Baby Boomers’ Possessions Not Wanted by Millennial Children

A generational divide is being seen between the preferences of the baby boomer generation to collect items and the millennial generation to keep physical possessions to a minimum. This divide can create tension when baby boomer parents begin to downsize and find that their children do not want the large dining room table the family spent meals at together or the boxes of memorabilia that track their children’s school age years.

Auction houses are seeing an increase in requests to sell furniture pieces of baby boomers. Millennials tend to digitalize the majority of their sentimental items and prefer to live in small apartments in urban centers where space is limited. Millennials also tend to not have attachment to items simply because they came from their parents, but need either a personal connection to the item or a need for it to keep it.

See Jura Koncius, Stuff it: Millennials Nix Their Parents’ Treasures, The Washington Post, March 27, 2015.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse for bringing this article to my attention.