The Next America: Boomers, Millennials, and the Looming Generational Showdown

by Paul Taylor, Pew Research Center

The America of the near future will look nothing like the America of the recent past. America is in the throes of a demographic overhaul. Huge generation gaps have opened up in our political and social values, our economic well-being, our family structure, our racial and ethnic identity, our gender norms, our religious affiliation, and our technology use. Today's Millennials -- well-educated, tech savvy, underemployed twenty-somethings -- are at risk of becoming the first generation in American history to have a lower standard of living than their parents. Meantime, more than 10,000 Baby Boomers are retiring every single day, most of them not as well prepared financially as they'd hoped. This graying of our population has helped polarize our politics, put stresses on our social safety net, and presented our elected leaders with a daunting How to keep faith with the old without bankrupting the young and starving the future. Every aspect of our demography is being fundamentally transformed. By mid-century, the population of the United States will be majority non-white and our median age will edge above 40 -- both unprecedented milestones. But other rapidly-aging economic powers like China, Germany, and Japan will have populations that are much older. With our heavy immigration flows, the US is poised to remain relatively young. If we can get our spending priorities and generational equities in order, we can keep our economy second to none. But doing so means we have to rebalance the social compact that binds young and old. In tomorrow's world, yesterday's math will not add up. Drawing on Pew Research Center's extensive archive of public opinion surveys and demographic data, The Next America is a rich portrait of where we are as a nation and where we're headed -- toward a future marked by the most striking social, racial, and economic shifts the country has seen in a century.

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Sociology, Economics, Science, Society, Leadership

374 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 4, 2014

About the author

Paul Taylor is the executive vice president of special projects at the Pew Research Center, where he oversees demographic, social and generational research. Taylor is the author of The Next America, a new book examining generations and the country’s changing demographics. From 1996 through 2003, he served as president and board chairman of the Alliance for Better Campaigns. Before that, he was a newspaper reporter for 25 years, the last 14 at The Washington Post, where he covered national politics and served as a foreign correspondent. From 1992-1995, he was the Post’s bureau chief in South Africa and reported on the historic transformation from apartheid to democracy. He also covered four U.S. presidential campaigns. Taylor is also the author of See How They Run (Knopf, 1990) and co-author of The Old News Versus the New News (Twentieth Century Fund, 1992). He twice served as the visiting Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton University, in 1989 and 1995. He graduated in 1970 with a bachelor’s in American Studies from Yale University. Taylor has lectured at numerous colleges and frequently discusses Pew Research studies in print and broadcast media.

Reviews

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul Taylor oversees social, demographic and generational research for the Pew Research Center. He has produced a book that is both a reference volume and an interpretive narrative. The theme is the economic realities of the generations and the problem of caring for a growing graying population.

Charts, graphs and narrative drill down into the inter-generational economic well-being of the four groups: Millenials, Xers, Boomers and Silents. The differences are just as striking as the more widely known data on the erosion of the middle class. Through social security and medicare the older generation takes a growing proportion of federal resources. Other charts show Boomers more secure than Xers and Millenials due to the structure of the world they were born into. Taylor sees a "looming generational showdown" as the cost of the senior safety net escalates with the growth in boomer eligibility, but the data predicting a showdown (trends and attitudes on who should pay) is weak.

The book focuses on family and government responsibility for support, but there is another important pillar: pensions. Taylor mentions the decline in pensions and the shift of those remaining from defined benefit to defined contribution but nothing of how it got this way. If and when a "showdown" occurs, I would hope it would reverse the legislative and administrative structures that have weakened private pensions. Retirement Heist: How Companies Plunder and Profit from the Nest Eggs of American Workers is an excellent source on the structural elements of this problem.

There is a lot of data on non-economic issues as well. There are striking differences in political and other attitudes in those born after 1980 from those in all previous generations. The attitudinal differences cut across, economic, race, educational and geographic differences.

There is a lot of data on family issues (marriage, divorce, inter-racial partners), religion, education, immigration and immigrants, technology, and aging all arranged by generation. There are some international comparisons, such as fertility charts and dependency ratios (for the aging and for children). The Appendix has 42 pages of data.

I recommend this for anyone interested in generational research or elder-care policy. I would also recommend for those interested in the fiscal issues of aging and retirement along with the aforementioned "Retirement Heist".

[Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

After finishing this book, I came across this, the Pew Research Center's statistics on library usage, with regards to the Hennepin County Library. Interesting stuff, the kind of stuff you could waste an afternoon online pondering its implications, weaknesses. The use and power of libraries is definitely something that is changing through the years, changing but remaining as important a community resource as ever but, having been provided all of these facts by the Pew, how much can we really make of them? Thinking of that, I checked "The Next America" out at the library, and it pulls from other Pew studies to make its case of how the millennial generation, myself included, differs from any other and what connotations this has for the future of the nation and the world.

The Next America is an interesting compilation of various facts and statistics that present some insights into how the US (and the world) is set up to evolve socially in the coming decades. Its chapters focus on such common topics as the idea of the "digital native," diversifying demographics, how American society is following the rest of the developed world to forgo organized religions and delay marriage and children longer than previous generations. A lot of it is very thought-provoking, and there are plenty of amusing and edifying facts, like that a 20 year old today has a higher likelihood of having a living grandmother than they would of having a living mother in 1900. Each of the chapters reminds me of one of those interesting articles you find online and get distracted reading through while you should be working on something else. However, the "looming generational showdown" as ominously included in the title (what they might call "clickbait" online) turns out to be a rather minor part of the work as a while, which generally holds a strikingly optimistic view.

This is refreshing of course, especially for a millennial often used to such texts on these matters falling closer to this, The Dumbest Generation. The chapter on the "reckoning," the heart of the looming crisis mainly describes how Medicare and Social Security will begin to draw more resources from the young than they will receive when they too grow old as the population of the elderly begins to outgrow the younger generation. It is also interesting to note, as the authors do, the strengthening of ties between "boomers" (or parents) and "millennials" at the same time. So really, it’s just telling us how things keep on getting better, with quite a bit of generalization, leaving out, for instance, how while the millennial is more diverse, more progressive, and more educated than ever before, white millennials still sadly remain trapped in racist thinking Ultimately, provides a lot of food for thought, but focuses little on how things might work out, good or bad.

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I study aging and am a nerd (according to my husband) so this book was right up my alley. I enjoyed the comparisons across generations, racial/ethnic groups and countries. I very much appreciated the author’s transparency in discussing the methods of their surveys in an appendix.

[Melissa Stacy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very educational nonfiction title observing a variety of statistics within generational demographies-- primarily between the old and the young (the Baby Boomers and the Silents vs. the Millennials and Gen-Xers). The author cites a plethora of statistical information (the great bulk of which came from Pew Research polls) in order to build to the final chapter, which examines the terrifying problem of the unsustainable entitlement programs (Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid) that will soon dominate the majority of the U.S. budget. This book, with its focus on hard data and charts, sometimes felt like a real chore to read, but the payoff is a deeper understanding of history (modern history, U.S. history, and world history) as well as trends in global population demography overall. The author does a brilliant job explaining Social Security's history, biggest flaws and unsustainability issues in laymen's terms in the final chapter. I really appreciated reading this book. It gave me a much better understanding of the challenges America is facing, and how, with every day that goes by, the country's problems grow in exponential ways. Sometimes I felt acute stress absorbing these harrowing facts, but overall, this is a hopeful book, a book that states this message loud and clear: we're all in this together, and each generation is already aware of that fact. That's a very heartening message.

[Tori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Taylor serves up a thoughtful-yet-approachable analysis of a whole lot of data around generational differences and the seismic shifts that have taken place in the US in the past 10-15 years thanks to technology, immigration, and economic reset. The central thesis: This is not your grandma's America anymore, but you can understand and respond and change too. While much of the discussion centers on the juxtaposition of Millennials and Boomers in today's society, I feel like it's aimed squarely at those of us in Gen X who are stuck right in the middle, serving as a bridge between two generations. Actually, the more I think about it, we're not really serving as the bridge but traversing the bridge...trying to figure out how to make the best of these very big shifts in social, economic, and spiritual priorities -- shifts that may affect us more dramatically than other generations, in fact, because we're struggling to support ourselves as well as the aging Boomers and the underemployed Millennials. (I also wondered how much of the shifting is typical as generations age. For instance, 20 years ago everyone was yelling "what do we do about lazy, lackluster Gen X?!" -- and now Gen X is running the joint.)

[erforscherin · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you love piecing together a story from data and graphs, this is the book for you! There’s a treasure trove of cool graphs from Pew reports here exploring the composition, lives, and beliefs of different generations in the U.S. (Silent vs. Baby Boomers vs. Gen X vs. Millennials), and Taylor does an admirable job of stitching them together into a coherent narrative.

