Boomers-Millennials-GenZ: Bridging Generational Gaps

So I don't know too many millennials who are ages 26 to 41 or Gen Zs who are age 10

to 25.

My grandchildren are part of the Gen Z generation, and the oldest of my

grandchildren will be going to college next year.

We don't know where yet and she does have a part time job, but she is not really part of

the earning generation yet.

In Gen Z, there are some, like I said, they're up to age 25, so some of them are now

gainfully employed in the marketplace.

But the Gen Z generation is very aware of the political landscape and they are very

involved in being involved because they're concerned about climate change, they're

concerned about racial inequality, they're concerned about financial inequality.

They're concerned about gender issues.

So I didn't include the Gen X in this conversation.

The Gen X, I have actually quite a few friends that are in the Gen X generation and

my children are part of Gen X and their generation does not seem to have the

generational divide that seems to be separating the boomers and beyond from the

Millennials and Gen Z.

So that is what I want to talk about today.

Welcome to the Hey Boomer Show.

My name is Wendy Green and I am the host of Hey Boomer.

And in this episode, I want to start the conversation about the differences and the

similarities between the Boomer and beyond generation and the millennial and Gen Z

generation. I want to talk about how we might bridge some of the gaps between the

generations and why I believe that is important.

I am on a mission to support and inspire adults in their next act of life, to find new

beginnings, to confront endings and transitions, and to involve, evolve into who

they want to be.

That mission is the fuel that keeps me motivated, and I hope you find inspiration

and motivation with the stories that we share on.

Hey, Boomer. So let's jump into this conversation.

When I started Hey, Boomer, two and one half years ago, my very first episode was a recap

of some of the events that shaped the lives of many in the boomer generation.

I talked about the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassination of John Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy,

Martin Luther King, Malcolm X.

I talked about the easy availability of birth control, our involvement in the civil

rights movement, the women's movement, and the Vietnam War.

9/11 attack.

It really threatened their sense of security as they were growing up.

They also have been impacted by the social media connections that emerged and became

common in their generation.

Many of the people in the millennial generation were just finishing college, then

coming out with a lot of debt, entering or hoping to enter the workforce and found that

many of their job opportunities were limited at that point.

So financial constraints have caused a lot of impact for the millennials.

And finally, Gallup calls this generation the job hopping generation.

They are the first generation that really is not finding a sense of loyalty and commitment

to a particular organization or a particular industry.

A major impact on this generation has been the COVID pandemic.

Most of them, the young ones in through college, were impacted by this two year

shutdown of their interaction with their classmates, with their colleagues while they

were in school. So they have suffered a lot of isolation, similar to what many of those

of us in the older generation and even the silent generation have experienced as well.

But this generation is also more socially minded than previous generations.

According to the Annie XY Foundation, Gen Zs are focused on seven key social issues health

care, mental health, higher education, economic security, civic engagement, race,

equity and environment.

With education being a priority for this generation, student debt will have a big

impact on their financial viability.

And some studies are showing that they have started to save for their future retirement

as young as the age of 19, which is younger than most of us, started saving for

retirement. And the reason for this is because the prospect of the Gen Z's to live

to 100 is creating a different perspective of what life could look like for them.

Part of their interest in health and wellness comes from their concern that aging means

declining and they are concerned about declining before they get a chance to

experience some of the things that they want to experience in this lifetime.

One of the reasons for my conversation today is to try to, like I said, bridge the gap so

that they can also recognize that older age and decline don't necessarily go hand in

hand. But where they are now, they are concerned about working for those extended

years. So say they got out of school at 22, 23 and they're saying if I'm going to live to

100, I probably have to work till I'm 80 and then have my 20 years of retired retirement.

Imagine if we had to think about working straight through from the age of 22 to the

age of 80.

That's a very long work life, and most people would find that a very difficult thing

to do. It would they would feel physically and emotionally burned out.

It could have some very negative implications for their relationships with

people that are important in their lives.

And so the traditional three year, I'm sorry, three stage life that we've thought

about you you go to school, then you work, then you retire.

