The Trend

Some millennials are stepping back from high-pressure, career-oriented lives in favor of more modest lifestyles. Guided by a few disparate movements and philosophies, they're opting out to focus on family, religion, travel, or personal happiness and inner meaning.

Where We're Seeing It

Financial Independence, Retire Early Movement

"It’s about having agency, Ms. Robin said: 'The worker in this economy has very little sense of control over their existence. People are expendable. You’re a young person and you look ahead and you say, 'What’s there for me?'"
(New York Times, September 2018)

Millennials Are Becoming Nuns

"After 50 years of decline, the number of young women 'discerning the religious life'—or going through the long process of becoming a Catholic sister—is substantially increasing."
(HuffPost, July 2019)

Andrew Luck Retired from The NFL at 29

"He hasn’t turned 30 and is hanging it up, in a league where a bunch of elite QBs are in their late 30s and early 40s. This is a league-altering retirement. The NFL is absolutely terrified of any trend Luck could possibly set."
(The Comeback, August 2019)

About NXT

NXT is EPAM Continuum’s trends research group. We identify and synthesize high-level currents and shifts in global culture, business, and technology from the angle of human behavior and cultural values.

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Image by Danielle MacInnes on Unsplash