Background
The two youngest generations of Canadians – most often referred to as Generation Z (ages 9 to 24) and Millennials (25 to 40) – are the largest in the country’s history, and together make up a substantial proportion of the population (over 40%). These generations play a dominant role in today’s economy, both in the workforce and as the principal consumer market in many industries. At the same time, their influence is much less significant when it comes to how the country is governed, in terms of politics and policy. Most of the positions of power in Canada are filled with people in older generations, who often appear to not appreciate or give credence to the priorities of younger people. Because younger Canadians are less likely to vote in elections, they lack political clout to demand greater attention.
But today’s youth are already assuming leadership roles that will expand rapidly over the next few years. It is in everyone’s interest that their voices be heard and fully incorporated into society’s collective decision-making. Their world context and life experiences are distinct from those of their parents and grandparents, and they assume leadership roles tasked with addressing the difficult challenges facing society. This makes it important to understand who they are today, in terms of their values, priorities and life experiences.
A major impediment to understanding Canadian youth is the prevailing tendency of lumping an entire generation into a single group, the implicit assumption being that age alone is the defining characteristic.
Most of what passes for analysis of these generations of Canadian adults amounts to little more than anecdote and stereotype. Aside from data on youth unemployment, student debt and the embrace of everything digital, the Canadian conversation is remarkably devoid of solid evidence about how Generation Zers and Millennials live, what they think, what they value, what they want, or what they hope to achieve. Are they motivated strivers facing a tough job market, or entitled brats who are too picky to accept an unfulfilling job? Are they talented digital innovators or just screen addicts? Have they been nurtured by their Gen X and Boomer parents’ loving encouragement, or are they entitled narcissists poisoned by a lifetime of unearned praise? Newspapers, newsfeeds and dinner tables teem with opinions.
This type of shorthand misses the important insights revealed by Michael Adams two decades ago in his landmark book Sex in the Snow. In that bestselling analysis of Canadian society, Adams showed that demography is no longer destiny, and that every generation is composed of distinct subgroups, each defined by a unique constellation of social values by which individuals orient themselves to the world and their lives.
In 2016, The Environics Institute for Survey Research partnered with Apathy is Boring and other leading organizations to conduct a groundbreaking survey of Canadian Millennials to reveal for the first time a portrait of this generation through the lens of their social values.
Executive Summary
Canadian youth – Millennials (ages 25 to 40) and the leading-edge of the Generation Z (18 to 24) – are now making their way in a world very different from the ones their parents and grandparents navigated in their own time. Today these younger generations enjoy unprecedented opportunities and freedoms while at the same time face unprecedented challenges in areas of employment and housing, as well as confronting such domestic and global threats as climate crisis, widening inequality, systemic racism, and most recently a major pandemic that has put much of their lives on hold. It is in this context that the research portrays the lives and perspectives of Millennials and Gen Z Canadians in terms of their personal identities, circumstances, life aspirations, and perspectives on democracy, global issues and civic engagement. As a whole, youth are doing well, especially in light of the global pandemic which was already six months old when the research was conducted.
But circumstances and outlook are by no means uniform within these generations, and there are significant differences across a number of dimensions. As has been documented in previous Institute research, education emerges as one of the strongest differentiators among youth in Canada; those with a post-secondary degree are doing noticeably better and expressing more a positive future outlook in comparison with those with no more than a high school diploma. By comparison, household income does not make as much of a difference. Positive circumstances and outlook is also closely linked to feeling connected to one’s local community, suggesting that many youth in this country are struggling with social isolation…
Source: environicsinstitute.org/
To a Canadian Young Lady
I devote to you,
My life knew its
Bond and love
And we met beneath,
The stars, the shadows
With moon kissing up.
My heart beat pause,
And the second it return
The night showed you
To my vision of insanity
Blooming in the mist,
Of shadowy force.
Your tear drops disdain,
The pain and longing
Of life, to see you
Again once in a blue moon
And the blanket rolls,
Upon your eternal strand.
Sidharth PK
Kerala, (India)
M A History
Poet, Writer& Creative thinker
