Yesterday I had the rare chance to enjoy a quality afternoon with my little sister in my city's main public library after getting off work. I've recently gotten back into reading for leisure rather than for research and couldn't be happier with the change. Regardless, I was up in the children's section of the library (allowing time for my sister to browse for some books) and was reading some reviews of Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twentieth Century on my phone (more on that in another post). While I was reading I happened to overhear the children's section librarian and a security guard lamenting over the younger generation (those born late twentieth century and early twenty-first century). The topics ranged from claims about violence and generational impudence, but centered on the overall lack in education of this generation.
As a member of this lost generation I was rather shocked to discover that my peers had shockingly degenerate lives they had successfully kept hidden from me for all these years! Imagine my surprise discovering this scary truth from two strangers! Unfortunately, the library closed before I could gather the courage to ask these two experts on my generation to expand upon my colleagues' inability to conceive of complex thoughts or; our failure to string sentences together without exclusively utilizing initialisms to express concepts in writing.
As many of you have already guessed, my shock had less to do with my belief regarding these two individual's claims and more to do with the widespread belief by 40+ individuals that these claims are true. I can hardly imagine that I exist as an exception this truth they profess in a public space. Still dumbfounded (and more than a little bit confused) I decided to do some research into the matter. A thirty second google search quickly provided the answers I was looking for! Thank you United States Census!
As a member of this lost generation I was rather shocked to discover that my peers had shockingly degenerate lives they had successfully kept hidden from me for all these years! Imagine my surprise discovering this scary truth from two strangers! Unfortunately, the library closed before I could gather the courage to ask these two experts on my generation to expand upon my colleagues' inability to conceive of complex thoughts or; our failure to string sentences together without exclusively utilizing initialisms to express concepts in writing.
As many of you have already guessed, my shock had less to do with my belief regarding these two individual's claims and more to do with the widespread belief by 40+ individuals that these claims are true. I can hardly imagine that I exist as an exception this truth they profess in a public space. Still dumbfounded (and more than a little bit confused) I decided to do some research into the matter. A thirty second google search quickly provided the answers I was looking for! Thank you United States Census!
As seen in the above graph, educational attainment (as a whole) has grown significantly since 1960 (when the number of residents with less than a high school education began to decrease in earnest) while the last two decades has seen a significant increase in the number of US residents who have a bachelors degree or higher. However, this could be the result of more 40+ individuals (like my informants at the library) pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees while my peers are texting trough their essays and engaging in questionable activities.
Good news for Millennials (born 1990s to 2000s): attainment of undergraduate and graduate degrees is the highest is has ever been for US residents in their mid to late twenties! According to the graph below, more of the population between ages 25 and 29 hold college degrees than the same age range decades ago.
That increase is also shown, though less pronounced, in US residents between ages 25 and 29 who have completed High School. Kudos to my peers for making it through the US education system (run by people ages 30+) and persevering to receive your undergraduate and graduate degrees (even as scrutiny is increasing over the management of primary and secondary educational institutions across the nation)!
Unfortunately my elders seemed to be misinformed regarding the level of education attainment Millennials have earned! Thankfully, I am lucky enough (and don't forget entitled enough) to also have access to public government records. One day, I hope my elders enjoy the same luxury of having access to public government records!
(edit: everyone has access to public government data)
