Woe be the millennials: A new Pew Research Center study found that the digital-native generation is less likely to trust other people, less likely to get married and less likely to join a political or religious organization than their elders.
Following NerdWallet’s October study revealing that, because of their high debt load, most of today’s college grads won’t be able to retire until 73—some 12 years later than the current average retirement age—and a Labor Department report Friday showing youth unemployment is stubbornly high, you’d think millennials would have plenty of reasons to be glum.
Yet Pew found they are the most optimistic generation about their financial future.
Only 26% of millennials are married. “When they were the age that Millennials are now, 36% of Gen Xers, 48% of Baby Boomers and 65% of the members of the Silent Generation were married,” the report says.
Just 19% of millennials say most people can be trusted, compared with 31% of Gen-Xers, 37% of silents and 40% of boomers.
About half (51%) of millennials believe they will get no benefits from Social Security, while 39% predict they will get benefits at reduced levels. But like older generations, they don’t want to see benefits cut.