAAAAJ&hl=en">D. Sunshine Hillygus</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dGUCrakAAAAJ&hl=en">I</a> tried to answer those questions.</p>
<p>The fact that few young people vote is nothing new. Historically, about <a href="http://www.electproject.org/national-1789-present">55% of Americans have voted</a> in presidential elections. Youth voting levels have been much lower than that for decades. In U.S. presidential elections, about 70% of voters 60 and up have turned out – which is nearly <a href="http://www.electproject.org/home/voter-turnout/demographics">three times the rate</a> of Americans between 18 and 29.</p>
<p>This <a href="http://www.electproject.org/home/voter-turnout/demographics">pattern hasn’t changed much in recent elections</a>. Even in 2018 – a year when <a href="https://www.teenvogue.com/story/2018-midterms-youth-voter-turnout-still-room-for-growth">more young people voted in a midterm election</a> than in decades – <a href="https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2019/04/behind-2018-united-states-midterm-election-turnout.html">a full 7 in 10 young voters failed to cast a ballot</a> – versus only 4 in 10 of those eligible to vote overall. The <a href="http://www.electproject.org/home/voter-turnout/demographics">gap between voters under and over 30 barely budged</a>.</p>
<p>There is good scientific evidence that if young people turned out at the same rates as older citizens, American democracy would be transformed. Elected officials would be more likely to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-2508.2005.00357.x">pay attention to the policy areas that young people care about</a>, like climate change or public education; the <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1561/100.00012055">people elected to public office</a> would look more like the people they represent; and <a href="https://ssrn.com/abstract=3042645%22%22">the set of public policies implemented</a> would fundamentally change.</p>
<h2>Getting interested</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-10-31/young-people-dont-care-about-voting">Many people argue</a> that younger Americans fail to vote because they are <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2014/10/29/why-young-people-dont-vote">apathetic about politics</a>. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/apr/19/why-young-people-dont-vote-apathy-or-antipathy-election-2015">You might have heard</a> that millennials – people <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/17/where-millennials-end-and-generation-z-begins/">between the ages of 24 and 39</a> – are generally too cynical, too disinterested and too self-absorbed to cast a ballot.</p>
<p>But this claim simply isn’t true for millennials or the very youngest voters, who belong to <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/01/17/where-millennials-end-and-generation-z-begins/">Generation Z</a>. In the 2016 general election, for example, a full three out of four of Americans between the age of 18 and 29 said they were <a href="https://www.wral.com/john-b-holbein-d-sunshine-hillygus-why-so-many-young-people-don-t-vote-how-to-change-it/18960142/">interested in politics</a>.</p>
<p>Though young people <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-young-people-vote-super-tuesday-20200303-otex6bg2gnhobjxzyzw22mygjy-story.html">who intend to vote</a> are much more likely than people over 30 to be derailed by obstacles.</p>
<p>For instance, young people are often are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/ajps.12177">confused by complex and unclear voter registration rules</a>. Moreover, youth are especially unlikely to know where they should vote and to be negatively affected when <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-political-science-review/article/turning-out-to-vote-the-costs-of-finding-and-getting-to-the-polling-place/6CB07495AFC81E3251CC01A60A10B8FB">polling places get moved</a>.</p>
<p>In interviews with dozens of young people, we found that many of them lacked confidence in themselves and their ability to navigate the voting process for the first time. Many told us that in their busy, hectic, and ever-changing schedules, voting often simply falls by the wayside.</p>
<p>Simply put, many young people want to participate, care about what happens in the political arena, and plan to participate. But they find doing so too big of a hassle to actually follow through on their good intentions.</p>
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<h2>Removing obstacles</h2>
<p>Electoral reforms that make registering and voting easier, we’ve found through our research, help encourage young people to follow through and vote.</p>
<p>We’re seeing that reforms like <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/same-day-registration.aspx">same-day registration</a> – which allows people to register when they come to cast a ballot – are particularly effective. </p>
<p>At present, however, same-day registration is available in only 21 states and the District of Columbia.</p>
<p>Likewise, <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/preregistration-for-young-voters.aspx">preregistration for 16- and 17-year-olds</a> – letting them enroll before they might go to college or join the workforce – can also substantially increase the number of voters under 30. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/preregistration-for-young-voters.aspx">only 18 states</a>, along with the District of Columbia, allow preregistration.</p>
<h2>Closing the gap</h2>
<p>When states implement these types of reforms, they <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/making-young-voters/D8A982E9E7C9DAAAE3DF9685F1DFC037">close the gap between older and younger voters by about a third</a>.</p>
<p>Our findings are consistent with early work that shows that <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2016/07/11/this-new-california-law-could-dramatically-change-the-demographics-of-its-electorate/">automatic voter registration</a> substantially <a href="https://www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2019/7/11/automatic-voter-registration-boosts-turnout-among-young-and-low-income-people">increases the number of young people voting for the first time</a>. </p>
<p>This suggests that reforms that work to make voting easier and expand the electorate have great potential to meaningfully increase turnout for young voters. <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/karendolan/16-year-olds-teenage-activists-right-to-vote">Reforms such as lowering the voting age to 16</a> – which places like Takoma Park, Hyattsville and Greenbelt in Maryland and Berkeley, California allow for local elections – offer great potential to bring in the next generation of young voters.</p>
<p>Taking these steps won’t completely close the gap between young and older voters, but they do help.</p>
<p>However, many states have gone in the opposite direction in recent years. States like <a href="https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article238913033.html">North Carolina</a>, <a href="https://www.voanews.com/usa/arkansas-supreme-court-upholds-revised-voter-id-law">Arkansas</a> and <a href="https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/analysis-opinion/florida-georgia-north-carolina-still-purging-voters-high-rates">Florida</a> are making registering and voting more difficult through reforms that <a href="https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/voter-id.aspx">require photo identification at the polls</a> or <a href="http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2019/09/16/nc-featured-in-new-national-report-on-polling-site-closures-voter-suppression/">severely reduce the number of polling places</a> – which leads to <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-03-07/dedicated-voters-election-day-long-lines">long lines of voters waiting to cast their ballots</a>. </p>
<p><iframe id="n9vEf" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/n9vEf/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Studying civics</h2>
<p>Civics, taught in many <a href="https://www.edweek.org/ew/section/multimedia/data-most-states-require-history-but-not.html">but not all</a> public schools, can also play a role.</p>
<p>Proponents for high-quality civics – from the Founding Fathers down to public officials today – have <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-america-urgently-needs-to-improve-k-12-civic-education-66736">long advocated for an approach</a> that gets young people more politically engaged. Instead, many schools favor what we call “bubble sheet civics.”</p>
<p>They focus on rote memorization of facts and figures about politics, government and history – the types of things that can be measured on multiple-choice exams.</p>
<p>We find that this approach simply doesn’t lead to a high level of civic engagement, such as voting in most elections. Surveys show that taking a civics course in high school does nothing to increase the chances a young person will cast their ballot. And there’s no difference in youth voter turnout rates between states like <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2018/07/21/624267576/what-your-state-is-doing-to-beef-up-civics-education">Florida and Arizona</a> that mandate civics instruction and those that don’t, such as <a href="https://www.aft.org/ae/summer2018/shapiro_brown">Oregon and Washington</a>.</p>
<p>I don’t think it has to be this way.</p>
<p>We’ve observed that some schools do go beyond bubble sheet civics. They get teens and tweens to discuss contemporary political issues, encourage students to become involved in civic and political action – such as by having them help eligible citizens to register and to vote – and help their classmates register or preregister. They also practice voting in symbolic elections. Going that route <a href="https://www.mathematica.org/our-publications-and-findings/publications/the-impact-of-democracy-prep-public-schools-on-civic-participation">can make a big difference</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>You’re smart and curious about the world. So are The Conversation’s authors and editors.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=youresmart">You can read us daily by subscribing to our newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/132649/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John Holbein receives funding from the National Science Foundation. </span></em></p>Americans under 30 are far less likely to vote than older citizens. Stepping up civics instruction might help change that, a scholar explains.John Holbein, Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Education, University of VirginiaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1309362020-02-10T15:17:33Z2020-02-10T15:17:33ZValentine’s Day: Gen Z avoids committed relationships, prefers casual hookups<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313388/original/file-20200203-41507-10z3gh5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=52%2C61%2C5683%2C3774&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Generation Z has been maligned as the hook-up generation. But is this what they want?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As we lick our Valentine card envelopes and slip into something more comfortable, it’s a good time to ponder our sexual relationships.</p>
