Trends
More than half of Americans in their 40s are ‘sandwiched’ between an aging parent and their own children
As people are living longer and many young adults are struggling to gain financial independence, about a quarter of U.S. adults (23%) are now part of the so-called “sandwich generation,” according to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in October 2021. These are adults who have a parent age 65 or older and are either raising at least one child younger than 18 or providing financial support to an adult child.
The great American demographic shift
In this edition of Author Talks, McKinsey Global Publishing’s Christopher Friedmann chats with Justin Gest, an author and associate professor of policy and government at George Mason University, about his new book, Majority Minority (Oxford University Press, March 2022). The United States is approaching a precedented milestone, where the current racial majority will comprise less than half of the population, as historically marginalized minority groups grow in size. It’s an opportunity, Gest says, to examine the demographic constructs that divide society and to foster progressive, inclusive nationalism. An edited version of the conversation follows.
FOLLOW THE GROWTH: Engage The U.S. Hispanic Audience To Achieve DEI at Scale [ VIEW WEBINAR HERE FOR FREE]
The 2020 Census made it crystal clear that the time to act is now. Companies who aren’t engaging Hispanics with targeted efforts are at risk of being left behind. At the same time, brands and their agencies are dealing with the complex challenges of finding premium supply, achieving scale, and doing all of that in a culturally-relevant way. Join this C-suite panel as they discuss the challenges and opportunities they face in activating Hispanic audiences for critical business growth.
Maybe U.S. Consumers Won’t Turn Fuelish [REPORT]
There is no doubt that the Federal Reserve will increase the target range for the fed funds rate later this month as higher energy prices are making the central bank’s problems even worse. The February consumer price index was up 0.8%, in line with our forecast and an acceleration from the 0.6% gain in each of the prior two months. Food prices were up 1%, while energy jumped 3.5% in February. Excluding food and energy, the CPI increased 0.5% after rising 0.6% in January.
Consumer Confidence Rising Among U.S. Hispanics
Despite a higher cost of living from rising inflation, the Hispanic population in the United States was more optimistic about its finances heading into the new year than it was at the end of 2021.
State of Play report reveals that streaming is the future, but consumers are currently overwhelmed by choice [REPORT]
Nielsen released its inaugural State of Play report, which highlights the increasing boom of video content in both linear and streaming in recent years. Overall, Americans increased their average weekly time streaming video by 18%, with a year-over-year increase from 143.2 billion streamed minutes to 169.4 billion between February 2021 and February 2022.
In-Content Ad Placement Combined with Traditional TV Campaigns Can Increase Brand Reach by 44 Percent [REPORT]
Mirriad announces its latest whitepaper: The Lost Audiences - Regaining Control. The paper highlights in-content advertising as a continually growing avenue for brands and advertisers to engage with audiences in an impactful and non-disruptive way, and explores how companies can recuperate lost GRPs and expand reach via the use of in-content advertising.
Hispanic American Wealth Surges in Record Time
Hispanics are capturing a piece of the American dream as a record number of Latinos move into the middle class. It is estimated that by 2030, the number of Hispanics in the United States will increase from 18% to 30%. As the population has grown, the poverty rate among Latinos has dropped to the lowest levels in recorded history, according to Census data. Median income, however, continues to rise. Hispanics are becoming an immigrant success story similar to those of Irish, Italian, and Asian descent who’ve chosen to settle and thrive in the U.S. Income Growth
The Contrarian Marketing Manifesto
We often assume that making the right decisions will guarantee us success. But if all of your competitors make the same exact decision, then you wind up with no competitive advantage, and at that point, you might as well be wrong. So you don’t just want to be right. You want to be the only one who’s right, so that you alone capture all the upside of the decisio
Young women are out-earning young men in several U.S. cities
Women in the United States continue to earn less than men, on average. Among full-time, year-round workers in 2019, women’s median annual earnings were 82% those of men.
Rise in Women on Boards of VC-Backed Private Companies
Him For Her and Crunchbase released the third annual Study of Gender Diversity on Private Company Boards which revealed that women now hold 14% of seats on the boards of the most heavily funded private companies.
2022 Digital media trends: Toward the metaverse [REPORT]
This year’s Digital media trends survey revealed that media companies in the United States are now feeling more turbulence from the deeper currents shaping consumer behavior. After 15 years of growth, streaming video on-demand (SVOD) services have successfully unbundled video, lowered costs to consumers, and ignited fierce competition among providers. Top SVOD services are consolidating content and taking the competition for subscribers into global markets. But they face greater pressure to attract and retain subscribers who have grown savvier about their subscriptions and more cost-conscious.
Over Two-Thirds of the Nation’s Counties Had Natural Decrease in 2021
In 2021, all counties in Delaware, Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island experienced natural decrease. Some counties also experienced population declines attributable to migration. Counties with net international migration loss (more people moving out of than into the country), were most frequently found in California (41.4%), Oregon (27.8%) and Mississippi (23.2%). States with the highest percentages of counties with net domestic migration loss (people moving from one area to another within the United States) were Alaska (80.0%), Louisiana (71.9%) and Illinois (65.7%).
The Immigrant Archive Project collects the stories of coming to call the U.S. home [PODCAST]
The Immigrant Archive Project, a collection of oral histories from the nation's immigrants, will be housed at the Library of Congress. NPR's Debbie Elliott speaks to archive founder Tony Hernandez.
U.S. Online Audio Listening Grows and Podcast Habits Reflect a Return to Work and School [REPORT & INFOGRAPH]
Seventy-three percent of the U.S. 12+ population (an estimated 209 million people) have listened to online audio in the last month, up from 68% in 2021. This jump was primarily driven by listeners age 35+, as the number of those age 35+ who listen to online audio monthly increased by 13% year over year. Weekly online audio listening also rose to 67% of the U.S. 12+ population, up from 62% in 2021.
Financial Issues Top the List of Reasons U.S. Adults Live in Multigenerational Homes [REPORT]
Multigenerational living has grown sharply in the U.S. over the past five decades and shows no sign of peaking.
Women Are More Likely to Consider Buying from Brands with Good Track Records on DEI
Brands today are keenly focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives both internally—with strategies to ensure a more equitable and diverse workforce—and externally, with consumer-facing initiatives to create products and advertising that are more inclusive of a diverse America. And a big part of America’s diversity is female.
2016–2020 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates
The U.S. Census Bureau released new statistics from the 2016–2020 American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates. Following pandemic-related data collection disruptions, the Census Bureau revised its methodology to reduce nonresponse bias in data collected in 2020.
The five zeros reshaping stores
Shoppers are reshaping the retail landscape faster than ever before. Nearly 40 percent have switched brands or retailers during the pandemic, and more than 80 percent have new shopping behaviors. More than half of those who used a new channel or service such as “buy online, pickup in store,” for example, said they would continue the practice post-COVID-19. As such, the omnichannel consumer has never been more powerful. They make purchases 70 percent more often and spend about 34 percent more than people who shop exclusively in store
US in-store card users will be more than 90% of population by 2023
The forecast: US in-store payment card users will represent 91.0% of the population by 2023, with 68.6% being debit card users, 60.2% being credit card users, and 17.1% being prepaid card users.