My only complaint was that it felt a little... unfulfilling? I would have liked to see a little more analysis of why to go with many of the graphs, but I think Taylor was following Pew’s model of sticking just to the facts, only drawing connections where the data was very strong and very clean.

Still, it was an interesting read, and there’s a lot here to chew on (especially in the appendix, which is nothing but graphs!) I only wish I had more time before I have to return this book to the library...

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dense book loaded with statistics. In fact, I couldn't finish it. Worthwhile if you are a health policy analyst, a marketer, or a wonk dealing with generational issues. I got enough out of it to wonder if I will see the breaking points in my lifetime. The book did make me more informed about the crises our economy and society will face in the next 50 years due to having fewer younger workers paying into entitlement programs.

Goodreads needs a category for "abandoned" in cases where one began a book but then decided not to finish!

[Dawn Edgar · Rating 2 out of 5]

as is typical for my gen (x), I resent being ignored in this book in addition to everywhere else. baby boomers got it wrong when they made it all about "me" without considering consequences for their children. in every. single. way. and they call my gen lost. we are not lost, we are pissed. stop discounting the gen that is supporting you and running the world while you enter your golden years. that is all.

[George P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

 Paul Taylor, The Next America: Boomers, Millennials, and the Looming Generational Showdown (New York: PublicAffairs, 2014). Hardcover / Kindle

The Next America is not a book about how to contextualize the gospel in contemporary America. At least, that was not Paul Taylor’s intention in writing it. And yet, as I read his fascinating new study, I couldn’t help but notice its missiological significance.

Drawing on reams of research by the Pew Research Center, which he serves as executive vice president, Taylor describes “the demographic, economic, social, cultural, and technological changes that are remaking not just our politics but our families, livelihoods, relationships, and identities. These shifts have left no realm of society untouched.” He goes on to summarize the effects of those changes this way: “As a people, we’re growing older, more unequal, more diverse, more mixed race, more digitally linked, more tolerant, less married, less fertile, less religious, less mobile, and less confident” (p. 6). Throughout the book, he focuses specifically on the generational differences between “boomers” (Americans born from 1946 to 1964) and “millennials” (Americans born after 1980), the former often being parents of the latter.

After an introductory chapter, successive chapters delve into the specifics of generation gaps (chs. 2–4), economic differences (ch. 5), immigration (ch. 6), racial identity (ch. 7), marriage (ch. 8), religion (ch. 9), use of technology (ch. 10), aging (chs. 11–12), and the effect of these changes on America’s social welfare programs (ch. 13). Rather than summarizing the content of these chapters, let me briefly highlight the kinds of questions missionally minded Christians might ask after reading this book:

Taylor writes, “Young and old in America are poles apart. Demographically, politically, economically, socially, and technologically, the generations are more different from each other now than at any time in living memory” (p. 29). That being the case, how can Christians show the gospel’s relevance to the hopes and fears of each generation without being captured by the prejudices and proclivities of any of them?
“Millennials and Xers [Americans born 1965–1980] are not only in far worse financial shape than Boomers and Silents [Americans born 1928–1945] now, they are also in worse shape than these older generations were back when they were the age Millennials and Xers are now” (p. 60). Moreover, “The young today are paying taxes to support a level of benefits [such as Social Security and Medicare] for the old that they themselves have no prospect of receiving when they become old” (p. 184). That being the case, how can Christians disciple believers, both young and old, to become better stewards of the financial resources God has given them as well as advocates of what Taylor calls “generational equity” (p. 184)?
“America is already one of the most racially and ethnically diverse nations in history, and the modern immigration wave is making our tapestry more intricate with each passing year” (p. 71). That being the case, how should Christians evangelize and disciple immigrant populations, welcome them into our churches, and utilize their networks in their lands of birth for missional ends?
“Our culture has traded the melting pot for the mosaic. We glory in our distinctive hues. In this new milieu, being mixed race—a stigma not just in our society but in most societies for most of human history—carries cultural cachet” (pp. 95–96). That being the case, how do Christians promote greater racial and ethnic diversity at all levels of their congregations? How do we overcome the de facto segregation so characteristic of American churches?
“Lots of particular marriages fail for lots of particular reasons. But nowadays it’s the institution itself that’s in big trouble. And the biggest problem isn’t that people who try marriage are failing at it. It’s that fewer are trying at all” (p. 107). That being the case, how should Christians minister to people among whom extramarital sex and cohabitation are routine, to parents who consider nonmarital childbirth nonproblematic (41 percent of all childbirths in America are now nonmarital), to older people who in increasing numbers divorce their spouses after decades of marriage, and to gay and lesbian persons who want their relationships recognized on par with traditional, opposite-sex marriages?
Quoting Mark Chaves, Taylor writes, “there is much continuity [in American religion], and there is some decline, but no traditional religious belief or practice as increased in recent decades” (p. 129). That being the case, how can Christians best serve the growing ranks of “religious nones,” people who, while not necessarily secular or atheist, are nonetheless not interested in institutional churches and traditional dogma?
Millennials’ “information ecosystem and social platforms are vastly different from those of her forebears. The ever-changing digital landscape is likely to keep those generation gaps quite wide for the foreseeable future. It may even change the very nature of what it means to be human and to grow old” (p. 156). That being the case, how do contemporary Christians make best use of digital technology? How do we leverage it for gospel ends, without becoming unwise users of it?
“Between now and midcentury, even absent any breakthroughs in life extension, the graying of the world’s population [because of both better healthcare and fewer births] will put enormous stress on economics, families, and governments in the US and around the world” (p. 167). That being the case, how should Christians think about aging, generational equity, the importance of having children, and other issues that, while not being explicitly missional issues, nonetheless have implicit consequences for Christian mission in the modern world?