<p>As the first entirely digital generation and the largest demographic in western history, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/abc.21293">Generation Z, those born in the late 1990s and early 2000s, is the subject of extensive research</a>. Often considered to be <a href="https://nypost.com/2019/04/10/entitled-gen-z-workers-want-raises-promotions-just-for-showing-up/">entitled, dependent and lacking real-life skills</a>, these youth also display considerable resilience and creativity. This adaptive flair extends to their navigation of sexuality and relationships, which are in flux stemming from factors like digital dating practices, <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-fewer-people-getting-married-60301">lower marriage rates</a> and rising income inequality. </p>
<p>What about their sex lives? Sometimes described by popular news media as the hyper-sexual “<a href="https://www.elitedaily.com/dating/entire-generation-forgot-date/708825">hookup generation,”</a> other news outlets explain that this generation is <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/millennials-are-very-mixed-up-about-sex">less sexed than previous youth cohorts</a> because they have fewer partners. </p>
<p>Which is it and what does dating even mean? What drives young peoples’ decision-making about the kinds of relationships they engage in? </p>
<p>I recently posed these questions to undergraduate students at Western University — participants in my qualitative study about sexual culture. I conducted individual interviews with 16 women and seven men from diverse socio-cultural backgrounds and sexual orientations, including gay, lesbian, bisexual, bi-curious and straight. I’ve included some of their responses here. I have not used any of their real names.</p>
<p>What I learned from their diverse relationship structures and terminologies was fascinating and confusing, even to a seasoned sex researcher like me. Boyfriends and girlfriends are passé. Seeing people, hookups and friends with benefits are where it’s at. </p>
<p>Based on my preliminary findings, the current Generation Z dating culture in Ontario is defined by sexual flexibility and complex struggles for intimacy, which is difficult to achieve in the fluid relationships they prefer. </p>
<h2>Dating lingo</h2>
<p>Some participants called the beginnings of their relationships “wheeling.” This term was typically used in high school. “Seeing someone” is more commonly employed in the university context to describe the onset of a casual relationship with one or more partners. </p>
<p>Some of my participants are from Toronto. In that city, Jay explained, “dating” implies a formal relationship. Instead, they say something like, “it’s a thing.” In the city, some who have been influenced by Jamaican culture call it a “ting.”</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It’s kind of called a thing if you’ve heard that, a ting, it’s a Toronto thing, ‘oh it’s my ting.’” </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313409/original/file-20200203-41490-kh7clc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313409/original/file-20200203-41490-kh7clc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313409/original/file-20200203-41490-kh7clc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313409/original/file-20200203-41490-kh7clc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313409/original/file-20200203-41490-kh7clc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313409/original/file-20200203-41490-kh7clc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313409/original/file-20200203-41490-kh7clc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Youth participants said they feel one of the reasons they and their peers avoid committed relationships is to avoid getting hurt. They also said they struggle to find intimacy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Matheus Ferrer/Unsplash</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ellie (not her real name) confirms this: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“Dating is a more substantial term that indicates longevity. I think people are scared of saying ‘we’re dating’ [so] for a while they’re like ‘a thing.’” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Many students also engage in casual relationships to protect themselves from being hurt. Pearl (not her real name) said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I think [the lack of commitment is] a fear of commitment and a fear of it not working out and having to say, ‘we broke up.’” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Trust issues and the risk of the unknown also come into play. </p>
<h2>Lovers in a hyper-sexualized time</h2>
<p>Many participants discussed being evaluated by peers based on their carnal accomplishments. Being sexual is a key social and cultural resource, as Ji shared: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It shows power and you’re cool, basically.” </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Similarly, Alec said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“It’s a very sexual environment, people wanna like, everyone is looking to fuck and sex, I’ve been pushed by female floor mates to go dance with that girl and I don’t want to. And she’s like
‘You need to fuck someone tonight’ and I’m like ‘Do I?’ that kind of thing, the pressure.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Chris identified the factors behind the emphasis on sex, namely the fear of intimacy and the social expectation that ‘everybody’s doing it:’ </p>
<blockquote>
<p>“I think people are also afraid to say that they want that intimacy because it’s such a culture right now it’s so like ‘just have sex.’ No one really says, ‘I want to cuddle with you’ or ‘I want to spend time with you’ …Everything is…just about sex, everyone is supposed to be hypersexual and that’s the expectation.”</p>
</blockquote>
<p>For many students, their university years are a transformative time intellectually, socially and sexually, which was reflected in my study findings. </p>
<p>While it may be tempting to discredit young people’s sex lives as fleeting, my participants demonstrated a remarkable capacity for change, sexual desire and emotional complexity.</p>
<p>Can they train hearts for new relationship patterns? Is it good for them?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/130936/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Treena Orchard has received Tri-Council funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the study reported on in this story was supported by an internal Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant from Western University.</span></em></p>This Valentine’s Day, a researcher reveals some insights after conducting interviews with young university undergrads to explore their sex lives, dating and intimacy.Treena Orchard, Associate Professor, School of Health Studies, Western UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1265512019-12-09T13:42:53Z2019-12-09T13:42:53ZWhy are kids today less patriotic?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305041/original/file-20191203-67011-6xrc7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Young Americans today are more likely to say that they're dissatisfied with the current state of affairs.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-happy-teen-students-holding-usa-1160956780?src=eaa2f6fe-2767-4b4f-bb4a-1ef4646c2f9d-2-21">LightField Studios/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>Why are younger people not really patriotic like me? Why do kids these days not realize why they stand for the flag or the Pledge of Allegiance or the national anthem? – Kim D., age 17, Goochland, Virginia</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>The first bell of the day rings at a local school, and a voice blares over the intercom, asking students to rise from their seats and say the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. </p>
<p>This is a familiar practice to students across the United States, since most states currently <a href="https://undergod.procon.org/view.additional-resource.php?resourceID=000074">require schools</a> to recite the pledge at the beginning of each day. And yet, some students opt out of the ritual, choosing instead to remain seated, or stand but stay silent. </p>
<p>Are these students less patriotic than those who stand willingly and proudly to recite the pledge? As <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=3KQghq8AAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">someone who studies</a> how young people engage with politics, I think the answer may be a bit more complex than you think.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.people-press.org/2011/11/03/section-4-views-of-the-nation/">Some studies</a> suggest that the answer is yes, that young people tend to view the country more negatively than older generations, or that younger generations tend to be less proud of the United States. </p>
<p>These studies often ask young people how satisfied they are with where the country is or where it is going. Younger generations – millennials, born between 1981 and 1996; and Generation Z, those born after 1996 – tend to be <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/05/upshot/younger-americans-are-less-patriotic-at-least-in-some-ways.html">less satisfied</a> with the current state of affairs and less proud to be American.</p>
<p><iframe id="UzV9F" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/UzV9F/1/" height="500px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>However, this dissatisfaction or lack of pride does not necessarily mean that young people are less patriotic; instead, it may point to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/americans-have-shifted-dramatically-on-what-values-matter-most-11566738001">a shift in what matters</a> to young people and what they perceive as patriotism. </p>
<p>For example, a Market Research Foundation survey found that <a href="http://dailytorch.com/2019/08/no-generation-z-is-not-less-patriotic-or-religious/">younger generations still care</a> about the well-being of the United States and policies related to the country’s stability, even though they may not associate it with patriotism. </p>