It's probably not a realistic outlook for Gen Zs particularly, and maybe not even for

millennials. I just finished reading a book called The 100 Year Life by Linda Grattan and

Andrew Scott, and they give some different scenarios where the younger generation may

work, may go to school, work for a while, or take some gap years to build some social

networks. Then they will have to work and then retool.

So there might be another break in there.

And so their projection of what a work and social life for Gen Z is and millennials is

much more fluid and much more flexible than the three stage life that we have been used

to. And the.

And the third thing that these younger people have to think about is they don't have

a pension in the sense of particularly a corporate pension.

Right. Most of them have been switched over to for one case.

But they also may not have the government pensions of Social Security and Medicare.

That is something that governments are going to have to look at as the younger generation

ages and moves up.

But that is really beyond the scope of what I want to talk about today.

What I want to talk about today is the social disruption that is already happening

with the younger generation and the similarities to the societal change that we

in the boomer generation were involved with and some thoughts about how to bridge those

generation gaps.

So as we the boomers, realized once we took on the responsibility of family and home

ownership, work and financial attainment were definitely important to us and they will

be important to the younger generation.

Also, as we realize, social problems require commitment and passion, and at various times

in our lives, we had more time for commitment and passion.

And other times in our life, we had less time for commitment and passion to social

change. But the more people that I speak with in the boomer generation and beyond, the

more they talk about the need to feel useful, the need to find a purpose and a

reason to get up every day.

Now keep that in mind.

The need to feel useful, the need to find a purpose, a reason to get up every day.

Now let's look at the younger generation.

Their greatest concern based on many polls is mental health, education and climate

change. And they have an interest in finding work that gives them meaning and provides a

sense of balance between work and other things that are important.

And when you think about that, the difference between their generation needing

to find work that is important and gives them a sense of meaning and where we are now

in our lives, the importance of finding a sense of meaning and purpose, the difference

between those generations diminishes.

So the problem is, though, that there is a lack of understanding between the generations

and there seems to be blaming and shaming going both ways.

Millennials blaming the boomers for many of the problems our planet and our social

structures are experiencing now.

The boomers blaming the younger generation for being lazy, not committed to work,

committed to or glued to their screens.

And there are many social changes that we in the boomer generation can't relate to or

don't understand.

For instance, think about this.

The young people today grew up with active shooter drills.

We grew up with fire drills.

The youngest of the Gen Z generation.

They grew up isolated from their peers.

Some up to two years because of the shutdowns of the schools.

When we weren't in school.

We were outside playing all day and our one requirement was be home by dark.

Young people today hear dire predictions about melting ice caps, rising seas warming

temperatures, the impact of which will more directly affect their future than our own.

Many people in our generation do not understand the gender fluidity that has

entered the conversation.

But we do understand being passionate about making our communities safer, healthier

places to be. And we do understand being involved in social change.

And yet the generations are mostly segregated.

Like I said, I don't really know millennials as people that I spend time with.

So how did we get here with this age segregation that's going on?

built the first planned community dedicated to retirees.

It wasn't too long after that that Del Webb, I'm sure you've all heard of Del Webb, took

up this idea and began the process of creating retirement communities across the

country. Now for older people who can afford it, there are now continuing care

communities. So these types of age segregated communities tend to cut people off

from some of the new ideas and from some of the vitality that young people can bring.

It also means that young people do not get to experience the companionship and the

wisdom of some of the people over 45, over 55 or over 45.

Paul Irving, who is a senior fellow and founding chair of the Center for the Future

of Aging at the Milken Institute, said this about the benefits of intergenerational

living versus the homogeneous age restricted retirement communities that we see now.

He said, What kind of society are we building?

A society that encourages understanding and collaboration and appreciation of others.

Or a society that reinforces the divides that already challenge America.

I would make the case that bringing older and younger Americans together enhances the

lives of both age groups and in the mix increases the likelihood of collaboration,

mutual understanding and appreciation.

So some what are some options for intergenerational living that are now being

explored? There are some websites that have popped up that are promoting

multigenerational roommates, giving older people who have extra rooms in their homes

the opportunity to join with younger people who are looking for lower rents and also can

provide some assistance and help with household chores, things that might be have

come more challenging for the older adults.

There is a concept called communities with a purpose.

One of those examples is Bridge Meadows, which is located in Portland, Oregon.

