I've seen somewhere that "youngster" is an informal word. So, would you use "youngsters" to refer to "young people" in a data report? For example:
The number of youngsters who run their own businesses is increasing rapidly.
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1A youngster is not "of age" legally to run a business. A youngster is a child.– TimRCommented May 7 at 10:07
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3@TimR In practice, I'd say the term "youngster" says more about the age gap between the person saying it and the one they're referring to, rather than the absolute age of the person being referred to. A 12 y/o would not refer to a 10 y/o as a youngster, but a 30 y/o might refer to a 10 y/o as a youngster, and an 80 y/o might refer to the 30 y/o as a youngster. Regardless, there is absolutely nothing that prevents a minor from owning and operating a business in many jurisdictions (although it is prohibited in a handful of US states).– Nuclear HoagieCommented May 7 at 15:41
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Both TimR and Nuclear Hoagie are right. There's really nothing more to be said about this.– LambieCommented May 8 at 19:01
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4 Answers
"Youngster" is a pretty dated thing to say and usually tinged with irony. I'd leave that one out of your vocabulary until you see it used a few times.
The other problem is that a "youngster" is young relative to the speaker. A formal report like this doesn't reference the speaker unless absolutely necessary. Even in less-formal writing, the use of "youngster" would be confusing without some research into who the author is, unless the writing is quite personal and already provides that context.
"Young person" is also pretty vague, but should be okay if you clarify what age range you're talking about. In this case the topic of starting businesses doesn't leave too much to question.
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My question stems from an English test in which I have to report data about "young people". Most of the time, it's not really specific how young the people are, so I guess the examiner means to refer to people who are under 30 or 40 years old max in general. Commented May 7 at 5:06
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If "youngster" doesn't work, what words/phrases would you recommend to me to replace it here? Commented May 7 at 5:08
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3@anIELTSlearner "Young people" is fine. "Young adults" would also work. Commented May 7 at 5:42
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"The young" can also be used, or in some contexts other, more specific terms may be used (schoolchildren, juveniles, minors, etc). I wouldn't be 100% opposed to youngster: you could use it occasionally for variety (it's more colloquial but it's not ridiculously informal in the way something like brats or ankle-biters would be) but it is less serious so I wouldn't use it routinely.– Stuart FCommented May 7 at 8:47
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A youngster is "young relative to the speaker" only when the word is being used facetiously, like when an octogenarian calls someone in their sixties a youngster.– TimRCommented May 7 at 10:09
The word "youngster" is too informal for a data report. It's a very folksy, conversational term.
Everything that the-baby-is-you said is also true.
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What about the young generation or the young population in, for example, the UK? Commented May 7 at 8:09
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2@anIELTSlearner In a data report, you should only used clearly defined terms. Both of those terms are appropriate so long as it's clear exactly what they mean in the context.– gotube ♦Commented May 7 at 19:00
You could say something like:
People in their twenties...
People in their thirties...
That's in a fairly neutral register, neither formal nor informal.
Something you could put in an article in, say, The Economist:
Twenty-somethings...
Thirty-somethings...
Youngsters refers to children. It can be used, with some degree of irony, by adults of teens, and by the elderly of those who are not quite as old as they are.
Here are a couple of quotes, one British, one American, which mention the specific age-range of which the term youngster is being used:
Referees of children's under-10 small-sided matches do a great job. They let the youngsters play, give them bags of individual praise and even give them a demonstration if they make a foul throw." Simply the Best: 500 Football Tips for Youngsters (London, 2011)
Also at the resort is a protected sandy bayside beach that is a great place for cruisers with kids to let the youngsters play in shallow water and shake off some of that energy they have been using to bug adults. The last time we were there, we saw a couple of "great white hunters" of about eight years of age with one crab net between them stalk and capture a blue crab... Cruising the Florida Keys (Louisiana, 2002)
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Thank you for your suggestions! The thing is they don't mention specifically how old these "young people" are. It's just really general. Commented May 7 at 12:16
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2Youngsters means children, plain and simple, unless used ironically. So that's really one to avoid.– TimRCommented May 7 at 12:23
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4@TimR I would say almost the opposite: youngsters means young people, but usually not children. I would look quite oddly at anyone who tongue-out-of-cheek called a five-year-old a youngster. A 15-year-old, sure; a 20-year-old, also fine. But a five-year-old, no. Looking through samples in Google Books agrees – I can find references to teenagers and young adults, but so far none to children. Commented May 7 at 15:07
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1@JanusBahsJacquet What is the time-constraint you've placed on Google Books, if any?– TimRCommented May 7 at 15:34
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1I’m sort of a mixed bag… raised on a mixture of BrE and AmE, but sometimes with biases towards one or the other that I don’t even realise are biases! Commented May 7 at 19:56
As other answers have already discussed, 'youngsters' is an informal and non-specific term. Whereas other answers have focussed on the meaning & use of the word and potential alternatives, I would recommend looking at the use use of 'youngsters' in the context of the data report.
I might use 'youngsters' to refer to the younger of two predefined groups. But only if scientific rigour isn't required. And if I'm contrasting three or four groups, I'd use a more specific term.
