Generation X is a term initially used to describe the cohort of people born in the late 1950s and 1960s^[1], roughly 1965 to 1980^[2], 1968 to 1979^[3], 1964 to 1980^[4], or 1961 to 1981^[5], depending on the source. The term has been used in demography, the social sciences, and marketing, though it is most often used in popular culture.

History of the term

Origins

In the U.S. Generation X was originally referred to as the "baby bust" generation because of the small number of births following the baby boom.^[2]

In the UK the term was first used in a 1964 study of British youth by Jane Deverson. Deverson was asked by Woman's Own magazine to conduct a series of interviews with teenagers of the time. The study revealed a generation of teenagers who "sleep together before they are married, don't believe in God, dislike the Queen, and don't respect parents," which was deemed unsuitable for the magazine because it was a new phenomenon. Deverson, in an attempt to save her research, worked with Hollywood correspondent Charles Hamblett to create a book about the study. Hamblett decided to name it Generation X.^[6]

13th generation

In the 1991 book Generations, William Strauss and Neil Howe called this generation the "13th Generation" and defined the birth years as 1961 to 1981. Using their methods, it is the 13th to know the flag of the United States (counting back to the peers of Benjamin Franklin).^[7] The label was also chosen because they consider it a "Reactive" or "Nomad" generation, composed of those who were children during a spiritual awakening. Older generations generally have negative perceptions of Reactive generations -- whose members tend to be pragmatic and perceptive, savvy but amoral, more focused on money than on art^[8] -- and the use of 13 is also intended to associate this perception with the negative connotations of that number. The authors highlighted this negative perception by noting the large number of "devil-child" movies (e.g. Rosemary's Baby)^[9] released soon after the first members were born, compared with more positive movies such as Baby Boom that were released when the first members of the next generation were being raised.^[10]

Generation X in the United States

For some of this generation, Generation X thinking has significant overtones of cynicism against things held dear to the previous generations, mainly the Baby Boomers.^[11]

Generation X grew up during the later years, end of, and the decade following the Cold War. This time included the Ronald Reagan era.^[12] Generation X came of age amidst a recession, affecting the job market, in the early 1990s. The perception of Generation X during the late 1980s was summarized in a featured article in Time Magazine^[13] (1990):

^[14]

In economics, a study was done (by Pew Charitable Trusts, the American Enterprise Institute, the Brookings Institute, the Heritage Foundation and the Urban Institute) that challenges the notion that each generation will be better off than the one that preceded it.^[15] The study, 'Economic Mobility: Is the American Dream Alive and Well-" focuses on the income of males 30-39 in 2004 (those born April, 1964 - March, 1974) and is based on Census/BLS CPS March supplement data.^[16]

The study, which made national headline news on May 25, 2007, emphasizes that in real dollars, that cohort made less (by 12%) than their fathers at the same age in 1974, thus reversing a historic trend. The study also suggests that per year increases in father/son family household income has slowed (from 0.9% to 0.3% average), barely keeping pace with inflation, though progressively higher each year due to more women entering the workplace contributing to family household income.^[17]

On election night, November 4, 2008, Chuck Todd on NBC television noted that President-elect Barack Obama was a change of guard from the baby-boomer Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush to the post-boomer generation of Obama. The Toronto Globe and Mail referred to the President Elect, who was born in 1961, as a member of Generation X.

^[18] (11/11/2008):

^[19]

Many commentators, including Jonathan Alter, David Brooks, and Clarence Page, have instead said that Obama is part of Generation Jones, sometimes considered a distinct generation born 1954-1965, between the Boomers and Xers.^{[20][21][22][23]}

Notes