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{{Short description|Cohort born from 1965 to 1980}} |
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'''Generation X''' is a term used to describe [[Generation#Length|generations]] in many countries around the world born from 1964 to around 1980. The term has become used in [[demography]], the [[social sciences]], and [[marketing]], though it is most often used in [[popular culture]]. |
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{{Generations Sidebar}} |
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'''Generation X''' (often shortened to '''Gen X''') is the [[Demography|demographic]] [[Cohort (statistics)|cohort]] following the [[Baby Boomers]] and preceding [[Millennials]]. Researchers and popular media often use the mid-1960s as its starting birth years and the late 1970s as its ending birth years, with the [[generation]] generally defined as people born from 1965 to 1980.<!-- This date range is based on the sources given in the text below; please seek talk page consensus before changing --><ref name= "Twenge">{{cite web |last1=Twenge |first1=Jean |title=How Are Generations Named? |url=https://trend.pewtrusts.org/en/archive/winter-2018/foreword-how-are-generations-named |website=Trend |publisher=The Pew Charitable Trusts |access-date=30 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830135027/http://trend.pewtrusts.org/en/archive/winter-2018/foreword-how-are-generations-named |archive-date=30 August 2018 |date=26 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/distribute/chart/ |title=Distribution of Household Wealth in the U.S. since 1989 |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2024-06-14 |publisher=[[Federal Reserve Board of Governors]] |access-date=2024-07-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Miller |first=Sarah |date=2023-08-25 |title=Hate Gen X? Get in Line (Behind a Gen X-er). |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/25/style/gen-x-generation-discourse.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230826080748/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/25/style/gen-x-generation-discourse.html |archive-date=2023-08-26 |work=[[New York Times]] |access-date=2024-07-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Bump |first=Philip |date=2023-08-21 |title=Gen X is not the Trumpiest generation |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/08/21/trump-genx-voters/ |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=2024-07-22}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Hecht |first=Evan |date=2022-09-02 |title=What years were Gen X born? Detailed breakdown of the age range for each generation. |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2022/09/02/what-years-gen-x-millennials-baby-boomers-gen-z/10303085002/ |work=[[USA Today]] |access-date=2024-07-22}}</ref> By this definition and [[United States Census|U.S. Census]] data, there are 65.2 million Gen Xers<ref>{{cite web |title=Gen Xer |url=https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/gen_xer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200227180206/https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/gen_xer |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 February 2020 |website=Lexico |publisher=Oxford Dictionaries |access-date=2 December 2019}}</ref> in the [[United States]] as of 2019.<ref name="2020Overtake">{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/28/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers-as-americas-largest-generation/|title=Millennials overtake Baby Boomers as America's largest generation|last=Fry|first=Richard|date=28 April 2020|website=[[Pew Research Center]]|access-date=28 April 2020|archive-date=28 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428233813/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/28/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers-as-americas-largest-generation/|url-status=live}}</ref> Most of Generation X are the children of the [[Silent Generation]] and early Baby Boomers;<ref name="Strauss 2000 54">{{cite book|title=Millennials Rising: The Next Great Generation|year=2000|publisher=Vintage Original|location=New York|isbn=978-0-375-70719-3|page=54|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=To_Eu9HCNqIC |first1=William|last1=Strauss|first2=Neil|last2=Howe|others=Cartoons by R.J. Matson|access-date=17 October 2013}}</ref><ref name="Gordinier">{{cite book|last1=Gordinier|first1=Jeff|url=https://archive.org/details/xsavesworldhowg00gord|title=X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything from Sucking|date=27 March 2008|publisher=Viking Adult|isbn=978-0-670-01858-1}}</ref> Xers are also often the parents of Millennials<ref name="Strauss 2000 54" /> and [[Generation Z]].<ref name=":23">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/fashion/move-over-millennials-here-comes-generation-z.html|title=Move Over, Millennials, Here Comes Generation Z|last1=Williams|first1=Alex|date=18 September 2015|access-date=8 April 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|archive-date=19 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919162333/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/fashion/move-over-millennials-here-comes-generation-z.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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== History of the term == |