<p>And a Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement study shows that young voters are <a href="https://civicyouth.org/growing-voters-engaging-youth-before-they-reach-voting-age-to-strengthen-democracy/">showing up more for midterm elections</a>, which suggests that they care more about the future of the country than young generations of the past. </p>
<p>Furthermore, they seem to be <a href="https://civicyouth.org/circle-poll-youth-engagement-in-the-2018-election/">more engaged with politics</a> now than in the recent past, even if they are less committed to particular political parties.</p>
<p>When it comes to the flag as a symbol, a public opinion poll conducted by the Foundation for Liberty and American Greatness suggests that young people see the flag less as a symbol to be proud of and more as <a href="https://www.flagusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/FLAG-Patriotism-Report-11.13.2018.pdf">a symbol of what is wrong</a> with the country. If more students are associating the flag with flaws in the system, it would explain why some students opt out of standing for the pledge of allegiance or other celebratory acts. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2016.1220877">My own work</a> on a project-based high school government course shows that school coursework can help students figure out how to engage with democracy in ways that make sense to them. This means that, even as students report feeling less patriotic about the current system, they are engaging with it in an effort to change it for the better.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305047/original/file-20191203-66986-1iluieq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305047/original/file-20191203-66986-1iluieq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/305047/original/file-20191203-66986-1iluieq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305047/original/file-20191203-66986-1iluieq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305047/original/file-20191203-66986-1iluieq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305047/original/file-20191203-66986-1iluieq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305047/original/file-20191203-66986-1iluieq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/305047/original/file-20191203-66986-1iluieq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Climate activists participate in a student-led climate change march in Los Angeles on Nov. 1, 2019.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Greta-Thunberg-Youth-Protest/9d96b7216f2f4eff9e144fc0894cdc85/168/0">AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the end, it’s too simplistic to say that young people who are dissatisfied with the U.S. at present aren’t patriotic. It’s likely that the very students who are refusing to stand for the pledge are exhibiting their patriotism by demanding a better tomorrow, as was seen in the student <a href="https://www.tjsl.edu/sites/default/files/files/Student%20Protests,%20Then%20and%20Now%20-%20The%20Chronicle%20of%20Higher%20Education.pdf">protest movements of the 1960s</a> and other current <a href="http://neatoday.org/2019/09/19/the-greta-effect-student-activism-climate-change/">student-led protests</a>. </p>
<p>This might provide all Americans with some hope, since it means young people actually care about the future state of affairs. It may also signal it is time to work together to build a country that we can all celebrate. </p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/126551/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jane Lo has received funding from the Spencer Foundation. She also serves as a member of the board of Generation Citizen. </span></em></p>A teen asks why so many young people don’t stand for the Pledge of Allegiance or the national anthem. The data shows that young Americans today do view the U.S. more negatively than older generations.Jane Lo, Assistant Professor of Education, Florida State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1273002019-11-19T14:05:07Z2019-11-19T14:05:07ZWhy saying ‘OK boomer’ at work is considered age discrimination – but millennial put-downs aren’t<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302281/original/file-20191118-66921-g49omo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">OK, boomer... </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/male-company-employee-feeling-tired-listening-1512367268">Motortion Films/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The phrase “OK boomer” <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/11/18/779783608/-okboomer-vs-okmillennial-workplace-nightmare-or-just-a-meme">has become a catch-all</a> put-down that Generation Zers and young millennials have been using to dismiss retrograde arguments made by baby boomers, the generation of Americans who are <a href="https://www.careerplanner.com/Career-Articles/Generations.cfm">currently 55 to 73 years old</a>.</p>
<p>Though it <a href="https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/ok-boomer">originated online</a> and primarily is <a href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/farrahpenn/ok-boomer-jokes-that-prove-gen-zers-are-funnny">fueling memes</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/okboomer?lang=en">Twitter feuds</a> and a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/11/13/problem-with-ok-boomer/">flurry of commentary</a>, it has begun migrating to real life. A New Zealand lawmaker <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/new-zealand-lawmaker-says-ok-boomer-during-parliament-speech-about-n1078066">lobbed the insult</a> at an older legislator who had dismissed her argument about climate change. </p>
<p>As the term enters our everyday vocabulary, HR professionals, <a href="https://law.uoregon.edu/explore/elizabeth-tippett">employment law specialists like me</a> and even <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/15/us/supreme-court-age-bias.html">Supreme Court justices</a> now must ponder the question: What happens if people start saying “OK boomer” at work?</p>
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<h2>Evidence of discrimination</h2>
<p>A lot of the internet fights over “OK boomer” revolve around whether the phrase is offensive or not. But when you’re talking about the workplace, offensiveness is not the primary problem. The bigger issue is that the insult is age-related.</p>
<p>Workers aged 40 and older are protected by a federal statute called the <a href="https://www.dol.gov/general/topic/discrimination/agedisc">Age Discrimination in Employment Act</a>, which prohibits harassment and discrimination on the basis of age. </p>
<p>Comments that relate to a worker’s age are a problem because older workers often face negative employment decisions, like a layoff or being passed over for promotion. The only way to tell whether a decision like that is tainted by age discrimination is the surrounding context: comments and behavior by managers and coworkers. </p>
<p>If a manager said “OK boomer” to an older worker’s presentation at a meeting, that would make management seem biased. Even if that manager simply tolerated a joke made by someone else, it would suggest the boss was in on it.</p>
<p>Companies also risk age-based harassment claims. Saying “OK boomer” one time does not legally qualify as harassing behavior. But frequent comments about someone’s age – for example, <a href="https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca1/17-1191/17-1191-2018-08-01.html">calling a colleague “old” and “slow”</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=7763968087195450711">“old fart”</a> or <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=5555043418652493543&q=%22age-based+harassment%22&hl=en&as_sdt=2006">even “pops”</a> – can become harassment over time.</p>
<h2>Gen Xers are covered too</h2>
<p>And it doesn’t matter if the target isn’t even a boomer.</p>
<p>Gen Xers were born <a href="https://www.kasasa.com/articles/generations/gen-x-gen-y-gen-z">around</a> 1965 to 1979. That makes them older than 40 and covered by federal age discrimination law. </p>
<p>Yes, I get that the comment is <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/better/lifestyle/ok-boomer-diving-generation-what-does-it-mean-ncna1077261">a retort to “unwoke” elders</a> who cannot be reasoned with. The problem is that the phrase is intended as a put-down that is based, at least partly, on age. If you say it at work, you’re essentially saying, “You’re old and therefore irrelevant.” </p>
<p>Lumping Gen Xers into a category with even older workers doesn’t make it better. Either way, you are commenting on their age.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1194357940007796737"}"></div></p>
<h2>Funny or not</h2>
<p>I recently watched some of the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NarX9usjj0Q">“OK boomer” TikTok compilations</a>. </p>
<p>A lot of them were quite funny, like the hairdresser imitating a customer who criticized her tattoos as unprofessional. She responded, “OK boomer,” while appearing to lop off a huge swath of the customer’s hair.</p>
<p>When I was an employment lawyer, I heard tons of hilarious stories of things people said in the workplace. But that’s the point: The story ended with a lawyer on the other end of the phone. </p>
<p>One of the <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=2149108217300957983&q=reeves+v.+sanderson&hl=en&as_sdt=2006">most famous</a> age-discrimination cases – which made its way all the way up to the Supreme Court – involved a manager who described an employee as “so old he must have come over on the Mayflower.” </p>
<p>In other words, “it was just a joke” is an awful legal defense. </p>
<h2>Tit for tat</h2>
<p>To millennials who have suffered through years of being called “snowflakes” by their elders, protests of age discrimination can seem a bit rich. Why didn’t HR ban all those <a href="https://jeffjbutler.com/2019/04/12/where-did-the-avocado-toast-millennial-stereotype-come-from/">millennial jokes about avocado toast</a>? </p>
<p>The Age Discrimination in Employment Act only kicks in for workers who are 40 or older, which means millennials aren’t covered. For now.</p>
<p>The oldest millennials will turn 40 later this year. So fear not, the millennial jokes may eventually become a legal problem for companies as these workers age.</p>
