True or False?:
Millennials : engaged :: GenX : apathetic

Stereotypically, perhaps. Statistically, perhaps not.

Sometimes classified as the second coming of the Greatest Generation, Millennials (which NCoC considers as those born between 1980 and 1995) are often characterized as idealistic, cause-oriented, and service-minded. At the same time, their immediate predecessors, GenerationX, the “latch-key kids” born between 1965 and 1979 are derided to be apathetic, cynical, and disengaged.

Such sharp contrast might lead to a bit of a sibling rivalry when it comes to comparing civic accomplishments of the generations.

Morley Winograd and Michael Hais, authors of “Millennial Makeover: MySpace, YouTube, and the Future of American Politics,” have written extensively on the civic tendencies of the Millennial generation, noting that 80 percent of Millennial high school students participated in community service, and 26 percent of national service participants in 2006 were Millennials (twice the generation’s representation in the population).

In an article originally published in City Journal, GenXer Pete Peterson challenges the inferiority complex imposed on his generation. He notes that in the 2009 America’s Civic Health Index, GenX fell behind Millennials in volunteering rates by only 0.4 percent, a rate that still greatly outpaces Baby Boomers and the Greatest Generation. The CHI found that of all generations, GenX was more likely to report increasing their engagement during the economic crisis. Peterson alludes that while when GenX were the age Millennials are now, they may have been characterized as cynical and apathetic, but they have risen to the challenge to serve their communities today.

To be sure, the political climates, educational requirements, and societal demands placed on the Millennials are different than those experienced by GenX when they were the Millennials’ age. Therefore an “apples-to-apples” comparison of their achievements and characteristics may not be realistic or accurate.

While Peterson and Hais and Winograd debate the civic tendencies and engagement gaps between GenX and Millennials, as the latter group notes, “In the end, all generational archetypes play key roles in the mosaic of American life. In truth, no generation is somehow ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than another.”

What our society is seeing now is a greater demand for political transparency, accountability, and corporate social responsibility—behaviors driven largely by the civic actions, voting prowess, and consumer spending power of its youngest generations. So perhaps the more important question is not which sibling generation is “better” or “more civic minded,” but in what ways are each working together to meet our society’s needs and address community problems? Do the current engagement rates of both the pre-mid-life generations in America actually demonstrate both a call for public attention and a personal stake in moving our civic health forward?

Read what Pete Peterson and Michael Hais and Morley Winograd have to say, and let us know what you think. We’d love to hear from the Millennials as well, so add your expert commentary below.