I recognize that my missiological reading of The Next America may not appeal to all readers. For example, I doubt that atheists, agnostics, or adherents of non-Christian religions and worldviews will purchase this book because of the slant of my review. If so, that’s a shame, for this book provides important information about social changes in America that raise questions all Americans—religious or irreligious—will need to answer in the coming years. If I’ve highlighted this book’s relevance for Christians, it’s only because the trends Taylor analyzes have such clear missiological import.

I highly encourage Christian pastors, educators, and lay leaders to readers this book. I also encourage readers to bookmark both http://www.pewresearch.org and http://www.pewforum.org in their web browsers. These websites, among many sites maintained by the Pew Research Center, provide timely studies that are always worth reading.

P.S. If you found my review helpful, please vote yes in my Amazon.com review page.

[Justin · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's amazing how much can change in five years. While The Next America does make some points, and references statistics that relay worthwhile information, many parts are already outdated enough that the notions they espouse are quaint at best, and hopelessly out of touch at worst.

The prime offender is the fact that Taylor repeatedly tries to hammer home just how "optimistic about the future" Millennials are. Fast forward to the present day, and most people under the age of 40 seem almost resigned to the idea that even if they had any money to ever retire, the world is going to burst into flames before they could ever enjoy it.

Or how about the assertion that Millennials and Boomers won't end up at each other's throats, because "They like each other too much." (p. 195) Maybe that was true, back in 2014, but the first page of results for a search on "millenial thoughts on boomers" brought up such headlines as: "The Real Reason Baby Boomers and Millennials Don't See Eye to Eye," "The Survey Results Are In: Millennials Hate Boomers," "Baby Boomers And Millennials Don't Understand Each Other," and "Millennials' Extreme Hatred for Baby Boomers is Totally Unjustified." Can you feel the love, tonight?

And having been written during the Obama administration, much of what it says is steeped in the trappings of a political culture that just doesn't exist anymore. e.g. attitudes toward entitlement programs, general acceptance of immigrants, etc.

There are also sections where the book seems to lose its focus entirely. For example, there's an entire chapter devoted to how interracial marriages have been on the rise, that goes into excruciating detail about exactly which percentages of which mixed-race marriages are happening...without ever tying it together in any substantive way to the inter-generational relationship between Boomers and Millennials. The raw data in these sections is informative, to be sure, but so is knowing the half-lives of various radioactive isotopes--interesting, sure, but equally irrelevant to the matter at hand.

All in all, there are some bits of salient information still to be gleaned from this scant 200 pages (not counting appendices), but the bulk of what's here already feels like it's from a bygone era, even though only half a decade has passed.

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting fact-filled book focused more in laying out a common set of facts to discuss the looming set of generational problems than in advocating any particular solution. Taylor runs down the contrasts between the two largest living generations, the Baby Boomers and the Millenials, in everything from religiosity to marriage patterns to highlight the frictions between the competing interests of young and old. Relying on census and Pew Research data he thoroughly fleshes out the changes in perspective and circumstances between these generations and the political divisions that can already be gleamed as a result. While it would have been fascinating to see what the author would have made of the 2016 election, it was still interesting to see the demographic changes already at work and their implications going forward as of 2013 when the book was written. Similarly, while many of the findings of this book have already been reported on the news, it was still useful to see them compiled and used to paint a cohesive picture of the coming America and the choices that need to be made in the pursuit of both prosperity and justice.