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===Origins=== |
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In the U.S. Gen X was originally referred as the "baby bust" generation because of the small number of births following the baby boom. {{Fact|date=January 2008}} Later, the term ''Generation X'' was used. It stuck. |
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As children in the 1970s and 1980s, a time of shifting societal values, Gen Xers were sometimes called the "[[Latchkey kid|Latchkey]] Generation", a reference to their returning as children from school to an empty home and using a key to let themselves in. This was a result of what is now called [[free-range parenting]], increasing [[divorce]] rates, and increased maternal participation in the workforce before widespread availability of childcare options outside the home. |
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In the UK the term was first used in a 1964 study of [[United Kingdom|British]] youth by [[Jane Deverson]]. Deverson was asked by [[Woman's Own]] magazine to conduct a series of interviews with [[teenager]]s of the time. The study revealed a generation of teenagers who "sleep together before they are married, don't believe in [[God]], dislike the [[Elizabeth II|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 (book)|Generation X]]''.<ref>Asthana, Anushka & Thorpe, Vanessa. "[http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1396618,00.html Whatever happened to the original Generation X?]". ''[[The Observer]]''. January 23, 2005.</ref> |
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As adolescents and young adults in the 1980s and 1990s, Xers were dubbed the "[[MTV Generation]]" (a reference to the [[MTV|music video channel]]) and sometimes characterized as [[slacker]]s, cynical, and disaffected. Some of the many cultural influences on Gen X youth included a proliferation of musical genres with strong social-tribal identity such as [[alternative rock]], [[Hip hop music|hip hop]], [[Punk rock|punk]], [[post-punk]], [[rave]], and [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]], in addition to later forms developed by Xers themselves (e.g., [[grunge]], [[grindcore]] and related genres). Film was also a notable cultural influence, via both the birth of franchise mega-sequels and a proliferation of [[independent film]] (enabled in part by [[video]]). Video games, in both amusement parlors and devices in Western homes, were also a major part of juvenile entertainment for the first time. Politically, Generation X experienced the last days of [[communism]] in the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[Eastern Bloc]] countries of [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe]], witnessing the transition to [[capitalism]] in these regions during their youth. In much of the Western world, a similar time period was defined by a dominance of [[conservatism]] and [[free market]] economics. |
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===Popularization=== |
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The term was first used in popular culture in the late 1970s by UK [[punk rock]] band [[Generation X (band)|Generation X]] led by [[Billy Idol]]. It was later expanded on by [[Canada|Canadian]] novelist [[Douglas Coupland]] in ''[[Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture]]'' (1991), which describes the angst of those born between roughly 1960 and 1965, who felt no connection to the cultural icons of the [[baby boom generation]]. Coupland himself was born in 1961. |
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In Coupland's usage, the ''X'' referred to the namelessness of a generation that was coming into an awareness of its existence as a separate group but feeling overshadowed by the boomer generation of which it was ostensibly a part. |
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<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Generationzxthgde.jpg|thumb|right|200px|The novel, ''Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture'', popularized the term "Generation X."]] --> |
