The Human Scale returns

Penelope "Brazen Careerist" Trunk has an interesting post on the differences in generations.

A group of think tanks, lead by the Pew Charitable Trusts, found that for the first time, men in their 30s are earning less than their parents. For the first time ever, this generation will not be more well-off financially than their parents. What should we make of this new finding?  Does this mean the American Dream is no longer attainable? 

Probably not. Because this statistic is just a magnified section of a much larger picture – of the great generational shift taking place in America since Generation X became adults. 

The shift is in the definition of the American Dream.  Our dream is about time, not money. No generation wants to live with financial instability.  And we are no exception. But finances alone do not define someone’s American Dream. Especially when our dream is about how we spend our time.

This raises some questions for me.

1.  What's going to happen to all these gated communities with multi-million dollar homes once the Boomers have moved into the retirement home?

2.  How will this impact the care of Boomer parents by their children?

3.  If family and home are more important to Xers and Y's, what expectations does this place on their parents and grandparents?

4.  What impact will this have on how executive leadership teams function?  Will there be pressure to be more flexible about family time?

5.  Does this ultimately lead to a change in mission for organizations to one that focuses on personal development rather than ....?

6.  What does this mean for the arrangement that Boomer parents make with their children who move back in the house during their 20's?

When a wider range of life considerations begin to emerge, and modify previous generations behavior, it suggests to me that younger generations are looking for something that they don't find in their parent's generation.

What I also wonder about is whether this shift to time and home as measures of success is possibly the acceptance of just how hard it is to succeed. That the work required to get "ahead" is such that it isn't worth the sacrifices to relationships.

Where I live in Western North Carolina, we have a lot of young people who have moved here because of the lifestyle.  For example, professional hockey and basketball have been tried here and failed for a number of reasons. People here are not spectators but participants. They run, bike, climb, hike and paddle.  All outdoor activities that require a personal commitment to excel. 

So finding balance between fun and work is a driving question for people here.  And like many communities where outdoor activities are plentiful, finding a way to pay the rent often means three part-time jobs.

I do believe that we are seeing a return to a more human-scale of living, and that technology, instead of intruding, is actually facilitating this.  It will be interesting to see what happens when Generations X and Y are fully in charge of businesses, communities and the nation. Should be interesting as all us Boomers live past the century mark.

Comments

[Commercial Roofing]

Younger generations are looking for something they haven't find from their parents. It is a understood that the younger generations are more adventurous and filled with new ideas because of modernization. Its obvious that human keeps on evolving and what the older generation experienced today about the changes of the younger generation will also be experienced by the younger generation when they'll be on the shoe of their parents and as they get to have their own children also...

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[Commercial Roofing]

I also do believe that we are seeing a return to a more human-scale of living, and that technology, instead of intruding, is actually facilitating this...

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[Penelope Trunk]

Love this post, Ed. I totally agree with you that we are returning to human-scale living.

To your point #1: I read recently that there's a glut of McMansions becuase the Baby boomers who build them want to move somewhere smaller now that their kids left, but Generation X has little intrest in those huge houses.

Penelope