<p>Also, a few states, <a href="https://dhr.ny.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/age-discrimination.pdf">including New York</a>, ban age discrimination for all workers over 18, and employers in those states probably should have done something about the millennial jokes.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302470/original/file-20191119-111690-qw4ly8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/302470/original/file-20191119-111690-qw4ly8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302470/original/file-20191119-111690-qw4ly8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302470/original/file-20191119-111690-qw4ly8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=397&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302470/original/file-20191119-111690-qw4ly8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302470/original/file-20191119-111690-qw4ly8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/302470/original/file-20191119-111690-qw4ly8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=499&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Millennials tired of their elders making fun of their love for avocado toast are out of luck.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/healthy-avocado-toasts-breakfast-lunch-rye-1105043105?src=343fd847-5577-4d34-8228-a345bef4f2e9-1-23">By Nelli Syrotynska/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why older workers need protections</h2>
<p>Boomers might seem really powerful, and yes, they might be your boss’s boss’s boss. </p>
<p>But older workers are more vulnerable than they seem. Older workers are expensive – by the time they’ve worked their way up the corporate ladder, their generous salaries start to weigh on the balance sheet. And management <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/emplrght16&div=6&id=&page=">may have trouble</a> envisioning spectacular growth and innovative ideas from them years into the future, even if they are ready and willing to deliver.</p>
<p>That’s why Congress thought it was important to extend protections to those workers. It wanted employers to treat them <a href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar_case?case=7232159241469569502">as individuals</a> who shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand because of their age.</p>
<p>And in many ways, <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/10/31/why-gen-z-millennials-using-ok-boomer-baby-boomers/4107782002/">that’s what young people seem to want</a> as well: a little respect for what they bring to the table. After all, that meme didn’t make itself.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article originally published on Nov. 19, 2019.</em></p>
<p>[ <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=expertise">Expertise in your inbox. Sign up for The Conversation’s newsletter and get a digest of academic takes on today’s news, every day.</a></em> ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127300/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth C. Tippett does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>An employment law expert explains why you shouldn’t use an age-related insult at work to demean an older colleague – an issue even the Supreme Court is now talking about.Elizabeth C. Tippett, Associate Professor, School of Law, University of OregonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1251932019-11-08T12:14:29Z2019-11-08T12:14:29ZWTF? Slurs offend young adults more than swearing<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300761/original/file-20191107-10952-1mm7ae9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Lizzo's hit songs include a lot of profanity.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Lizzo-in-Concert-Washington-D-C-/a933243e63c54bbb88cc5d82d20aa616/107/0">Photo by Brent N. Clarke/Invision/AP)</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1972, the comedian <a href="https://www.dacapopress.com/titles/james-sullivan/seven-dirty-words/9780786745920/">George Carlin</a> performed a comedy routine in which he listed the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbZhpf3sQxQ">seven words</a> you couldn’t say on television. He opined that profanity related to sexual activities, body parts and bodily functions wasn’t inherently good or bad. All words, he would say, are “<a href="https://www.lingq.com/it/lesson/george-carlin-theyre-only-words-447259/">innocent</a>.” </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300324/original/file-20191105-88387-1a4w2du.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300324/original/file-20191105-88387-1a4w2du.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300324/original/file-20191105-88387-1a4w2du.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300324/original/file-20191105-88387-1a4w2du.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300324/original/file-20191105-88387-1a4w2du.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=969&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300324/original/file-20191105-88387-1a4w2du.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1218&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300324/original/file-20191105-88387-1a4w2du.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1218&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300324/original/file-20191105-88387-1a4w2du.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1218&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The comedian George Carlin got arrested in 1972 for reciting dirty words at a Milwaukee festival.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/APTOPIX-Obit-George-Carlin/f93de701d01140e7b20e29b260cccf3a/96/0">AP Photo</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>But reciting those seven words in public <a href="https://markwalston.com/2012/03/18/george-carlin-utters-seven-words-and-is-arrested-for-public-obsenity/">got him arrested</a>, and when a New York radio station aired Carlin’s performance, a man listening with his young son sued. The case led to the <a href="https://www.oyez.org/cases/1977/77-528">Supreme Court ruling</a> six years later that broadcasting <a href="https://constitutioncenter.org/blog/george-carlin-and-the-supreme-court-36-years-later">profanity can constitute a public nuisance</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=pJ8u7AQAAAAJ&hl=en">I’m a cognitive scientist</a> who studies language in all its manifestations, including profanity. Based on the evidence available, it appears that virtually everything about profanity has changed since the 1970s. To begin with, at least four of those previously forbidden words have become pervasive in media, in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/08838150802643522">television</a>, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/2531602.2531734">social media</a>, <a href="https://jvwr-ojs-utexas.tdl.org/jvwr/index.php/jvwr/article/download/7274/6406">online gaming</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/NYT_first_said/status/1191669974831706113">newspapers</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017723689">books</a>. Even <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/30/politics/politicians-profanity/index.html">politicians</a> across the political spectrum are <a href="https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/in-the-know/457732-f-bombs-away-why-lawmakers-are-cursing-now-more-than-ever">beginning to swear</a> in more open and strategic ways than they used to. </p>
<p>All of this cursing could be alarming if you’re, say, a parent of young children, like I am. But as they’ve become more prevalent, dirty words have also lost a lot of their edge among young people.</p>
<p><iframe id="Qrha8" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Qrha8/3/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Becoming more common and less upsetting</h2>
<p>Every fall since 2010, I have surveyed about 100 undergraduates who take my introductory language class. I ask them how offensive words are, including “whore” “damn” and 90 others that seem unsuitable to print here.</p>
<p>Most of Carlin’s words seem less shocking today. The F-word really raised eyebrows in 1972. In 2019, it had dropped to 23rd in my survey, just ahead of “asshole.” The S-word was No. 43, just ahead of “dumb.” Only two of Carlin’s filthy words, both of which start with the letter C, even cracked the top 10. These rankings have barely budged over the past decade.</p>
<p>So why do many bad words sting young people less than they used to?</p>
<p>Partly it’s because they’re so common. People are now estimated to use an average of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111%2Fj.1745-6924.2009.01115.x">80-90 profanities per day</a>. In the most extensive <a href="http://www.doi.org/10.5406/amerjpsyc.126.4.0459">observational work</a> with children to date, the psychologists Kristin and Timothy Jay found the F-word and the S-word to be the most commonly used profanities by children under the age of 13. So it’s no shock that these words would lose their impact. </p>
<p>But this doesn’t mean young people find nothing offensive. </p>
<p>Specifically, they don’t like slurs.</p>
<p>For example, the second-most-offensive word according to the undergrads taking my survey this year is a different F-word – a three-letter slur used to disparage LGBTQ people. No. 4 is the R-word – a six-letter slur used against people with intellectual disabilities. These are among a host of slurs that even mental health professionals <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/10504/38948">once used without compunction</a> but that young adults like my students now reject.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300528/original/file-20191106-12455-v5th23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300528/original/file-20191106-12455-v5th23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300528/original/file-20191106-12455-v5th23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300528/original/file-20191106-12455-v5th23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300528/original/file-20191106-12455-v5th23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=414&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300528/original/file-20191106-12455-v5th23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300528/original/file-20191106-12455-v5th23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300528/original/file-20191106-12455-v5th23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=520&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The large number of vulgar words in transcripts of President Nixon’s taped conversations shocked the public.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Foul-Mouthed-Politicians/04661ecebcea419895fbd9f22dd94e0a/1/0">AP Photo</a></span>
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<h2>Causing harm</h2>
<p>Many hands have been wrung, and frequently, at the prospect that swearing might harm young minds. Fortunately, as I explain in “<a href="https://www.basicbooks.com/titles/benjamin-k-bergen/what-the-f/9780465060917/se">What the F</a>,” a book, children who are exposed to these words exhibit no measurable cognitive, emotional or physical harm as a consequence.</p>
