The New OdysseyThe term ‘Odyssey’ is a newly defined lifestage, a time between adolescence and the responsibilities of adulthood.

David Brooks, author of The Social Animal14 identifies a new lifestage before adulthood that he calls Odyssey. He writes; “Adulthood can be defined by four accomplishments: moving away from home, becoming financially independent, getting married and starting a family”.

On that basis, only a fifth of the UK’s 30 year olds have achieved adulthood15 – and it will get smaller. According to forecasts by PWC16, only 26% of 20-39 year olds in England will live in a home they own in 2025. This compares to 38% currently. And according to Kantar UK17, 61% of Gen X already owned a home when they were aged 20 to 30 compared to 36% of millennials.

Accommodation type (Millennial Rules)

Live with my parent/parents (or my partner’s parents)

The New Odyssey

Total Millennials

32%

Younger Millennials

47% 21%

Younger Gen X Older Gen X

7% 8%

Total Millennials

42%

Younger Millennials Older Millennials

42% 44%

Younger Gen X Older Gen X

43% 31%

Older Millennials

Total Millennials

23%

Younger Millennials Older Millennials

8% 32%

Younger Gen X Older Gen X

49% 60%

Own your own property (either outright or with a mortgage)

Live in rented property

14 David Brooks, The Social Animal: A Story of How Success Happens, 2012

15 Target Group Index research 2014

16 English Household Survey 2013 and PWC projected figures

17 Kantar, Meet the Latecomers, are Millennials the Lost Generation, 2015

The millennials we met had created an order in which they wanted to achieve the accomplishments that create adulthood:

“Career is the pre-requisite. I need that before the mortgage and I won’t have a child until I’ve got the mortgage”

(Older Millennial)

Our research revealed that 35% of childless millennials in their thirties (male and female) who plan to have children someday, say they have chosen not to have children yet because they are waiting until they are more financially secure.

The students we met had some notion of when they might achieve the ‘adulthood’ accomplishments. Everything seemed very far ahead to them.

“By the time I graduate and get a job, that’s my twenties almost gone so there is no way I would think about having kids until my thirties” (Younger Millennial).

But the older millennials had less of a timeline in their heads.

“I have no idea about the future. I kind of live one week to the next. Plans didn’t happen so I just live in the present” (Older Millennial).

“No one’s really saving to buy a flat anymore as it’s not possible. So some people are just spending their entire wage every month and being fine with that” (Older Millennial).

“Social media would lead me to believe that by 30 I should have a mortgage, husband, children, career and my own interests. It’s hard to be force-fed ideals that are rare and sometimes I still feel like a child playing a grown up. 30 is not aged 30 anymore, we are acting younger and allowed to pursue gap years, change careers etc. Nothing is set in stone the way we believed before” (Older Millennial).

Welcome to Odyssey.

Brooks describes it as ‘the decade of wandering that occurs between adolescence and adulthood’ and says that whilst those in these years miss the stability and security of adulthood, they don’t have to ‘put limits on their spontaneity or their dreams’.

People in the Odyssey years have been described as ‘Kidult’ and living Peter Pan lives, never growing up. Organisations like The Future Foundation have noted that the age at which people describe themselves as young has become older, right into early forties.

Living in a state of Odyssey

Millennials don’t set out expecting Odyssey to last well into their thirties but that turns out to be the case for many. At Bournemouth University there was shocked silence when it was pointed out to them that many mid 30-somethings in London are still living with friends, student-house-style. They had the idea that by 35 they would have ‘made it’ and would be able to enjoy the accomplishments of adulthood.

The thirty-something millennials we met in London were, however, living in shared houses still – according to our research, nearly a quarter of 25-34 year olds share their accommodation with housemates. They were settled in those living arrangements, making them homes rather than just accommodation.

“My flatmates are a great community. I’ve been living with the same people for a number of years now. Some I’ve known for 15 odd years, some more recent. It’s a pretty well balanced household and we all get on really well. It’s good to have a place and people that I can relax with”

(Older Millennial)

“Being in our late twenties, interiors become much more important to you but hardly any of us own our own place. We need more ways of stamping our identity on our place without having to buy” (Older Millennial).

Who they rent with (Millennial Rules)

People I knew before living with them

People I didn’t know before living with them

Total Millennials

25%

Younger Millennials Older Millennials

40% 15%

Total Millennials

12%

Younger Millennials Older Millennials

18% 8%

Partner / Spouse

Alone

Odyssey and experiences

Unsurprisingly, given they were brought up to expect a life of experiences, millennials turn to experiences during the Odysseyyears before adulthood.

“Money is integral to my lifestyle but I choose to use my money for experiences. Travel, clothes, festivals and gigs are my main purchases and so owning a home right now isn’t a priority for me”

(Older Millennial)

Total Millennials

41%

Younger Millennials Older Millennials

19% 55%

Total Millennials

16%

Younger Millennials Older Millennials

18% 15%

We met millennials who were about to take mid career gap years and those who were prioritising weekend breaks and exotic holidays over saving.

One said, “If I saved for a deposit then I would have no quality of life which I favour over owning a few bricks. Life is for the living” (Older Millennial).

As a result, two in five millennials feel they have enough money to lead a good life. Leading a good life can happen even if the pre-requisites of adulthood are being put off. In fact, Odyssey creates quite ideal conditions for enjoyable, self-orientated, living (even if it does create a tension between saving and spending).

Outlook on the money they have (Millennial Rules)

I have enough money to lead a good life just now

Total Millennials

44%

Younger Millennials Older Millennials

42% 45%

Younger Gen X Older Gen X

44% 32%

I haven’t got enough money to lead a good life right now because I’m saving for the future

I haven’t got enough money to lead a good life right now and I’m not saving for the future

Kantar UK18 recognises that tension between saving and spending on experiences. They write; “For young adults, status is experience driven… This impacts their relationship with money, making them switch between frugality and binging, where they worry about spending money because it’s their security, but they might risk living above their means so they can experience new and exciting things”.

On balance, millennials are drawn to a life of spending to make use of opportunities.

Total Millennials

33%

Younger Millennials Older Millennials

34% 32%

Younger Gen X Older Gen X

28% 30%

Total Millennials

23%

Younger Millennials Older Millennials

24% 22%

Younger Gen X Older Gen X

29% 37%

18 Kantar, Meet the Latecomers, are Millennials the Lost Generation, 2015

Opportunities and spending vs. simpler, debt free lives (Millennials Rules)

I’d rather take lots of opportunities and spend money to live life to the full

I’d rather take fewer opportunities to lead a simpler life with less stress and expense

Total Millennials

57%

Younger Millennials Older Millennials

63% 52%

Younger Gen X Older Gen X

43% 28% Total Millennials

42%

Younger Millennials Older Millennials

44% 41%

Younger Gen X Older Gen X

37% 39%

Total Millennials

43%

Younger Millennials Older Millennials

37% 48%

Younger Gen X Older Gen X

57% 72%

The fact that a whole new life stage has been invented to describe the one most millennials are living in, shows how little marketers can depend on demographics to identify advertising targets.

As a result, two in five millennials feel alienated by most advertisers. The table below shows that millennials are even more likely than the older groups to feel advertising is not aimed at them. Yet those older have traditionally been more likely to say that advertising is stylistically aimed at under 35s and so is less relevant to them.

Do advertisers understand them? (Millennial Rules)

Most advertisers don’t understand the way people my age live our lives