Forget Gen Y: Are you ready for the Homeland Generation?

If you want to read a lot about the Baby Boomer generation, or Generation X, or Generation Y/Millennials — you won’t have to dig deeply. The media is saturated with stories and statistics about these groups. From the aging Baby Boomers to the still-cynical Gen Xers and the up-and-coming Millennials, there’s information aplenty.

It’s important we pay attention to all the generations acting as current credit union members. However, credit unions must also prepare now for the generation that comes after the Millennials — the Homeland Generation (children born 2005 and after).

Who are the Homeland Generation and why are they called that? According to renowned generational expert Neil Howe, the term “Homeland Generation” was actually chosen by readers of his books. It is an (rather pessimistic) homage to children born after 2005 who know nothing but a post-9/11 world fraught with fears of terrorism, government encroachment on privacy and a new foreboding sense that the traditional American homeland is no longer safe.

What a way to make an entrance into the world, right?

Homelanders are primarily the children of Gen Xers and will be the most ethnically and racially diverse generation in American history..

What can credit unions expect from Homelanders as members? A little bit about the way they are being raised provides a glass ball into this future.

• Helicopter parenting. While Howe notes the initial push for enhanced sheltering of children began with Millennials, Gen Xers have elevated this style to a new level. Homelander children are zealously protected in virtually every possible way by their Gen X parents made nervous by a world full of uncertainty, violence and unpredictability.
  Credit union application: To reach Homelanders, you will have to get around (and possibly through) their Gen X parents. 
• Return to the traditional. Homelander parents strive for more of a “traditional” family model. Molded primarily by the skyrocketing divorce rates and nontraditional family models of their Baby Boomer parents, Gen Xers now seek to raise their Homelander children in what they see as more traditional family settings.
  Credit union application: Kids clubs at your credit union may not be on the way to extinction yet.

• Restriction of boundaries. In their quest to protect their children as much as possible, Gen Xers tend to exert near-complete control over the environments in which their children abide. This includes school, church and practically anything outside of their tightly-knit inner circle of friends and family. Distrustful of the outside world, Gen X parents unabashedly advocate for what they think helps their children as individuals. Credit union application: You must create and nurture a credit union brand that is warm and welcoming in order to gain the trust of Homelander parents.

Homelanders are also born into a wired world — more so than any previous generation. Homelanders have never known a time without easily accessible Wi-Fi Internet, portable smart devices and the advent of wearable smart technology. Opportunities for connections with people exist in ways unknown even a quarter-century ago. In many ways, with the advent of social media and interconnectivity, Homelanders are creating their own “personal brands” from practically birth.

What does this mean for your credit union? Homelanders, as maturing consumers, will have a relatively sharp vision of what they expect from financial institutions including your credit union. Since they can review products and services online and find out what their peers think about them without ever setting foot in a branch, early and constant brand interaction with them is critical.

Credit unions must also personally interact with members of this generation to ensure they stay on top of the issues and cultural undertones that matters to them and influence their purchasing patterns. This means, in addition to personal interactions, exposing oneself to new and upcoming social media platforms that Homelanders are likely to adopt and exploit.

Credit unions should take note of the rising Homeland generation. Given the volatile state of the world, the Homeland generation is still very much in its formative stages. Wise credit unions will prepare now.