<p>Now, I have to place a bulky caveat here. Ethical concerns prohibit randomized controlled trials, in which children are exposed to gushers of Carlin-worthy profanity. So scholars have to infer from what happens once those children become adults, when we can measure the relationship – if there is any – between their own swearing and their emotional and cognitive lives.</p>
<p>On the cognitive side, swearing fluency in young adults is associated with <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.langsci.2014.12.003">having a bigger vocabulary</a>. People who curse more also <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/is-swearing-a-sign-of-a-limited-vocabulary/">rate higher on “intellect” as a personality trait</a> than those who generally watch their language.</p>
<p>One study, conducted by a team led by Brigham Young University family life professor Sarah Coyne, did suggest that adolescents who use more profanity are more likely to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-1062">behave aggressively</a>. But this correlation is most likely due to aggression causing profanity use rather than the reverse. </p>
<p>Slurs, on the other hand, do appear to cause harm. When a team of psychologists tracked <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0272431606294839">middle school students</a>, they found that more exposure to homophobic slurs left children feeling less connected to their school and exhibiting increased symptoms of anxiety and depression. But, because that research didn’t control all factors involved, it’s possible that the negative emotional outcomes were caused by something the study didn’t look at, not the slurs.</p>
<p>Other researchers, however, has demonstrated that slurs can make people exhibit more prejudicial behavior. Teams led by social psychologist <a href="https://www.surrey.ac.uk/people/fabio-fasoli">Fabio Fasoli</a>, for example, exposed undergraduates to either a slur for homosexuals or a neutral term. Then they asked the students to allocate hypothetical funds to a variety of causes. Those who had seen the slur decided to allocate less money to HIV-AIDS prevention efforts for “high risk groups.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300326/original/file-20191105-88414-fofi23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300326/original/file-20191105-88414-fofi23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/300326/original/file-20191105-88414-fofi23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300326/original/file-20191105-88414-fofi23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300326/original/file-20191105-88414-fofi23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300326/original/file-20191105-88414-fofi23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300326/original/file-20191105-88414-fofi23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/300326/original/file-20191105-88414-fofi23.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Words like ‘queer’ are no longer the slurs they once were.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/LGBTQ-Pride/48862b42dca54b34af9ac9ef08dc1b20/290/0">AP Photo/Tina Fineberg</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Fading away</h2>
<p>Even as some slurs have become more offensive, others have arguably lost their sting.</p>
<p>Words like <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0956797613482943">gay, dyke and queer</a> have become less offensive because the people who they used to disparage have adopted them to <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pragma.2014.02.009">express confidence or pride in their identity</a>.</p>
<p>Other pejorative terms have faded away. Many <a href="http://www.rsdb.org/races">ethnic slurs like “dago</a>,” used at one point in time to disparage people of Italian and sometimes Spanish descent, and “kraut,” a derogatory way to refer to Germans and German-Americans, seem to have disappeared from youth consciousness entirely.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/125193/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Benjamin Bergen has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity.</span></em></p>A cognitive scientist observes that the words that bother college-age Americans today can cause harm.Benjamin Bergen, Professor of Cognitive Science; Director of the Language and Cognition Lab, University of California, San DiegoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1248702019-11-05T12:16:26Z2019-11-05T12:16:26ZAmerican youth don’t know much about the juvenile justice system<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298600/original/file-20191024-170458-1avy78w.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">About 1.6 million minors are arrested in the U.S. every year.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hand-jail-girl-house-detention-concept-709809799?src=d2B2oY5HN-dPqJ7i8RMCeQ-1-11">chatiyanon/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Young people in the U.S. who end up in the juvenile justice system often leave the system <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjv003">much worse</a> than when they entered. </p>
<p>But American youth know little to nothing about the juvenile justice system that would determine their future if they were ever accused of committing a crime. </p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=vTwIjSIAAAAJ&hl=en">Our team</a> surveyed nearly 1,000 teens and young adults across the country to gain insight into their perceptions of this system. We found that many have limited knowledge or are conflicted about its purpose. </p>
<h2>Juvenile justice in the US</h2>
<p>The most common way a young person enters the juvenile justice system is through an encounter with police. </p>
<p>In the U.S., an estimated <a href="https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/nr2014/downloads/chapter5.pdf">1.6 million people under the age of 18</a> are arrested each year. Those who are arrested are disproportionately male and of a minority race. Larceny, simple assault, drug abuse violations and disorderly conduct offenses account for <a href="https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/nr2014/downloads/chapter5.pdf">half of all juvenile arrests</a>. </p>
<p>In correctional facilities, <a href="https://www.ojjdp.gov/ojstatbb/nr2006/downloads/NR2006.pdf">youth may experience</a> overcrowding, physical and sexual violence or trauma. </p>
<p>Incarceration of youth – in prison or other correctional facilities – has been linked to <a href="https://youth.gov/youth-topics/juvenile-justice/youth-involved-juvenile-justice-system">academic failure</a>, disengagement from school, disciplinary problems and <a href="https://voxeu.org/article/what-long-term-impact-incarcerating-juveniles">adult incarceration</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.10465">Adults with a history of juvenile justice involvement</a> are more likely to have depression, anxiety, PTSD and suicide attempts, compared to those without involvement. </p>
<h2>Little to no knowledge</h2>
<p><a href="http://hearmyvoicenow.org/">MyVoice</a> is a national poll that collects the opinions of 14- to 24-year-olds across every state in the U.S.</p>
<p>In February, through MyVoice, we asked youth a series of questions about what they know about the U.S. juvenile justice system. For example, we asked, “When youth commit a crime, the juvenile justice system determines what happens to them. What do you know about this system?” </p>
<p>Fifty-six percent said they knew little to nothing. That’s <a href="https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935383.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935383-e-104">similar to what adults say they know</a> about the adult criminal justice system.</p>
<p>One said, “[I know] very little. I know about juvenile detention from television shows like iCarly.” </p>
<p>Another said “Mostly I know what I have seen in TV shows and movies. Which [I] question the accuracy of. Otherwise I know a small bit from media like news.” </p>
<p>“I’m not even sure what the age is to charge someone through the juvenile system versus the adult system,” added another.</p>
<p>Many young people also recognized their limited knowledge as a problem. As one said, “I don’t know a lot, but I feel like I should learn more.” </p>
<p><a href="https://jlc.org/resources/broken-bridges-how-juvenile-placements-cut-youth-communities-and-successful-futures">According to a 2018 report</a> from a youth advocacy project at the Juvenile Law Center in Philadelphia, youth not only enter the system with little knowledge of it, but are often kept in the dark once in the system. </p>
<p>“I wasn’t aware that I would be going to prison and was being tried in adult court,” wrote Nigee, one youth who has been involved in the juvenile justice system.</p>
<p>“On my way to court, right before I got there, my worker told me I was not going home. They did not tell me how long I was staying. I was 14; I didn’t know anything,” wrote another named Alex.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298660/original/file-20191025-124764-1ec08ou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298660/original/file-20191025-124764-1ec08ou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/298660/original/file-20191025-124764-1ec08ou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298660/original/file-20191025-124764-1ec08ou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298660/original/file-20191025-124764-1ec08ou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=404&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298660/original/file-20191025-124764-1ec08ou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298660/original/file-20191025-124764-1ec08ou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/298660/original/file-20191025-124764-1ec08ou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A sign outside a youth correctional facility in Oregon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/JUVENILE-JUSTICE-CUTS/c109a4fc559946ae8981209e069c5896/2/0">AP Photo/Jeff Barnard</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Conflicted over its purpose</h2>
<p>MyVoice data indicate that not only are youth uneducated about the system overall, but are conflicted on what should happen to a young person if they were to enter this system. </p>
<p>According to the U.S. government, the purpose of the juvenile justice system is rehabilitation – developing skills, addressing treatment needs and <a href="https://youth.gov/youth-topics/juvenile-justice">“successful reintegration of youth into the community.”</a></p>
<p>In our survey, 65% stated that the purpose of this system should primarily be to rehabilitate, educate or prevent future criminal behavior. At the same time, 56% thought youth who commit a crime should be charged or punished.</p>
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<p>Many young people in the MyVoice study displayed conflicting thoughts about the juvenile justice system.</p>
