The Generation Gap: Same As It Ever Was

Newsweek, March 21, 1966 (link)

The girl in this 1966 Newsweek cover probably spent the next decade of her life decrying the generation gap, experimenting with a cornucopia of mind-bending substances, and participating in the sexual revolution.

Now, according to her children, she's a square.*

The Pew Research Center's new report "A Portrait of 'Generation Next'" shows that today's 18-25 year olds believe that they're wilder than the generation before them ... who in turn thought they were more out there than young people in 1970.

64% of Gen Nexters say they live in a more exciting time than young people twenty years ago. That could be because, according to the study,

A strong majority (75%) (of Gen Nexters) say today’s youth are more likely to have casual sex than were young people 20 years ago. ... And nearly as many Nexters say they engage more often in binge drinking (69%) and illegal drug use (63%) when compared to their predecessors.

Throw in that 36% have a tattoo (vs 10% of those 40+) and 30% a nontraditional body piercing (vs. 6% 40+), and you can see why Gen Next thinks it's exploring new territory.

But just as these young adults were asked to compare themselves to the same age group in 1986, the same questions were asked in 1990, where, of course, the subjects were asked to contrast themselves with young adults in 1970. In the 1990 survey, half said they lived in a more exciting time than the earlier generation; 54% said they had more sexual freedom.

And although these questions weren't asked in 1970, it's certain that any young adult in the Age of Aquarius would have said they were better off than their peers in 1950 -- at least in the areas that are important to young adults.

Is it ever surprising that

A majority of those ages 18-25 (68%) see their generation as unique and distinct from other generations. ... (but) they are hard-pressed to come up with a word or phrase to describe their generation. In fact, they had an easier time describing their parents’ generation than they did their own. Survey respondents were asked to give one word or phrase that best describes their generation. No single response was offered by more than a handful of Gen Nexters. The words and phrases they used varied widely, ranging from “lazy” to “crazy” to “fun.” When asked to describe their parents’ generation, Nexters used words like “hard-working,” “conservative” and “hippie.” (emphasis ours)

With the exception of "hippie," the girl in the 1966 Newsweek story might have responded the same way about her parents. Now she's the "conservative."

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* a dated word in itself!