And the concept there is to join older adults with young families who have taken and

adopted foster care children into their homes.

And but they're still working, so the older adults in these communities can help them.

And examples that were given where they may come over early in the morning and help the

children with breakfast and get them to the bus stop so that the parents can get to work.

The older adults may help with homework, teach the children to swim.

So it's a mutually beneficial type of a community community with a purpose because

it's helping both the young families and the older adults feel that sense of purpose.

There's another community that I read about called Pemberton Park for Grand Families, and

this is in Kansas City, Missouri.

And it's designed specifically for grandparents raising their grandchildren.

So not only are the homes built to bring in more grand children and their families, but

it also has programming that ranges from schools and free time activities for the

young and continuing education courses for the seniors.

Sounds kind of interesting.

Beth likes that idea.

So these are just some of the experiments of intergenerational living, an option that is

really gaining more interest since the COVID pandemic, when so many older adults were

isolated away from their family and friends.

And my hope is that we see this trend continue.

So that when I'm ready, I can find a community of purpose or an intergenerational

type of community to continue to live in.

We also need to have more intergenerational conversations.

So over this past year, since Roe v Wade was overturned, I saw a lot of women my age or

older at a lot of the women's rallies protesting the overturning of Roe v Wade.

We also see a lot of young people who are at the rallies for climate change or Black Lives

Matter. But dividing our energies.

How much sense does that really make?

Just imagine if we shared our passion, shared our ideas, discussed some of the

challenges and opportunities that we face, trying to address some of these social

changes and social issues.

We could discuss strategies and join forces for social good.

Those of us in the boomer generation would be learners and advisors.

We would find meaning and fulfillment in working on causes that are important to us

and in the continuous learning that we would get, as well as the vitality that we would

get from working with the younger generation.

And then the younger generation could become our teachers as well as learners as they

bring us up to speed on the latest technology and lingo, and then find

encouragement and wisdom from people who have been involved in social movements

before. So there is an organization called Encore dot org that has

recently rebranded itself to Code generator dot org.

And their purpose is to bridge generational divides to co-create the future.

Because we have a lot to learn from each other.

So some of the organizations that are working on co creating the future along with

CO generate. Are things like generations over dinner.

You may remember that we had Michael Hebb as a guest, as a guest on Hey Boomer, and he

talked about death over dinner and generations over dinner.

And I'm hoping to do a generation's over dinner dinner so that we can start that

conversation between generations.

All of these that I'm going to mention here will be in the show notes.

And you can also email me about to get a document with all of these organizations in

it. So the next one is the Greater Good Science Center at Berkeley, and they have

something called Bridging the Differences Playbook.

Another organization is Can you hear us?

That has developed intergenerational conversations.

A Guide to bridge building.

And they talk mostly about the climate movement.

There's a there's a resource called Becoming a Mentor Strategies to be there for young

people that's available through an organization called Mentor dot org.

Maybe you've heard of third act.

Third Act is mobilizing older Americans to stand with young activists fighting for

climate change and democracy.

Elder is connecting elders and young people for virtual mentoring.

Big and Mini is focused on ending loneliness through connecting younger and older people

for friendly video chats.

Sages and Seekers offers programs and events that allow for meaningful intergenerational

conversations.

And civic Saturday brings people together for purposeful events that rebuild faith in one

another and our democracy.

My intention is to get a spokesperson from as many of these organizations on.

Hey, Boomer, as a guest to help us all learn about what's being done to bridge the gaps

between the generations.

So there was a survey done at the University of Chicago on generational concerns and the

desire of generations to work together.

Och, this was a sizable segment of the younger and older population that indicated a

hunger for opportunities, not only for intergenerational connection but co

generational action, the chance to join forces in CO creating a better future.

The result of that survey makes so much sense to me as boomers and beyond.

We want to share what we've learned in life, and younger people are eager to connect with

us as learners.

And there seems to be a recognition across generations that we can't implement social

change in isolation.

There needs to be collaboration.

With that said, though, some of the focus on the different generations is a little bit

different, which I found very interesting.

The older people's top priority for social code generational work is the environment.

And that makes sense because we.

Want to leave the world a better place.

