Generation Y - Demographics
| Age | This generation includes those born between 1980 and 2000. BusinessWeek |
| There are 70.4 million youths in the U.S. aged 5-22, composing approximately 26% of the whole U.S. population. Polta | |
| Generation Y is more than three times the size of Generation X. BusinessWeek | |
| Ethnicity | This is the most ethnically diverse generation yet. Omelia |
| One in three is not Caucasian. BusinessWeek | |
| Nine out of 10 children under the age of 12 have friends of different ethnicity than their own. Omelia | |
| Home | One in four lives in a single-parent household. BusinessWeek |
| Three out of four have working mothers. BusinessWeek | |
| Money | One out nine high schoolers has a credit card co-signed by a parent. BusinessWeek |
| Teenagers have an average of $100/week disposable income. Marlatt | |
| 40% of the teenagers hold at least a part-time jobs. Marlatt | |
| Connectivity | Generation Y seems to be less cynical and more concerned regarding social issues than Generation X. Omelia |
| 75-90% of the teenagers have a computer at home. Omelia | |
| 50% have access to the Internet from home. Omelia | |
| Interaction | Studies show that Generation Y prefer directness over subtlety, action over observation, and cool over all else. Marlatt |
| They are very heavily influenced by their peers and brands names. They are particularly susceptible to what brands their peers like or do not like. Marlatt | |
| Status | In 1998, 29% of entering first year students felt overwhelmed during the past year. Polta |
| They feel "crunched" for time. Polta |
Teaching Information Literacy to Generation Y: Tested
Strategies for Reaching the
Headphone-Wearing, Itchy Mouse-Fingered, and Frequently Paged
A poster session for the ACRL 10th National
Conference - Spring 2001
By Judith Faust, Elizabeth A. Ginno, Jennifer Laherty
and Kate Manuel
California State University, Hayward