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Coupland took the X from [[Paul Fussell]]'s 1983 book ''Class'', where the term "Category X" designated a region of America's social hierarchy, rather than a generation.<ref>[http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/5560/cnn1.html Interview with Douglas Coupland on [[CNN]]'s ''Heads Up''], May 28, 1994.</ref> However, this term has transcended its roots in that country and expanded into other areas of the West. Coupland first wrote of Generation X in September 1987 (''Vancouver'' magazine, "Generation X," pp. 164-169, 194), which was a precursor to the novel and slightly preceded the term "[[Twenty something|twentysomething]]". Coupland referred to those born from 1958 to 1966 in Canada or from 1958 to 1964 in the United States (see [[Demographics#U.S._Demographic_birth_cohorts|trailing edge boomer]]). As Coupland explained in a 1995 interview, "In his final chapter, Fussell named an 'X' category of people who wanted to hop off the merry-go-round of status, money, and social climbing that so often frames modern existence." As the term Generation X later became somewhat interchangeable with twenty something, he later revised his notion of Generation X to include anyone considered twenty something in the years 1987 to 1991.<ref name="r4">Smyth, Michael. "[http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Gallery/5560/genx9.html Review of Generation X]". ''Calgary Herald''. January 21, 1992.</ref> In fact, while the book is often seen as being an accurate description of the generation, Coupland maintains that the book was meant to show the lack of a single description for it. In the US, at times the term "[[Baby Bust|baby busters]]" is used interchangeably with "Generation X," Reagan Generation and MTV Generation can typically denote those born starting in 1965, with various dates offered for its ending year. In this sense, 1975 may be an appropriate cut-off year as the "echo boomer" cohort (recognized by the Census Bureau and other demographers) started in 1976 as birth rates began to rise. |
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In their midlife during the early 21st century, research describes Gen Xers as active, happy, and achieving a work–life balance. The cohort has also been more broadly described as entrepreneurial and productive in the workplace. |
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===13th generation=== |
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In the 1991 book ''[[Generations (book)|Generations]],'' William Strauss and Neil Howe called this generation the "13th Generation" because it's the 13th to know the flag of the [[United States]] (counting back to the peers of [[Benjamin Franklin]]). Strauss and Howe defined the birth years of the 13th Generation as 1965 to 1981 based on examining peaks and troughs in cultural trends rather than simply looking at birth rates.<ref name="r5">Strauss, William & Howe, Neil. ''Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069''. Perennial, 1992 (Reprint). ISBN 0-688-11912-3</ref> Howe and Strauss speak of influences that they believe have shaped Generation 13. These influences are as follows: |
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* Disaffectation with governance, a lack of trust in leadership, particularly institutional leadership |
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* Rampant political apathy |
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* Increase in [[divorce]] (institution of marriage) |
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* Increase in mothers in the workplace |
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* The [[zero population growth]] movement |
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* Availability of birth control pills ("Children were things you took pills NOT to have") |
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* "Devil-child films" |
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* Increase in [[education]]al variance |
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* Decrease in educational funding and loan availability (simultaneous with increase in advertising for military service) |
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* Inception of the [[Internet]] |
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* The end of the [[Cold War]] |
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== Terminology and etymology == |
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==Generation X in the United States== |
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[[File:Douglas Coupland Photo of Author.jpg|alt=|thumb|left|upright=0.8|[[Douglas Coupland]] popularized the term ''Generation X'' in his 1991 novel ''[[Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture]]''.]] |
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Generation X was generally marked early on by its lack of optimism for the future, [[nihilism]], cynicism, skepticism, political apathy, alienation and distrust in traditional values and institutions. Following the publication of Coupland's book (and the subsequent popularity of [[grunge music]]) the term stretched to include more people, being appropriated as the generation that succeeded the Baby Boomers, and used by the media and the general public to denote people who were in their twenties. |
