We live more and more in uncertainty, which affects, a lot, those that are the priorities and aspirations of the generation of Millennials.
The generation Millennials they are young people born between 1980 and 1996. In a span of 10 years, they are now facing the second economic crisis of their lives, a crisis that can, unfortunately, call into question, once again, their personal ambitions.
The Collaborative Laboratory for Work, Employment and Social Protection, in its most recent study, entitled «Labor and Inequalities in Large Confinement – loss of income and transition to telework», is unanimous in one conclusion: young people are the most threatened by unemployment and poverty resulting from economic crises.
But let's get to the priorities and aspirations of the Millennials.
According to the questionnaire The Deloitte Global Millennial Survey 2019, in a universe of 13.416 young people questioned, 57% mentioned that they had as a priority to travel around the world, 52% of those questioned said that they aspired to have a good salary and generate wealth, 49% would like to buy their own house, 46% would like to work in organizations that created a positive impact on their community and society and, finally, 39% of the respondents said they prioritized raising a family and having children.
With the current economic context of crisis, and with a chronic job precariousness accommodated in the labor market, it is certain that these priorities and aspirations mentioned above will decrease in percentage and many of these young people will start (it is expected that they will) to put some savings aside every month. This brings us to something worrying and that is very
structural and common in our society, which is: in general, families save little.
If we started saving more, however, we would immediately have behaviors of consuming less. And in turn, this decrease in consumption would reduce the demand for the products and services available in the economy.
This lack of demand could lead some companies to cut or partially reduce the prices of their goods or services, in order to encourage consumers to spend more, but most companies, when faced with less sales, tend to cut back on their processes. production.
On the one hand, this would also imply buying less from their suppliers, thus spreading the lack of demand throughout the economy.
On the other hand, this would imply laying off some workers and paying less to others. Conclusion: everyone's income would plummet drastically.
In short, saving is an important factor in the personal management of household and business income, but an abrupt collective saving behavior can drive economies into deep recessions.
The entire system exposed above comes from the “paradox of savings”, an economic theory described by one of the most relevant economists of the XNUMXth century, named John Maynard Keynes.
But the question that arises is: is saving a sufficient behavior to keep “alive” the priorities and aspirations of the Millennials? In the short term, the answer is no.
Saving is something that has to be done gradually and consistently, so as not to compromise the long term. Saving is equitably related to the level of income and therefore, if there are currently young people who, in general, have low incomes, it is normal for their savings rate to be low.
Not only wanting to focus this whole issue on the problems, and although we are all navigating a thick fog and with many uncertainties, there are some solutions that can encourage the priorities and aspirations of the Millennials:
>First, to correct the imbalance between supply and demand, it is necessary to lower the cost of credit and maintain implicit interest rates at levels relatively low or equal to the current ones;
>Secondly, legislation is also needed to allow young people to obtain financing for a greater percentage of the total value for the purchase of their first home. This idea is widely shared by many, just consult the state of the art on the subject;
>A strong investment in digital entrepreneurship is also needed, which, in addition to having an initial investment and a lower cost of operations when compared to physical businesses, will make it possible to take advantage of the new generations that deal and work in a digital environment much more easily, originating thus new job opportunities in the economy;
>As far as companies and organizations are concerned, they must continue to fulfill their social, solidary and economic catalyst role, something that is valued by young people who want to generate a positive impact on their community and society;
>Finally, and in response to the 39% of young people who, in the questionnaire above, mentioned that they had as a priority to start a family and have children, this point, in particular, is one of the fundamental pillars of economies in the medium to long term.
Population growth through more births is essential to mitigate the huge deficit existing in the Portuguese economy, between active population and retired population.
It is only possible to combat this problem through integrated solutions, such as the implementation of a holistic birth policy, which contains flexible and articulated laws with a special focus on the work-life balance.
There is, therefore, a genuine opportunity for leaders, whether in government, business or other organizations, to capture the hearts and minds of new generations, as they are the ones who can leverage the future.
Author Ricardo Proença Gonçalves has a degree in Business Management and a postgraduate degree in Management of Health Units from the Faculty of Economics of the University of Algarve.
He is a Financial Assistant in the Application Project for Faro the European Capital of Culture 2027, and trainee member of the Ordem dos Economistas – Regional Delegation of the Algarve.
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