<p>One 17-year-old mentioned that the goal of the system should be to “reform the children,” but that youth who enter the juvenile justice system “should be punished.” Another agreed that the goal should be “to reform, not incarcerate… maybe [through] a program that treats them like human beings.” </p>
<h2>Better education</h2>
<p>These responses highlight the need for reliable and accessible resources that can help young people better understand the juvenile justice system.</p>
<p>There is no set curriculum for what youth ought to know. But there are elements in the life of youth, such as missing school or “partying,” that could get them mixed up in the juvenile justice system – under offenses such as truancy, underage drinking or <a href="https://www.sandiego.gov/police/services/prevention/community/parental/curfew">curfew violation</a>.</p>
<p>If youth better understood the juvenile justice system, they would be more equipped to navigate the system and advocate for programs and policies that could benefit them.</p>
<p>The voices of young people in our study demonstrate a gap where education and greater visibility can help move what is happening in the juvenile justice system out of the shadows.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/124870/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tammy Chang receives funding from the National Institutes of Health.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Omar Ilyas and Vic Wiener do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>In a survey, 56% of Americans aged 14 to 24 said they knew little to nothing about the juvenile justice system.Tammy Chang, Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, University of MichiganOmar Ilyas, Research Associate at Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, University of MichiganVic Wiener, Law Student at College of Law, University of TulsaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1234992019-10-22T11:39:28Z2019-10-22T11:39:28ZIf you’re using ‘millennial’ as a meaningful measurement, you should probably stop<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/295308/original/file-20191002-49377-wrjr0n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Does your mental image of a millennial align with reality?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/friends-chilling-outside-taking-group-selfie-1025803621?src=5KFokPZPTjjFWtdh3rTQ7A-1-28">Jacob Lund/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>What value does the word “millennial” actually have?</p>
<p>Americans have heard the term ad nauseum by now. In <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2019/05/22/millennials-could-push-american-politics-left-or-totally-upend-them/">politics</a>, public relations or <a href="https://www.inc.com/christina-desmarais/27-expert-tips-for-marketing-to-millennials.html">marketing</a>, it’s a buzzword. </p>
<p>But millennial doesn’t hold nearly as much meaning as Americans pretend it does. Here’s why. </p>
<h2>It doesn’t mean what we often say it means</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.foxnews.com/health/vaping-harming-teeth-study">A recent news story</a> in Fox News was an example of a common problem – though any examination of news coverage would likely show that such a story is not unique. </p>
<p>The segment, which aired Sept. 12, featured a discussion about the teenage vaping crisis. A health expert asked, “Why is the attraction for the young generation, why the attraction for the millennial population that is using these products?” </p>
<p>Similarly, my university students frequently say, “Well, you know us millennials like or do ‘x.’” I’ll ask for clarification on who they’re talking about. They’ll say, “I don’t know, 18- to 24-year-olds.”</p>
<p>The problem? The use of the term in such a context is wrong. The term millennials has become synonymous with “young people,” “college students” or the like. </p>
<p>But, while the term has arguably been used the same way for years, the generation is of course aging. While definitions may vary, <a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/essay/millennial-life-how-young-adulthood-today-compares-with-prior-generations/">according to Pew</a>, one of the nation’s leading research organizations, the term applies to those born between 1981 and 1996. As a new generation label is applied about every 15 to 20 years, millennials are now between about 23 and 38.</p>
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<p>It’s important to use the right term for the right group. A reference to teens or a typical college student is now a reference to <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/consumer-packaged-goods/our-insights/true-gen-generation-z-and-its-implications-for-companies">Generation Z</a>, not millennials. </p>
<h2>A big, diverse group</h2>
<p>Okay, fine. If you get the definition correct and use it properly, then you’re good, right? Millennials are still this collective of young working adults, you say. </p>
<p>No. The term is often meaningless because of the group’s size and diversity. As of this year, millennials have become the largest population group in the country, <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/03/01/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers/">over 70 million</a>. That’s roughly equivalent to the number of Americans living in the Pacific and Mountain West time zones combined. </p>
<p>Large numbers of people – be it “millennials” or “Americans” – are put into categorical buckets to simplify and make sense of a large amount of information. But that may lead to troublesome characterizations in light of the diversity within such a big group. </p>
<p>For example, the generation is <a href="https://money.cnn.com/interactive/economy/diversity-millennials-boomers/">far more racially diverse</a> than previous American generations, as it’s just over half white. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/07/30/most-common-age-among-us-racial-ethnic-groups/ft_19-07-11_generationsbyrace_1/"><img src="https://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/FT_19.07.11_GenerationsByRace_1.png?w=640"></a></p>
<p>You may have heard some of the stereotypes about millennials. They’re broke college graduates <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/student-loan-debt-i-had-a-panic-attack-millennials-struggle-under-the-burden-of-student-loan-debt/">loaded with school loans</a> living with their parents after school. And they’re all <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2018/10/08/millennials-tinder-survey-single-life-dating-relationships/1535860002/">single and not having kids</a>.</p>
<p>Perhaps my favorite story that summarized these stereotypes was titled “<a href="https://money.cnn.com/2017/05/15/news/millennials-home-buying-avocado-toast/index.html">Millionaire to millennials</a>: Lay off the avocado toast if you want a house.”</p>
<h2>Myth-busting</h2>
<p>Even a surface-level review of the data busts many of these broad myths. </p>
<p>While millennials are more educated than any previous generation, the majority – about 60% – <a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/essay/millennial-life-how-young-adulthood-today-compares-with-prior-generations/">don’t have a bachelor’s degree</a>. </p>
<p>In the 2020 election, campaigns and news coverage focus on student loan debt <a href="https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/5/2/18527036/sanders-bernie-millennials-cancel-student-debt-forgiveness">among more educated voters</a>, but data actually show that credit cards are <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/18/student-loans-are-not-the-no-1-source-of-millennial-debt.html">the more common type of millennial debt</a>.</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/essay/millennial-life-how-young-adulthood-today-compares-with-prior-generations/">Pew has shown</a> that millennials with bachelor’s degrees are actually doing quite well financially – to the tune of over US$100,000 household incomes. This number is just below Gen X and above late boomers with a similar education. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, households led by millennials with a high school education are making less than $50,000. So <a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/essay/millennial-life-how-young-adulthood-today-compares-with-prior-generations/">income inequality based on education differences</a> continues to be a major problem, just as it was with previous generations. </p>
<p>While it is true that millennials are <a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/essay/millennial-life-how-young-adulthood-today-compares-with-prior-generations/">much more likely than other generations to live with their parents</a>, 90% of those with a college degree do not. </p>
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<p>The data are similar on the dating and family front. While there is again truth in the broader trend – fewer millennials are married or have kids than the previous generation – about half of millennials are <a href="https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/essay/millennial-life-how-young-adulthood-today-compares-with-prior-generations/">already married or have children</a>. </p>
<p>And, let’s think practically about the age range. How different is one’s life between 23, or the start of the generation, and 38, the end of it? Be it home ownership, family life or job situation, broad discussions are often talking about people in entirely different situations. </p>
<p>Trust me – as an older millennial who has spent most of my university career teaching younger millennials, this becomes clear rather quickly. </p>
<h2>The takeaway</h2>
<p>So, if use of such broad terms can be misleading or inaccurate, why use them at all? </p>
<p>Use of a broad term in a proper context does allow one to make sense of a large group of people. There can still be meaningful trends that are accurate, such as the fact that <a href="https://www.people-press.org/2018/03/20/1-trends-in-party-affiliation-among-demographic-groups/">nearly 60% of millennials lean toward the Democratic Party</a>. </p>
<p>But, even then, that means about 30 million millennials are not in that category. In a world where <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/12/01/donald-trump-will-be-president-thanks-to-80000-people-in-three-states/">tens of thousands of people can decide who is president</a>, any broad summaries miss important points. </p>
<p>I think that the further away industries – like public relations, advertising or political campaigns – can get from lumping people into generalized demographic buckets, the better. Otherwise, they’ll continue to miss useful insights into the nation’s largest group of people. </p>
