For the full article, please see Youth Studies Australia, Volume 25 Number 4 2006

"Optimistic, idealistic, empowered, amtitious, confident, committed and passionate." That's how author Rebecca Huntley describes the current batch of 18-25 year olds known to market researchers and sociologists alike as 'Generation Y'.

In 'The world according to Y', Huntley examines the values and expectations of Generation Y from her position as a member of Generation X, offering valuable insights into the "largest youth generation in history".

This good looking book is the fruit of Huntley's subsequent investigation into Gen Y,informed by current academic and market research and her own extensive interviews with over 50 Australian Gen-Yers.

'The world according to Y' is Huntley's attempt to "make an early call on what this generation is like and what it will become".

Like any generational cohort, Gen-Yers are a product of their times. So what's unique about them? According to Huntley, "freedom and uncertainty are the yin and yang of the Y world".

Despite being the first generation to fully experience divorce, downsizing and 'user-pays' education from birth, the Boomer-shaped world in which Gen-Yers were born and raised provided them with a relatively comfortable and happy childhood.

However, the Boomers' unrelenting grip on culture, wealth and the labour market have made this generatin's transition into adulthood far less certain than it was for their predecessors.

During her time as a university tutor in 2003 (Huntley holds a PhD in Gender Studies), Huntley began to observe the "striking difference between the attitudes, values and expectations of her young students and those of her own generation...