Tuesday 12 April 2011

Generation Y think we quite cool!

A survey has revealed that young generation find people over 50s as 'friendly' and 'knowledgeable'.
Youngsters actually have a rosier impression of their elders than older people give them credit for.
While the over 50s typically think members of the iPhone generation see them as "past it", that is not the view held by most 18-to-24-year-olds.
A survey has found that today's young people think those of their parents' and grandparents' generations are friendly, knowledgeable and - for want of a more up-to-date expression - "with it".
"Around 67% of over 50s believe 18-to-24s perceive them as 'past it', but the reality is that just 18 % of 18-to-24s actually have that perception," the Telegraph quoted Ros Altmann, director general of Saga, which commissioned the poll, as saying.
"And while only 11% of over 50s think younger people perceive them as friendly, the reality is that around 29% of 18-to-24s do actually think older people are indeed friendly.
"Just 17% of over 50s think 18-to-24s consider them knowledgeable. However, the truth is that 42% of this age group perceive oldies as being great founts of knowledge," she added.
YouGov conducted the research for Saga, which interviewed 1,148 adults in February.

2 comments:

firstSTREET said...

Very interesting survey results! I hope this information reaches as many 50+ individuals as possible. I think part of the reason for this perception is that the media has been gearing more television and movies toward the older demographics, and also using older actors to portray their characters. Take Betty White for example. She is older than most grandmothers, but has still been able to keep up with the changing trends and remain current. How many other 80+ year olds can make millions laugh on Saturday Night Live?

Thanks for sharing this information, it is truly interesting and inspiring!

GonzoSP said...

so who exactly conducted this survey? As someone in the 18-24 generation (what am I doing here, you ask? I do social media for a company that 50+ are the target demographic), I laughed at "Around 67% of over 50s believe 18-to-24s perceive them as 'past it'"

You said it yourself, "with it" is a painfully dated term. We don't use it. We never did. So the idea of a "study" on whether my generation thinks the 50+ generation is "with it" or "past it" is a hilariously ironic idea. Totally rad, daddy-o.

But maybe the study was something less fundamentally corny. Is it about how my parents' generation adapts to new technology? Because they do that very well (but draw that line at my parents' age, ~60. My grandparents are technologically hopeless). Whether we think they are a good source of...information? Like life information? Or what?