<p>[ <em>Insight, in your inbox each day.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=insight">You can get it with The Conversation’s email newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/123499/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Joseph Cabosky does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Millennials are now between about 23 and 38 – and the group is more diverse than it often gets credit for.Joseph Cabosky, Assistant Professor of Public Relations, University of North Carolina at Chapel HillLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1227552019-09-03T16:20:08Z2019-09-03T16:20:08ZYour country still needs you: why the British army is running the same old campaign a century after WWI<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290728/original/file-20190903-175678-1l9sd4g.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The army's latest recruitment campaign was mocked for its political correctness.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">MoD</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 1914, the steady gaze and pointing finger of war minister <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/kitchener_lord_horatio.shtml">Lord Kitchener</a> urged the men of Britain that they were all needed to protect their country. A century later in January 2019, the British army channelled this message once more in the latest instalment of its controversial campaign “<a href="https://www.thedrum.com/creative-works/project/karmarama-british-army-belonging-2018">This is Belonging</a>”, which was duly panned for <a href="https://www.forces.net/news/new-british-army-adverts-criticised-being-too-politically-correct">political correctness</a>.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57187/original/mpscn899-1408720196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/57187/original/mpscn899-1408720196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=690&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57187/original/mpscn899-1408720196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=690&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57187/original/mpscn899-1408720196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=690&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57187/original/mpscn899-1408720196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57187/original/mpscn899-1408720196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/57187/original/mpscn899-1408720196.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=867&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>This latest campaign implied that all were needed in uniform, but particularly targeted <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/generation-definitions-what-am-i-millennial-generation-x-y-z-baby-boomers-golden-age-young-old-a8679741.html">millennials and Generation Z</a> – youth groups that are all too often mocked and shunned in the media.</p>
<p>Unlike the previous “Be The Best” campaign – the staple for British army recruitment for many years – and the still-used “Born in … made in the Royal Navy” ads, the recent call for “<a href="https://theconversation.com/snowflake-millennial-label-is-inaccurate-and-reverses-progress-to-destigmatise-mental-health-109667">snowflakes</a>” directly engaged with negative perceptions of modern youth culture. Those considered (by themselves or society) as “snowflakes, selfie addicts, class clowns, binge gamers and phone zombies”, were told they had a place in an army that recognises positive qualities in negative stereotypes.</p>
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<p>But the original and the homage campaigns bear three core similarities. First of all, they both promote inclusivity while actually adhering to strict and specific criteria. They also target recruits from the fringes of society, and finally, both have been more infamous than successful.</p>
<h2>Same method, same message, same problem</h2>
<p>Both campaigns had similar issues. Neither in fact were particularly inclusive. Everyone was needed in 1914 – except of course for the thousands who failed to meet <a href="https://www.royalcornwallmuseum.org.uk/the-haslam-diaries/enlisting-in-kitcheners-army">certain specific criteria</a>, such as being over the age of 18 (19 when sent to fight), being taller than 5ft 3", and passing a rigorous medical examination – though the last two stipulations were relaxed in the final years of the war when more men were needed.</p>
<p>A century later, inclusivity now meant reaching out to millennials for the very reasons their generation is so often <a href="https://medium.com/s/youthnow/why-older-people-have-always-trashed-young-people-8f918529009a">disdained</a>. So all welcome – except the 92,559 applicants in 2018 who, due to medical and fitness issues, <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43111121">didn’t make the cut</a> to join the 7,441 recruits who were eventually enlisted. Perhaps some of the millennial gamers it looked to attract simply did not possess the core fitness levels required by the army, suggesting the campaign was too narrow in targeting such people in the first place. </p>
<p>After eight consecutive years of recruitment shortage, the 2019 snowflake campaign arrived during a era of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2010/nov/05/does-britain-need-the-military-army-navy-raf">questioning the need and purpose</a> of the armed forces. Consistently <a href="https://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/CBP-7930">under target strength</a> since 2000, the rate of trained personnel has been in free-fall. In early 2019, the British Armed forces <a href="https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/army-numbers-down-for-eighth-consecutive-year/">reported a deficit</a> of 10,000, despite the requirement for personnel decreasing by 27% – down from 190,000 in 2000 to 134,304 today.</p>
<p>The socially aware recruitment campaigns of 2018/19 sought to arrest this decline as part of a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/10/army-accused-of-political-correctness-in-recruitment-campaign">£1.6m programme</a> focusing on emotions, individuality and specific millennial “types” such as snowflakes. </p>
<p>Promoting pastoral care (emotional and spiritual support) and the chance to be an individual, the modern military appeared to offer equality and self-expression and value technological dexterity. A century after the end of World War I, the British army was promoting inclusivity to an extent that Kitchener could never have envisaged. </p>
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<h2>A different tack?</h2>
<p><a href="https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/spike-in-applications-to-join-the-army-after-snowflake-recruitment-campaign/">Unashamedly controversial</a>, the snowflake campaign channelled the usual youth-bashing ammunition of raging inter-generational battles. Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996), and Gen Z (born from the mid 1990s onwards), are often denigrated as lacking in conviction, resilience, work ethic, common sense or restraint. Old vs young rhetoric has encouraged media <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2018/07/23/snowflake-label-unfair-young-just-better-showingfeelings-say/">demonisation</a> of what is seen as a hypersensitive, overly indulged youth culture.</p>
<p>In retaliation, these younger generations have criticised the economic decline and political malaise evident in British society since 2000. Recession, environmental crisis, a push toward centre-right politics, Brexit and the rise of populist world leaders have created an anxiety-filled <a href="https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/millennials-more-likely-to-face-workingage-poverty-than-past-generations-a4148931.html">future</a> for them. But with battlelines so clearly drawn, the strength of feeling against the snowflake campaign is unsurprising. </p>
<p>Criticism flew from all sides, with accusations of naivety, <a href="https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2019/01/why-is-the-army-trying-to-recruit-snowflakes/">diminishing standards</a> and underhand recruitment tactics. Charlotte Cooper of <a href="https://www.child-soldiers.org/">Child Soldiers International</a> slammed the release of the campaign during the “January blues”, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2019/mar/24/army-ads-accused-of-targeting-youngsters-during-january-blues-snowflake">saying</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>The ‘snowflake’ campaign tried to present a new side to the army, but this advertising brief shows the same old story: young people with the fewest options being mis-sold a one-sided view of military life as the magic ticket to a better life.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Same old story</h2>
<p>An overly positive depiction of military life is a tried and tested method of army recruitment. Kitchener’s increasingly <a href="https://www.npg.org.uk/whatson/national-memory-local-stories/resources/learning-resource-themes/messages-and-meanings-words-of-war/first-world-war-recruiting-poster/">desperate attempts</a> to draw in civilians promised everything from full stomachs to sexual adventures. Again falling standards were decried (and then changed to increase recruitment numbers) as Kitchener’s recruits had their pride and commitment <a href="https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/between_acceptance_and_refusal_-_soldiers_attitudes_towards_war">called into question</a>.</p>
<p>The British military has always depended on recruiting from the working class. Youth paramilitary organisations dating back to <a href="https://scouts.org.uk/about-us/heritage/">Baden Powell’s</a> early 20th-century scout movement reflected the more accepting and benevolent attitudes to military service that was unthinkable before the Victorian period. No longer seen as “<a href="https://owlcation.com/humanities/Social-anxiety-and-reforming-the-British-soldier-for-a-new-century">rogues</a>”, soldiering could mean self-reliance, adventure and <a href="https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/1150219/british-army-fitness-diet-health-regime">physical fitness</a>. In the modern forces, enlistees also have access to training, <a href="https://www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/our-schools-and-colleges/">education and development</a> and a sense of purpose and belonging.</p>
