What is Generation X?
Generation X is a term used to describe a group of people born from 1964 to the mid or late 1970s in the United States and Canada. This generation follows the powerful Baby Boomer generation which spiked after World War II. Although the term Generation X is used to describe people born in this time period, it has also been used to describe anyone who is “twentysomething” at the time. The biggest impact that Generation X has had on popular culture probably began in the 1980s and peaked in the 1990s. While the term Generation X can be used to describe a wide group of people, it has come to be popularly accepted that members of this generation, wrought in the shadow of the Baby Boomers, felt alienated and disenfranchised by the cultural icons of the time. “X” described the lack of identity that members of Generation X felt — they didn’t know where they belonged, but knew for sure that they weren’t a part of the overbearing generation of Baby Boomers. The media played its part in promoting
Whether they are from USA, Canada, Europe, or Asia, Gen Xers tend to marry later, have fewer children, and have doubts about their future. In Japan, for example, a pervasive pessimism about the future is believed to have contributed to young Japanese postponing marriage and children. The average marrying age for men is nearly 30 and for women nearly 28.As a result, Japans current population of 128 million is expected to fall to 100 million by 2050 and to 64 million by 2100. Japans Population Fell This Year, Sooner Than Expected, Norimitsu Onishi, New York Times, December 24, 2005. In the USA, Only 56 percent of households age 30 to 39 are married couples compared wit 60 percent a decade ago. But when they do get married, the vast majority have children (80%) and then both go to work, providing a household income of $78,000 a year. American Demographics magazine, May 2004. Over the next 10 years, most of American Gen Xers will cross over into their 40s, historically individuals money-ma
Coming on the heels of the well-known Baby Boomers (those born between 1946-1964), Generation X represents over 50 million people born between 1965 and 1978 (7). Some demographers contend this period should be expanded to include 1961-1981 in order to encompass those with similar life experiences (22). When using this classification system, we realize that X’ers outnumber the Baby Boomers, and have done so since 1980 (17). Generation X, borrowing the name from the title of the 1991 Douglas Coupland novel (2), has been witness to, a participant in, and the result of, much change within American society. X’ers grew up during the era of the pill and legalized abortion, liberalized divorce, and the influx of women into the labor force. Further, they came of age during a period of increasing diversity and the blurring of gender roles (4). This generation, the thirteenth since the founding of the republic (15), is the first one to grow up with VCR’s and video games. X’ers are very technologi
