Oct 14, 2014 07:15 PM EDT By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

New research found that millennials lack some of the basic skills they need to care for themselves, such as preparing meals and sewing.

Researchers from the University of Missouri found that a significant gap exists in the amount of "common" clothes repair skills possessed by members of the baby boomer generation and millennials. Many more of the baby boomer generation possess skills such as sewing, hemming, button repair and general laundry knowledge than Americans 18 to 33 years of age.

Researcher Pamela Norum, a professor in the Department of Textile and Apparel Management in the university's College of Human Environmental Sciences, said the findings are concerning considering the amount of clothing waste that is generated each year.

"In 2012, Americans created more than 14.3 million tons of textile waste," Norum said. "Much of this waste is due to clothes being discarded due to minor tears or stains -- easily repairable damages if the owners have the skills and knowledge to fix them. If we, as a nation, want to move toward more sustainable practices in all aspects, we need to evaluate not only how we take care of our clothes, but how we educate younger generations to do so as well."

For the study, Norum surveyed more than 500 American baby boomers and millennial about their clothing consumption practices.

While baby boomers generally had much more knowledge of clothes repair and laundry than millennials, millennials who reported to have taken sewing classes or who had been taught to sew by a family member had more overall clothes repair skills than those that had no education on the subject.

This finding indicates the need for increased education on what once was considered common clothing maintenance knowledge, according to Norum.

"Traditionally, these skills were learned in the home or in secondary school," Norum said. "With the increase of women in the labor force and the decrease in funding for family and consumer sciences programs (FACS), the opportunity to acquire such skills has diminished for young Americans. Existing FACS curriculum may want to tie in sewing/mending skills with sustainable consumption as a way of appealing to younger generations while providing the skills they need."

Norum suggests delivering this kind of instruction in settings that may extend beyond the school environment, such as through utilizing new technologies like social media and online videos to reach consumers.

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