We recognize there has been damage.

We have taken our eye off the ball.

Maybe we didn't even know what to keep our eyes on at some point.

But we know now and we want to focus on protecting the environment for the future.

Interestingly, the young people seem to put mental health at the top of the list, which

also makes sense coming out of the COVID pandemic and the isolation that they had to

experience as young people.

So across generational alliance on working on the environment and mental health issues

could be very strong and impactful.

The study also reported that those who have worked across generations for social change

have really valued the experience and they want to do more of it.

They cite learning, sharing knowledge and increasing appreciation for the other

generations as most frequently cited.

Among the millennials and Gen Zs who have worked for change with people at least 25

years older than themselves.

They said the experience was positive because it increased their appreciation for

older generations.

Remember I said at the beginning, they have a fear of this decline that's going to happen

when they get old. But by working with older people, they're starting to see that there is

so much more possible as we age.

And it doesn't mean necessarily decline.

For the for the boomers, Gen X and those beyond.

Some of what they said about working with people 25 years younger than them.

They said it allowed me to share what I knew and it also I gained appreciation for the

younger generation.

I no longer saw them as so different and lazy or screen obsessed.

Here's a quote from Bill McKibben, who has been an environmental activist for years and

is now the founder of third act.

He says young people are building the world they're going to have to live in.

We want to shape the world that we're going to leave behind.

Those two things mesh up beautifully.

So the desire to work co generationally is there, but there are a couple of obstacles

that must be addressed if we are to unleash and scale a multi generational force for

good. First, we need to end the age segregation that keeps older people and

younger people apart and that creates the stereotypes on both sides that we

underestimate the abilities of the older people and we underestimate the abilities and

the commitment of the younger people.

We also need to create more opportunities to work across generations for social change and

easier ways to find them.

It is too easy to see the divides in our nation across age, race, culture, identity,

income, politics.

It's harder to see the areas of agreement.

But the research out of the University of Chicago reveals that there are many areas of

agreement. People believe that working across generations will create a stronger

nation, less divided and better able to solve its problems.

The generations want to teach and learn together.

I would be curious in hearing your thoughts about working across generations.

Are you already doing this or are you looking for ways to do this?

But you're finding them difficult to find?

And if you are already doing this, what have you learned from the experience or what

obstacles do you find in looking for ways to work across generations?

So what are a couple of my takeaways for this conversation today?

First, I wanted to open the conversation of the importance of breaking down the barriers

between the generations.

Stop the blaming and shaming and build bridges between the generations.

We are stronger together.

And we as the older generations need that sense of purpose, that need to feel useful.

The younger generation has a strong commitment to social change and is willing to

work together, and it benefits them by breaking down their stereotypes of what an

older person is capable of and who an older person really is.

And we need to find ways.

I hope to break down the age segregation, to stop putting older people away in retirement

communities in old age restricted communities, and bring create

communities where people can live together and support each other and learn from each

other. That is my hope as well.

about this more, to expand the vision of Hey Boomer, to include multiple generations in

finding our sense of purpose.

So I hope that this discussion today inspired some thoughts and insights about

building bridges between generations.

And if you would like to email me some of your thoughts about how that can happen or

things that you're seeing now, you can email me at Wendi at Hey Boomer Dot Babies, and I'd

be happy to share some of your thoughts in upcoming episodes.

Also email me if you would like to see some of the organizations that I talked about

today. I did.

I will send you a document with all of the links to all of the organizations I mentioned

today, to the studies I mentioned today, if you're interested in that.

So just drop me a note and I'll send you that information as well.

My guess for next week is Sarah Hart.

And Sarah is the host of a program called Prime Spark.

Prime Spark is focused on helping women over 55 who want to thrive, make the best choices

for their prime years, and fight how culture tries to depict older women.

Dr. Hart earned her PhD at Northwestern University, and then she taught at Queens

College in New York City.

She has worked in corporate settings, had her own consulting company and worked in

nonprofit arenas.

And I will be a guest on her show in the New Year.

So thank you all for joining today.

And I always like to encourage you to live with passion, live with relevance, and live

with courage.

And remember that you are never too old to set another goal or dream a new dream.

My name is Wendy Green.

And this has been.