[Les Simpson · Rating 3 out of 5]

While there are lots of interesting bits of data throughout the book, it is striking how much has changed in the 5 years since this book was written/published. For example attitudes about same-sex marriage and legalization of marijuana have obviously changed, with the former now being legal in all 50 states and the latter legal in more states every year. Also, in the age of the Trump presidency, I’m sure Millennials (and everyone else) are more engaged with news and politics than reported, and the rift between Millenials and Baby Boomers on a wide range of social and economic topics seems to be getting wider, not coming together. In short, this is a time capsule of how things were, not the way things are and will be.

[Nathan Schneider · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course, the findings from research will soon be outdated, but the book provides enough historical data that we can see the direction of culture. It's especially interesting to see the way that living generations relate to each other in a number of different categories: religiously, politically, etc. I also read the book iGen this year by Jean Twenge, which is similar in a lot of regards, but focuses more on where we're at, rather than where we're headed. It was helpful to read them together.

[Timothy Liu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good book heavy in statistics and facts. Sometimes it feels more like a list of statistics than a book, but the charts help illustrate an interesting story. The analysis done by the author (parts that weren't just stats) were well thought out and clever.

[Matthew Gilman · Rating 3 out of 5]

insightful but never talks about the future battle it often refers to between the different generations. just a string of statistics.

[Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of interesting statistics showing differences between generations.

[kmm1985 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating. As a social scientist I love data about people trends!

[Dave Cazeau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Offers some good insight on how the US is evolving, and how we came to our current political climate... Use of the Pew Research statistics is helpful too.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent description of the trends in the US, and the implications for us all. Thoughtful, well-documented and engaging.

[Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of interesting data even though this book is already five years old.

[CosmicUnity · Rating 5 out of 5]

For it's time, eerily accurate.

[Daniel Gullotta · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Next America: Boomers, Millennials, and the Looming Generational Showdown" is an engaging and insightful read. Paul Taylor does a fantastic job of breaking down the complex dynamics between generations with clarity and humor. The book offers a balanced perspective, highlighting the challenges and opportunities each generation faces. Taylor's use of data and anecdotes makes the content both informative and relatable. Pastors can use this book to better understand the unique challenges and perspectives of different generations within their congregations. By applying Taylor's insights, they can foster more effective intergenerational communication and create programs that address the specific needs and strengths of Boomers, Millennials, and beyond, ultimately strengthening the church community. Overall, it's a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the generational shifts shaping our society.

[Amber · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a few interesting factoids, is written accessibly, and doesn't take too long to get through--but ultimately I wouldn't recommend it. It's fairly vacuous; I mean that not in the ultra-pejorative sense, but just that there's not much to it. It's light on policy recommendations, or even just conclusions from all of the demographic data it lays out. Granted, the book doesn't pretend to be much else, but I suppose I just couldn't believe that detailing political, demographic, and fiscal differences between young and old would be enough for a book.

As well some of the (few) attempts at conclusions seem faulty, such as suggesting that the decline in divorce rates is because marriage is now concentrated among socioeconomically well-off. I'm pretty sure that intra-demographic divorce rates also have declined (which makes sense, as women's options have widened and marriages reflect more "want" than "need").

Some of the interesting factoids:
--a 20-year-old today is more like to have a living grandmother than a 20-year-old in 1900 was to have a living mother
--that white people are half the population in 201 Congressional districts represented by Democrats and 75% in Republican districts
--In 2011, 41% of births were to unmarried mothers, from 5% in 1960, but the teen birth rate has declined, by more than 60% from its peak in 1957 and is at its lowest level on record (since 1940). Teen mothers today account for 10% of babies, and 18% of out-of-wedlock babies
--Mexican women have a lower fertility rate than Mexican-American immigrants
--women with a college degree are more likely to give birth than women with a high school diploma or less, and women in their 30s give birth at a higher rate than women in their 20s

[Nikki · Rating 2 out of 5]

While many of the statistics within the book are interesting, I found the book largely dull and dry. On top of being repetitive, the book would spend pages explaining/breaking down a graph compiled from polling information. I honestly could have saved myself a great deal of reading by just looking at the graphs themselves as any intelligent person could figure out what they are indicating. Sometimes more information was provided from past polls, studies and such, but largely the graphs held their own. There were also a few editing issues, such as referring to one generation when they meant to refer to an entirely different one.