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The term ''Generation X'' has been used at various times to describe alienated youth. In the early 1950s, Hungarian photographer [[Robert Capa]] first used ''Generation X'' as the title for a photo-essay about young men and women growing up immediately after [[World War II]]. The term first appeared in print in a December 1952 issue of ''[[Holiday (magazine)|Holiday]]'' magazine announcing its upcoming publication of Capa's photo-essay.<ref name=Ulrich>{{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=v10ZUR_Ca3EC&pg=PA32 |page= 5 |title= GenXegesis: Essays on Alternative Youth (Sub)culture |isbn= 978-0-87972-862-5 |last1= Ulrich |first1= John Mcallister |last2= Harris |first2= Andrea L. |year= 2003 |publisher= Popular Press |access-date= 16 April 2016 |archive-date= 3 February 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230203080657/https://books.google.com/books?id=v10ZUR_Ca3EC&pg=PA32 |url-status= live }}</ref> From 1976 to 1981, English musician [[Billy Idol]] used the term as the name of his [[Generation X (band)|punk rock band]].<ref name="Adweek"/> Idol attributed his band's name to Jane Deverson's and Charles Hamblett's 1964 book ''[[Generation X (1964 book)|Generation X]]'', about British popular youth culture<ref name="Gen X">{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26339959|title=The original Generation X|date=1 March 2014|work=BBC News|access-date=11 September 2017|language=en-GB|archive-date=11 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911162513/http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26339959|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Robb |first=John |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/934936262 |title=Punk Rock: An Oral History |date=2012 |publisher=PM |isbn=978-1-60486-005-4 |oclc=934936262 |page=240}}</ref>—a copy of which his mother had owned.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://punk77.co.uk/groups/generationx.htm|title=Generation X - A Punk Rock History with Pictures.|website=punk77.co.uk|access-date=11 July 2010|archive-date=1 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160201233522/http://punk77.co.uk/groups/generationx.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> These uses of the term appear to have no connection to Capa's photo-essay.<ref name=Ulrich/> |
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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]]. Some of those in Generation X tend to be very "consumer" driven and media savvy. Another cultural hallmark of Generation X was grunge music, which grew out of the frustrations and disenchantment of some teenagers and young adults. The fashion of grunge music was exemplified by the bands [[Smashing Pumpkins]], [[Alice in Chains]], [[Soundgarden]], [[Pearl Jam]], [[The Pixies]], [[Sonic Youth]], and [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]]. The grunge of the 1990s was influenced by [[punk music|punk]] and [[heavy metal music|heavy metal]] of the 1970s and 1980s. |
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The term gained a modern application after the release of Canadian author [[Douglas Coupland]]'s 1991 novel ''[[Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture]]'', but the definition used there is "born in the late 1950s and 1960s", which is about ten years earlier than definitions that came later.<ref>{{cite book |last=Coupland |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Coupland |date=1991 |title=Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WRdH_LnSsQ0C&pg=PP4 |publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers]] |page=inside front dust jacket flap |isbn=9780312054366}}</ref><ref name="Cunningham">{{cite book |last1=Cunningham |first1=Guy Patrick |editor1-last=Ciment |editor1-first=James |title=Postwar America: An Encyclopedia of Social, Political, Cultural, and Economic History, Volume 2 |date=2015 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-46235-4 |page=596 |chapter=Generation X |quote=The expression was later popularized by the American author Douglas Coupland, who borrowed it for the title of his 1991 novel ''Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture''.}}</ref><ref name="Gen X"/><ref name=Raphelson>{{cite news|last1=Raphelson|first1=Samantha|title=From GIs To Gen Z (Or Is It iGen?): How Generations Get Nicknames|url=https://www.npr.org/2014/10/06/349316543/don-t-label-me-origins-of-generational-names-and-why-we-use-them|access-date=21 May 2016|publisher=NPR|date=6 October 2014|archive-date=1 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701053025/http://www.npr.org/2014/10/06/349316543/don-t-label-me-origins-of-generational-names-and-why-we-use-them|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1987, Coupland had written a piece in ''[[Vancouver Magazine]]'' titled "Generation X" which was "the seed of what went on to become the book".