Weird, right? What's wrong with milk? Well, a lot of millennials and Gen Z are going vegan or vegetarian (yes, there's a difference). Others are choosing healthier, more environmentally friendly options. During the lives of millennials and Gen Z, a survey by The Dairy Farmers of America showed that milk sales dropped around 40%.
The National Health Interview Survey conducted by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has found that 66% of millennials live in completely wireless homes and 41% have no landline phone. Gen Z and millennials are overall just ditching their landlines for their homes and sticking with their forever-with-them cellphones.
Be honest, who actually enjoys ironing? Definitely not millennials and Gen Z, apparently. Fewer and fewer members of the younger generations are wearing formal clothes as often as their predecessors, so ironing is falling out of favor. Bustle has also pointed out that many modern fabrics don't need ironing, not to mention there are several cheaper alternatives.
A 2016 Gallup survey found that only a third of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 said that they'd played the lottery in that year, compared to the 61% of those aged 50-64 who played it. Millennials and younger generations have realized that the odds of winning the lottery are so high that they've decided to use the money on other, more important things.
Millennials and older Gen Z are cutting themselves free of that old nine-to-five schedule that so many of their parents and grandparents worked. Numerous reports have shown that younger generations are placing a significant emphasis on flexibility in the workplace. The flexibility they're looking for helps out future bosses just as much as it does employees.
Millennials and Gen Z just aren't as interested in discount warehouse clubs like Sam's Club, Costco, and BJ's like their parents and grandparents have been. Retail analysists have predicted that warehouse clubs will be on the decline if they can't figure out a way to draw in the younger generations.
Barron's has found that stocks just aren't a popular investment strategy amongst millennials and Gen Z. A Bankrate survey found that approximately 13% said they'd be willing to invest in the stock market, and most prefer to invest in real estate, cash, and gold. On the other hand, baby boomers are much more likely to treat stocks as a long-term investment.
So mayonnaise has probably never been the favorite condiment out there, but millennials and Gen Z really just aren't a fan of it. A lot of the hate comes from the unhealthiness of it. The mix of egg yolks, oil, lemon juice, and vinegar doesn't quite lend itself to the health-centric ideals of younger generations, so millennials and Gen Z stick to organic alternatives like avocados.
Millennials are a generation all about health, and Gen Z seems to be pretty health-centric as well. So why are gyms on the decline? The New York Post reported a few years ago that the younger generations prefer specialized studio classes, running clubs, online streaming services, and other non-traditional types of gyms.
A 2018 New York Life survey found that 75% of millennials don't have insurance, simply because they can't afford it. There are those who know that they need it, of course, but they're overwhelmed by the idea of sorting through options and deciding on a coverage amount. Here's a little bit of hope for millennials and younger generations: the younger you are when you get coverage, the cheaper your premiums.
Golf has never been a cheap hobby to get into, so millennials and Gen Z just aren't really getting into it like their parents. Researcher Matt Powell told Business Insider that younger generations just weren't picking up golf, and baby boomers are aging out of it. This has caused the game to decline.
Millennials and Gen Z have been accused of killing marriage and relationships, but they also seem to be killing divorce. A study from the University of Maryland found that between 2008-2016 (prime time for millennials to be married and some of the older Gen Z members) divorce rates dropped by 18%, and it's expected to continue decreasing with the younger generations. Meanwhile, non-millennial couples over 45 continue to see an increase in divorce.
With the rise of Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu, it's pretty unsurprising that most members of the millennial and Gen Z generations are cutting the cable cord. With the flexibility that streaming services provide, it's pretty unlikely that the younger generations will return to cable subscriptions.
Cult favorites like J.C. Penney, Nordstrom, and Macy's are all facing significant financial issues thanks to younger generations. With the rise of online shopping that takes out the hassle of shopping, fewer and fewer millennials and Gen Z are choosing to head to department stores. I mean, who wouldn't like just to buy everything you need right from your couch?
A report on Harley-Davidson motorcycles found that many young millennials and Gen Zers have been showing a dramatically lower interest in riding motorcycles than their predecessors. The cost of buying and maintaining a motorcycle is a lot of the problem, but they also just aren't seen as cool amongst the younger generations.
