The study also asked teens and twenty-somethings whether they anticipate spending more, less or the same on a variety of categories over the next year. In no category do Millennials expect to spend more, while the majority of teens and young adults expect to spend less on electronics and technology (57%), going out to eat (55%), snacks (51%), and entertainment (50%). Only in categories where spending is generally compulsory (such as housing, transportation, groceries, and paying off debt) do Millennials anticipate spending the same over the next 12 months.
"If there's one thing the recession has proven, it's that everyone's a casualty," says TRU Senior Trends Manager Blair Fischer. "Gone are the days of reckless spending among young consumers. They're still willing to open their wallet, but only if what they're paying for has legitimate value."
Most of the anticipated cost cuts indicate Millennials are hunkering down and embracing an increasingly "cocooned" lifestyle: Seven out of 10 teens and twenty-somethings expect to eat more home-cooked meals; two-thirds plan to eat less fast food; and more than half (53%) say they will stay home more.
The unprecedented economic circumstances have convinced many Millennials to adjust their lifestyles even more radically. More than one-fourth of twenty-somethings, for example, would consider getting a second job, and one-fifth will shop at more thrift stores (such as Salvation Army, Goodwill).
The findings are based upon TRU's just-released "3rd Wave" study, which surveyed a nationally representative sample of more than 1,300 teens and twenty-somethings across the U.S. Over the past 27 years, TRU, a TNS company, has interviewed some two million teenagers and young adults.