Overall, quite dull but with some interesting findings. A lot of the findings in the book should be taken with a grain of salt since they were found through polls, aka easily skewed by people by not telling the truth and/or screwing around for one reason or another. I found the marriage statistics and birth rate information to be the most interesting, especially as it pertains to the future globally. The book does not address issues such as resources and environmental destruction attached to issues in the book as it was purely focused on polls and human trends.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was essentially a giant amalgamation of Pew polling data. It's an amalgamation with a very clear narrative that is told accessibly and in a lively fashion, but an amalgamation of data is, at its core, what it is. The book focuses on many different aspects of the demographics of the different generations, ultimately in the service of an argument about rebalancing the major entitlements in favor of generational equity. I have one complaint, but it may be a kind of selfish one. I wish disability had been discussed. It really wasn't, and it is such an interesting aspect to this discussion. The aging of the Baby Boomers causes a rise in the disability rate - and thus an increase in applications to SSDI, Medicare, and Medicaid. The nature of disability has also changed drastically in the last 20-30 years with the rise of the so-called "ADA Generation," which overlaps pretty substantially with the millennials. I know disability is usually left out of these sorts of demographic discussions because it's not as sexy as age, gender, race, and sexual orientation discussions, but I think it would have added a few nice dimensions to the discussion.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is scarcely any major social topic -- generational relationships, religion, divorce, parenting, Social Security, technology -- that is not covered in some way in this fascinating book.

Taylor has a daunting task: Not only does he have to try to describe the differing views of Americans on a wide variety of issues, but he has to do it in prose form. That makes this not the easiest book to read, despite his great skill as a writer, because so much of his prose has to summarize numbers, mostly those found in the Pew Research Center polls he has helped oversee.

All in all, he does a great job with those challenges. You could even argue that his clear eyed, compelling essay on Social Security's and Medicare's challenges in the coming decades, at the end of the book, is worth the price of the whole volume.

This is also a book where you could just read the chapters that concern you most, and you'd still get benefit from it. For me, it was a great overview of the changing attitudes and prospects of the Millennial Generation, which now officially exceeds the numbers of my Boomer generation.

[Ed Bernard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fascinating look at the demographic changes that will define America for the next generation. The author is a fellow at the Pew Center, a non-partisan think tank that studies this stuff. It gave me a lot of hope for the millennials, who will be paying for the retirement of boomers like me. As the father of two millennials myself, I have a strong interest in what this generation is like. It was nice to see that they are basically unprejudiced, forward thinking, generous and wise. Not that they don’t have their faults! This book was endlessly fascinating, best read in chapters so you don’t get overwhelmed with the statistics. The author also shortchanges his own big idea, which is that there is a solution to the coming crisis of too many retirees and not enough workers to pay for them – he builds to this resolution, then stuffs his important conclusions into a very scant chapter. It’s a shame, because the case he was building was powerful and well articulated. Still, definitely worth a read.

Grade: B

[Stuart Woolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book, in part, because of its heavy promotion on Pew's website. Unsurprisingly, the book reads like many of Pew's surveys: comprehensive, non-ideological, data-driven social science. While few who follow the news will be surprised by the content of this book, there are a few surprises - and Taylor's holistic analysis of various social trends is among the best I have read anywhere.

One chapter (regarding digital technology) and part of another (regarding futurism) were written by different authors. Personally, I felt these sections were "Silicon Valley talk" and lacked the quality of Taylor.

[Wglockner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Because I work in PR, demographics oriented books like this are always great "figure fodder." This book is no exception, however, it goes quite a bit farther than that. Attempting to Mark major demographic shifts and their effects on culture, politics, economics, and life in America, this book is a good read for anyone who would like a light introduction to our changing society and what we can expect in the future.

While I am a bit weary of books which try to explain the difference between bloomers, Xers, and millennials, this book lays out a framework in which to understand and apply a broader set of thinking.

[Laraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This very well researched (Pew Research) and written book delivers on explaining the changing demographics and persona of Amercians and what they mean to each of us, across generations.

The social, racial and economic shifts that we see and experience are explained using historical facts as well as survey data. If you are a boomer who got into technology, social networking et all early-on, you may identify with the millennials, but to them, it's all they have every known! The author puts "it" out there as he attempts to pull it all together and suggest how we might move forward in the last chapter, The Reckoning.