If you pay much attention to the world of retail sales, you will notice a trend: worry.
You will certainly find short-term worry about not enough people buying enough stuff—but that worry has always existed. In a society that bases its measures of success in terms of home prices, market values, and GDP, there will always be a need to prompt citizens to buy more and more.
But beyond the short-term unease, there is a long-term anxiety clouding the retail market. This long-term worry is far more significant and can be summarized in one sentence: Millennials don’t want to buy stuff.
Business publications have been covering the story for years: Fast Company, Fortune, TIME, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, even Goldman Sachs.
Recently, in a radio interview for a station in Montreal, I was asked if I thought the desire to downsize was age-related. In the mind of the interviewer, it seemed to make sense that the older one got, the more they recognized the emptiness of material possessions and the need to minimize.
I assured the interviewer this was not always the case. In fact, from everything I can tell, the desire to minimize and declutter stretches across each of the generations. It is growing among the Silent Generation, the Baby Boomer Generation, Generation X, and the Millennials. In my new book, The More of Less: Finding the Life You Want Under Everything You Own, I highlight each of the unique forces drawing people of every age to minimalism.
But for the sake of this post, let’s consider some of the reasons Millennials are refusing to partake in the retail game as the rules are currently constructed and why retail giants are worried about it:
Technology and Mobility: The Millennials are the first generation born after the technological revolution. The world feels smaller to them than previous generations and they are intimately connected to one other—regardless of geography. Coffee shops have become the new office, collaboration has become the new competition, and mobility has become the new stability. And, as many Millennials will tell you, it is difficult to live a minimalist lifestyle with a house full of stuff.
The Sharing Economy: Technology has ushered in a new connectedness with one another. Additionally, it has provided a platform on which access can take precedence of ownership. With the touch of a thumb, we can now borrow someone else’s home, bike, car, book, music, unused stuff, or countless other possessions. Ownership has never been less necessary.
Environmental Concerns: The Millennial generation is the most environmentally conscious of all age groups and this influences their buying habits significantly.
Living Preferences: The Wall Street Journal once reported 88% of Millennials desire to live in an urban setting and that one-third of the generation is willing to pay more because of it. Over the past several decades, retailers have banked on the growth of suburbia—bigger and bigger homes, further away from town-centers, fostering isolation, individualism, and personal ownership. As younger generations migrate toward smaller dwellings in walkable communities with shared amenities, consumer consumption will continue to slow.
Experiences > Possessions: As I have argued in the past, minimalism is not the end of spending. Even when minimalist principles are adopted on a large scale, the transfer of money will still take place—money will just be spent on different things than physical possessions (you can read more here: A New Minimalist Economy). The Millennial generation is proving this to be true, spending less on possessions, but more on wellness, food, drink, and experiences.
Debt/Unemployment: Certainly, significant economic trends have brought with it new shopping habits. The Millennial Generation has graduated college and entered the workforce in the middle of the Great Recession. In fact, most economic studies would indicate this generation is entering one of the worst working environments in modern history burdened with more student loans than ever.
Corporate Mistrust: Economic forces (housing bubble, student debt, shrinking of the middle class) and generational preferences (the environment, social justice) have resulted in a generation distrusting of large corporations and “the 1%” who run them. According to one study, 75% said that it’s important that a company gives back to society instead of just making a profit. While it would be interesting to know how previous generations would have answered the same question, one thing is for certain: the Millennial Generation is acting on this belief and choosing smaller, local retailers for their purchasing needs because of it.
There is one more factor that I think is quite significant. There is growing evidence that the Millennial Generation is “delaying adulthood.” At least, they are delaying adulthood as defined by economists (getting married, buying homes and cars, having children). Researchers point out that marriage is important to Millennials, they just want to do it later—the same with parenthood.
It remains to be seen whether the economic conditions of their upbringing have shaped Millennials to be minimal by nature or whether future economic growth and rites of passage will cause them to slip into the same excess of ownership that previous generations have fallen into.
But I am hopeful for the Millennial Generation. At the very least, they have examples to learn from. For example, both their parents and their grandparents continue to live beyond their means in crippling debt.
Millennials appear to be a generation hard-wired for minimalism.
I hope the trend continues.
