U.S. Markets closed

'Psychologically scarred' millennials are killing dozens of industries — and it's their parents' fault

Kate Taylor

Millennials are threatening dozens of industries.

They don't buy napkins. They won't play golf. They aren't buying homes or cars. And they're not even eating at Buffalo Wild Wings.

Millennials' financial decisions have been heavily covered by media organizations — something that has infuriated many of the generation, as news that "millennials are killing" another industry has become a common headline.

"This is just some more millennial-blaming B.S.," one reader wrote in response to a recent Business Insider article with the headline "Millennials are killing chains like Buffalo Wild Wings and Applebee's."

When millennials decide en masse against purchasing certain items, from hot wings to homes, it has a measurable, negative impact: declining sales, layoffs, and, in some cases, bankruptcies.

Still, naysayers are right about something.

While millennials' preferences have had a destructive impact on several companies and industries, they had no say in creating the environment that has restricted their income and shaped their financial perspective. Instead, if we're looking for someone to blame, we can target the generation that created a perfect storm for molding a uniquely thrifty generation focused on short-term rewards: baby boomers.

During the recession, millennials were in their teens or graduating from college. In other words, as millennials came of age, they saw their parents' generation plunged into financial distress.

housing crisis foreclosure great recession

(REUTERS/Robert Galbraith )


As a result, Greenberger says, millennials don't spend as freely as previous generations.

They'll avoid paying full price for clothing, something that is wreaking havoc on retailers like Macy's and Sears. They'll avoid investing in the stock market, having seen how investments can go wrong. If they're going to spend on a nice dinner, it is more likely to be at an independent restaurant that can provide a special experience than at the predictable Applebee's or Buffalo Wild Wings.

Reacting against boomers' financial decisions and spending habits is part of the puzzle in understanding why millennials are making choices that could kill companies that based their business on appealing to established trends. However, millennials' scars are not purely psychological.

student loans debt

(Occupy Wall Street demonstrators in New York City’s Union Square participating in a street-theater production during a protest against the rising national student debt.Reuters/Andrew Burton)

Seven in 10 students graduate from college with student loan debt, owing an average of over $30,000, according to the Institute for College Access and Success — and that's ignoring the massive debt of students who took out loans but did not graduate. As student-loan debt has skyrocketed, income — both for graduates and millennials who haven't attended collegehas failed to substantially increase.

With these economic burdens, it is difficult for millennials to save money. Thirty-one percent of "young millennials," ages 18 to 24, and 33% of "older millennials," ages 25 to 34, don't have any money in their savings account, according to GOBankingRates.

Debt and a lack of money in savings obviously make it harder to make major investments such as buying houses or cars. Couple this with a lack of trust in financial institutions (again, thanks to the recession) and you have a generation that is more likely to spend on experiences or something they can enjoy now, instead of saving up for an uncertain future.

As a result, when millennials splurge, it will be on something like avocado toast — a $10 treat instead of a multithousand-dollar investment that many lack both the money and the faith in the economy to make.

All of this is not to say millennials aren't killing certain industries. They are, as their preferences force companies to adapt or perish.

But when a headline says millennials are killing another industry, it is worth remembering who and what created a generation that has become an industry-murdering machine.


Additional reporting by Mary Hanbury.

NOW WATCH: Watch millennials try a McDonald's Filet-O-Fish for the first time

More From Business Insider