Millennials to blame for cultural shifts on traditional trends

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WATE) - Millennials, people born between 1981 and 1997, have come in for a lot of criticism for breaking away from previous generations.

Looking at the trends they're not buying into can tell us a bit about which companies and industries may be slipping away.

Cutting the cable cord

Millennials aren't the only generation that's cutting the cable-television cord, but it's no surprise that they're getting the blame for hurting the industry.

Forbes Magazine notes, viewers can get programs on Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, HBO's standalone streaming service and many other options.

Younger viewers who've grown up with that kind of flexibility are unlikely ever to go back to the days when you could only watch what is programmed for you at a certain hour.

Shopping outside of brick-and-mortar stores

When you grow up with the ability to shop from your couch, why would you ever go into a crowded department store?

Millennials just don't have the shop-till-you-drop attitude prior generations may have held regarding big department stores.

Forbes reported recently that the different shopping habits of young people are among the reasons that stores like Sears and J.C. Penney, are closing some of their stores.

Wedding bells ring later in life, as well as buying a house

Millennials are waiting longer to wed.

More than half of today's 25- to 34-year-olds are single, but back in 1980s, more than two-thirds of that age group already were married.

Meanwhile, the chance that they're living with parents or grandparents has doubled.

If you're a millennial, buying a home in many areas may seem forever out of reach.

But according to the real estate database Zillow, when millennials do buy, they are skipping the starter home category altogether and buying larger homes, perhaps due to having socked some money away while spending those extra years living in Mom's or grandma's basement.

Eating cereal

Preparing cereal seems pretty simple. Open box, pour into bowl, and eat.

Millennials, however, are getting the blame for cereal's decline, and for a weird reason.

Recently, The New York Times wrote that 40 percent of the millennials surveyed in one report said cereal "was an inconvenient breakfast choice because they had to clean up after eating it."

Banking mobile instead of in person

With the prevalence of automated teller machines and the ability to transfer money between accounts online, millennials are shunning banks.

With automatic deposits available you don't have to walk into the physical door of a bank recently.

But Time magazine reported recently that millennials want to conduct their financial affairs on a smart phone.

Certainly, the times are a-changing.