<ref name=Genesis>{{cite news |last1=Coupland |first1=Douglas |title=Genesis X |url=http://vanmag.com/uncategorized/genesis-x/ |access-date=24 March 2019 |work=Vancouver Magazine |date=2 September 2007 |archive-date=24 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324025250/http://vanmag.com/uncategorized/genesis-x/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Coupland |first1=Douglas |title=Generation X |url=http://vanmag.com/uncategorized/generation-x-september-1987/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324022020/http://vanmag.com/uncategorized/generation-x-september-1987/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 March 2019 |access-date=24 March 2019 |work=Vancouver Magazine |date=September 1987 }} See original magazine pages [https://web.archive.org/web/20190324025405/http://vanmag.com/vmdrup/sitesfiles/DC_Sept87_pgs164lg.jpg 164], [https://web.archive.org/web/20190324022348/http://vanmag.com/vmdrup/sitesfiles/DC_Sept87_pgs165lg.jpg 165], [https://web.archive.org/web/20190324025427/http://vanmag.com/vmdrup/sitesfiles/DC_Sept87_pg167lg.jpg 167], [https://web.archive.org/web/20190324022317/http://vanmag.com/vmdrup/sitesfiles/DC_Sept87_pgs168lgnew.jpg 168], [https://web.archive.org/web/20190324022207/http://vanmag.com/vmdrup/sitesfiles/DC_Sept87_pgs169lg.jpg 169]. The story is continued on p. 194, which was not scanned.</ref> Coupland referenced Billy Idol's band Generation X in the 1987 article and again in 1989 in ''Vista'' magazine.<ref name=Vista /> In the book proposal for his novel, Coupland wrote that ''Generation X'' is "taken from the name of Billy Idol’s long-defunct punk band of the late 1970s",<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Doody |first1=Christopher |title=X-plained: The Production and Reception History of Douglas Coupland's Generation X |journal=Papers of the Bibliographical Society of Canada |date=2011 |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=5–34 |url=https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/bsc/article/view/21940 |access-date=20 July 2020 |archive-date=20 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200720032040/https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/bsc/article/view/21940 |url-status=live }}</ref> but in 1995 he denied the term's connection to the band, saying: |
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The attitude of Generation X towards religion is more complex than other cultural norms of this highly diverse generation. Many Xers believe in [[God]] or at least "a higher power" and are accepting of the plurality of world religions. Other Generation Xers are indifferent or hostile toward religion. Generation Xers are influential in the [[emerging church]] and other movements aimed at deconstructing and re-evaluating the religion of their parents (much as many American Post World War II Baby Boomers had done in the 1960s and 1970s). One commonality of Generation X's religious perspective is a lack of dogmatism. |
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<blockquote>The book's title came not from Billy Idol's band, as many supposed, but from the final chapter of a funny sociological book on American class structure titled ''[[Class: A Guide Through the American Status System|Class]]'', by [[Paul Fussell]]. In his final chapter, Fussell named an "X" category of people who wanted to hop off the merry-go-round of status, money, and social climbing that so often frames modern existence.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Coupland |first1=Douglas |title=Generation X'd |url=http://coupland.tripod.com/details1.html |access-date=24 March 2019 |work=Details Magazine |date=June 1995 |archive-date=24 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190324022022/http://coupland.tripod.com/details1.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=Genesis /></blockquote> |
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Generation X, or the "Reagan Generation" as some have termed it, grew up during the end of the [[Cold War]] and the [[Ronald Reagan]] eras. As the first of their [[Cohort (statistics)|cohort]] reached adulthood, they experienced the collapse of the [[Soviet Union]] and the [[United States of America]]'s emergence as the world's lone superpower. Generation X has been the largest generational military service block in American history and the most educated military force fielded by the United States with more enlisted and officer ranked persons holding Bachelor and Master's degrees than their [[World War II]] grandfathers. Generation X doesn't suffer the "Vietnam complex" fatigue of its parents and is more likely to identify themselves with their World War II grandparents in values, morals and practical living skills. |