<p>Both campaigns enjoyed some success with this message. In 1914 millions came forward to join up. In January 2019, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/british-army-recruitment-snowflake-millennial-advertising-campaign-phone-zombies-a8771176.html">recruitment figures doubled</a>. Yet Kitchener’s success is more <a href="https://www.bl.uk/world-war-one/articles/voluntary-recruiting">myth than reality</a>, as the poster appeared in December 1914 at the tail end of the rush, and the beginning of the slog to conscription in 1916. In early 2019, recruitment numbers certainly increased, but in August 2019 official figures confirmed that the army remains <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/08/16/british-armed-forces-have-retention-not-recruitment-crisis-new/">7,000 personnel</a> short of its target.</p>
<p>A century on, Britain’s armed forces continue to lose trained fighters and struggle to replace them. In desperation – or perhaps inspiration – the old Kitchener method was given another opportunity to galvanise the country’s youth. Numbers may be up, but only time will tell if it can be sustained.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/122755/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Simon Harold Walker is not receiving funding from any organisation for research and undertakes research as an Associate Researcher at the University of Strathclyde</span></em></p>In a world that is unrecognisable to that of 1914, should the British army be relying on recruitment tactics that are a century old?Simon Harold Walker, Associate Researcher, University of Strathclyde Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1157882019-07-26T13:02:24Z2019-07-26T13:02:24ZFrom ‘Pretty Little Liars’ to ‘The OC,’ television producers need to stop encouraging teen drinking – here’s how they can<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/284611/original/file-20190717-147303-1jdd0w7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Teens who see drinking on TV are more likely to drink themselves</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/drink-teens-culture-social-standing-friends-521848093?src=_G5bZHUT7alad9DjugQB6g-1-3&studio=1">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Teen drinking is rampant on television these days.</p>
<p>From “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1578873/">Pretty Little Liars</a>” to classic shows like “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0362359/">The O.C.</a>,” you don’t have to look hard to find 16-year-olds sneaking a drink from a flask or getting drunk at a party.</p>
<p>The problem is that as teens see their <a href="https://www.hbo.com/entourage/season-02">favorite characters</a> having a beer on TV, they’re more likely to have one themselves. </p>
<p>The majority of <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3007591/">TV shows teens watch depict characters drinking alcohol</a>, often heavily, with few negative consequences. Sometimes, alcohol brands that appear are <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3007591/">placed there purposefully by alcohol companies</a>.</p>
<p>Alcohol companies are prohibited from advertising their products to teenagers on billboard near schools or buying commercial time during programs in which the majority of the audience is under 21. But there isn’t an explicit ban on paying to have <a href="https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/ftcs-endorsement-guides-what-people-are-asking#productplacements">their brand</a> appear in a television show. This practice is called product placement.</p>
<p>As a researcher of media influences, I became alarmed about what seemed to be a <a href="http://www.camy.org/_docs/resources/reports/alcohol-advertising-monitoring/CAMY_CableTV_2018_Q1-Q2_3.pdf">loophole in regulation</a>. Based on my own <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1086/383431">research</a>, I knew that the more viewers immersed themselves in a show’s narrative, the more they’re likely to be influenced by what it portrays.</p>
<p>In a recent study, I found that teens are particularly susceptible to this effect because they can easily develop <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1086/383431">a connection</a> to characters with whom they identify.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1509/jppm.17.092">My research</a> <a href="https://vcresearch.berkeley.edu/faculty/joel-w-grube">with marketing and</a> <a href="https://www.usuhs.edu/national/faculty/dale-russell-phd-mba-ms">public health</a> <a href="https://www.hofstra.edu/faculty/fac_profiles.cfm?id=4725">colleagues shows</a> that even a single episode shapes viewers’ beliefs about drinking, drinkers and their own intentions to drink.</p>
<p>So how can producers counter this effect?</p>
<h2>Ineffective regulation</h2>
<p>In the United States, alcohol promotion is largely regulated through <a href="https://www.distilledspirits.org/code-of-responsible-practices/">voluntary industry marketing codes</a>. These codes forbid alcohol advertising in media, including digital media, where 28% of the projected audience is under 21. </p>
<p>In the <a href="http://www.camy.org/_docs/resources/reports/alcohol-advertising-monitoring/CAMY_CableTV_2018_Q1-Q2_3.pdf">absence of independent oversight</a>, alcohol companies have long realized that product placement provides a relatively easy way to get around these regulations, to the increasing worry of <a href="https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/126/4/791">consumer advocates</a>.</p>
<p>Alcohol is one of the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021849905050038">most actively placed product categories</a> in Hollywood TV programs and movies. The growth of product placement consistently outpaces that of traditional advertising.</p>
<p>In a broader program of research on viewers’ feeling of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/383431">connectedness</a> to a TV series, my colleagues and I found strong evidence that TV characters’ diets, clothes and even dialect influence viewers, especially when they connect to the characters as if they were real.</p>
<p>Across many studies in different countries and across different TV genres, I found evidence that the emotional connections viewers feel to television characters affects their real life behaviors. Audiences <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2019.1579690">want to be like the “friends”</a> they see on TV.</p>
<p>These powerful influences have fueled the practice of product placement – in this case, of alcohol – and its success.</p>
<h2>Making a TV show</h2>
<p>I wanted to figure out if there was a way to counteract this effect. With funding from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, I created my own TV episodes.</p>
<p>I wrote the script, collaborated with film and theater students at San Francisco State University, professionally edited the videos and even dubbed the shows in French for conducting studies in France, too. </p>
<p>The experiment consisted of 18-minute, professional-quality TV episodes about Tom, a high school student. Tom and his friends drink at a party, which gives Tom the confidence to approach and kiss Katie, his romantic interest.</p>
<p>We used these TV episodes in a series of studies. Participants who agreed to give feedback on a TV pilot – that’s how we presented the research study to them – would watch one version of the episode and then answer questions about the story, characters and degree to which they were transported into the story.</p>
<p>After the episode, we also measured beliefs about the consequences of drinking, attitudes toward drinkers and intentions to drink in the future.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285637/original/file-20190724-110170-w0cb8s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285637/original/file-20190724-110170-w0cb8s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285637/original/file-20190724-110170-w0cb8s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285637/original/file-20190724-110170-w0cb8s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285637/original/file-20190724-110170-w0cb8s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=325&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285637/original/file-20190724-110170-w0cb8s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285637/original/file-20190724-110170-w0cb8s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/285637/original/file-20190724-110170-w0cb8s.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tom is a character from the author’s TV episodes who experiences positive consequences after drinking.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In one version, we <a href="https://doi.org/10.15288/jsad.2008.69.459">included warnings before the episode stating</a> that alcohol products were advertised inside the TV episode. But the viewers who were most immersed in the story and its characters, as measured by their levels of reported “<a href="https://doi.org/10.1086/383431">connectedness</a>,” were immune to the warning.</p>
<h2>Immersive epilogues</h2>
<p>We also filmed epilogues that featured the main character correcting the pro-drinking message in the story.</p>
<p>Half the participants saw the epilogue in which a main character talked directly to the camera to say: “What you see on TV is not real. You do not need to drink to look cool and fit in.” The other half saw the episode without an epilogue. </p>
<p>Though viewers who were immersed in the pro-alcohol storyline reported more favorable attitudes toward drinkers and higher drinking intentions following the episode, we also found a hopeful outcome.</p>
<p>The epilogue was able to correct this influence, but only for viewers who were aware that they were being persuaded to buy a product. In other words, the epilogue had the most corrective power for those viewers who were both transported by the story and recognized someone was selling them something.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/39DLJn2YbyA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The author studied ‘That 70s Show’ in one of her earlier studies.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Getting savvy</h2>
<p>So what does this all mean?</p>
<p>Just as marketers have recognized and embraced that today’s teens are naturally savvy about marketing efforts, so should public health campaign developers.</p>
<p>Today’s teens are growing up with branded content and product placement. They recognize it when they see it. So, get savvy with them: Let them enjoy and get immersed in the stories they watch, but remind them that what they’re watching is in fact fictional – and so are the consequences the characters face.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/115788/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Cristel Antonia Russell receives funding from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.</span></em></p>Teens who see alcohol on TV are more likely to drink. A marketing professor explains how to counter this phenomenon.Cristel Antonia Russell, Professor of Marketing, American University Kogod School of BusinessLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.