I guess my minimalism started because we moved a lot while I was growing up and my mom loves throwing stuff out. I think I continued being minimalist because I became a single mom at 18 and couldn’t afford to spend my money frivolously. I have always been frugal since as far as I can remember even before having a child. Somehow I instinctively new to save for retirement and for my house even while earning little money. I am married now, we bought a small 2 bedroom house at the height of the housing bubble. I can’t understand why people would want to buy a big house without the need to. I drive a 1999 Corolla and still don’t own much stuff but I don’t mind spending my money on travel and fun activities. I think I’m stuck between being a millennial and a gen xer. I’m also a huge environmentalist, it’s interesting how I had this minimalist pattern. I never set out to be one it’s just the way I am. It’s liberating.
I am almost 71, I started going through my house several months ago and got rid of many bags of “stuff” from a 30 year marriage. In January my dear spouse passed away. Just yesterday I closed the door on my storage space with just enough to put into a one bedroom apartment. I let go of furniture, antiques, silver, and linens for tables, and just bags and boxes of books, clothes (both his and mine) I can now get almost all of my clothes in a cardboard “wardrobe” box. I have never been freer or happier with the decisions I have made It was a joy to have those things, and to be able to entertain, and fix family dinners………….but all of that stuff also represented a lot of work………cooking big dinners, a lot of stress (over who was there to eat my food), a lot of polishing, and generally what I now look at as somewhat a waste of time (for various reasons………partly because families don’t seem to be as close as they were when I was young, and younger). I really don’t feel sad about getting rid of these things. They were great to have, but now have become a burden. I’m off to take a painting class, exercise, take hikes this summer in our beautiful Rocky Mountains, get together with friends, and even do some travelling. I miss my sweet husband very, very much, but now I am free of some of the past that was holding me back (stuff) and I couldn’t be happier. Just wanted to pass along that I really understand the millennial’s thinking. As a matter of fact I think when I was younger, if more people would have been doing this,
i would have been right there with them. The only thing I don’t like is that we are forgetting how to bond, and converse with each other in person. I miss that exchange……….. Thanks for listening. And, thanks for the website. It got me started on this journey
Hi, I read your beautiful comment twice, and it has a lot of wisdom.
Thanks.
Deep thought.. I am also on a journey to minimalisn n hope to live a life like u when I m 70
I’m a gen xer, and the main reason we spend less is the cost vs salary issue that we “middle class” people are facing. I used to spend a lot but it’s so difficult now. I couldn’t imagine being younger and hitting the housing market. I don’t know how anyone in Toronto can afford these million dollar first time homes. Until salaries increase, I see minimalism as the only way to survive.
we have to be green because we cannot afford to replace disposable items.
We have to live in tiny urban city apartments because metro areas have more job opportunities. And again. We cannot afford houses.
You want to talk about corporate mistrust? millennials spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on an education to get a job with corporations who in turn only offer them unpaid internships. They want free labor from college graduates.
For millennials minimalism has never been a choice.
I am a “millennial” and why you say is almost true.
Yes, we will delay milestone moments like purchasing a house or having children but that is *not* because we do not *want* these things less than previous generations. We cannot afford any of them.
Rent, bills, and foods are more expensive than ever now. Most entry level jobs require masters degrees and years of experience. We do not have livable wages. We are living in the greediest of times.
For millennials minimalism has never been a choice.
Let me repeat that since this article was obviously not written by a millennial or anyone who even knows millennials:
For millennials minimalism has never been a choice.
I am a millennial and chose minimalism. Growing up in the 90s with every toy I could think of at my disposal, all the frozen dinners, and witnessing the filling of landfill after landfill, I have happily adopted the minimalist mindset. I have felt peace in a way that I have never felt before.
Less choices, more freedom, respecting my body and responsibility to my community are important factors for me and many other millennials.
Plenty of my friends live outside of their means off credit cards and have no interest in living the minimalist lifestyle.
Just because some millennials chose to live within their means and not off plastic does not mean that they are forced. It means that they are smart and do not want to be trapped in the chains of debt like our parents.
Good point. I’m in my 30’s and it was difficult for us to get into the housing market 10 years ago, I can’t imagine trying to start now. We lived on eggs and 2 minute noodles out of necessity just so we could buy a tiny townhouse close to the city where there were jobs. I suppose there was some level of choice there but mostly we lived minimally because we had to. These days, minimalism is a choice for us because we love the lifestyle advantages. I often hear the siblings of our childhood friends, around 10 years younger than us, comment that they can’t break into the market because there are no longer permanent full time jobs on offer, everyone has a masters degree so it means nothing and the housing bubble makes it virtually impossible to save a 10% deposit so the banks won’t loan to them. It’s definitely difficult for millennials