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Author [[Strauss–Howe generational theory|William Strauss]] noted that around the time Coupland's novel was published the symbol "X" was prominent in popular culture, as the film ''[[Malcolm X (1992 film)|Malcolm X]]'' was released in 1992, and that the name "Generation X" stuck. The "X" refers to an unknown variable or to a desire not to be defined.<ref name="MetLife2"/><ref>{{cite book|title=Neil Howe & William Strauss discuss the Silent Generation on Chuck Underwood's Generations|date=2001|pages=49:00|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_owfM7CiCA#t=202.342609854|access-date=21 May 2016|archive-date=21 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150421080017/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_owfM7CiCA#t=202.342609854|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Raphelson /> Strauss's coauthor [[Neil Howe]] noted the delay in naming this demographic cohort: "Over 30 years after their birthday, they didn't have a name. I think that's germane." Previously, the cohort had been called post-Boomers, Baby Busters (which refers to the drop in birth rates after the baby boom in the western world, particularly in the U.S.{{Where|date=March 2022}}),<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C2WmSCOBR2IC&q=%22Generation+X%22+%22baby+bust%22&pg=PA307|title=Encyclopedia of Identity|last1=II|first1=Ronald L. Jackson|last2=Jackson|first2=Ronald L.|last3=Hogg|first3=Michael A.|date=29 June 2010|publisher=SAGE|isbn=978-1-4129-5153-1|language=en|access-date=17 October 2020|archive-date=3 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203080701/https://books.google.com/books?id=C2WmSCOBR2IC&q=%22Generation+X%22+%22baby+bust%22&pg=PA307|url-status=live}}</ref> the New [[Lost Generation]], [[latchkey kid]]s, the [[MTV Generation]], and the 13th Generation (the 13th generation since [[American independence]]).<ref name="Adweek"/><ref name="MetLife2">{{cite news|title=Demographic Profile - America's Gen X|url=https://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/Profiles/mmi-gen-x-demographic-profile.pdf|access-date=21 May 2016|publisher=MetLife|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817083829/https://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/Profiles/mmi-gen-x-demographic-profile.pdf|archive-date=17 August 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=Vista>{{cite web |last=Coupland |first=Doug |url=http://joeclark.org/dossiers/GenerationX.pdf |title=Generation X |publisher=Vista |year=1989 |access-date=4 July 2009 |archive-date=7 October 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091007071317/http://joeclark.org/dossiers/GenerationX.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Lipton|first1=Lauren|title=The Shaping of a Shapeless Generation : Does MTV Unify a Group Known Otherwise For its Sheer Diversity?|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-11-10-tv-1845-story.html|access-date=10 September 2016|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=10 November 1911|archive-date=5 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305010250/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-11-10/news/tv-1845_1_mtv-generation|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Jackson>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C2WmSCOBR2IC&pg=PA307 |title=Encyclopedia of Identity |last1=Jackson |first1=Ronald L. |last2=Hogg |first2=Michael A. |year=2010 |publisher=SAGE |isbn=978-1-4129-5153-1 |page=307 |language=en |access-date=17 October 2020 |archive-date=3 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203080701/https://books.google.com/books?id=C2WmSCOBR2IC&pg=PA307 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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The employment of Generation X is volatile. Generation Xers grew up in a rapidly [[deindustrialization|deindustrializing]] Western world, experienced the economic recession of the early 1990s and 2000s, saw traditional permanent job contracts being supplanted with unsecured short-term contracts, experienced [[offshoring]] and [[outsourcing]] and often experienced years of [[unemployment]] or underemployment at typical jobs, such as [[McJob]]s in their young adulthood. Many found themselves overeducated and underemployed, leaving a deep sense of insecurity in Generation Xers, whose usual attitude to work is ''Take the money and run''. They no longer take any employment for granted, as their baby boomer counterparts did, nor do they consider unemployment a stigmatizing catastrophe. |
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==Date and age range definitions== |
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The perception of Generation X during the early 1990s was summarized in a featured article in [[Time Magazine]]: |
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[[File:Western_Fertility_Rates_1960-1980.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Western fertility rates, 1960–1980]] |
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{{cquote|. . .They possess only a hazy sense of their own identity but a monumental preoccupation with all the problems the preceding generation will leave for them to fix . . .This is the twenty-something generation, those 48 million young Americans ages 18 through 29 who fall between the famous baby boomers and the boomlet of children the baby boomers are producing. Since today's young adults were born during a period when the U.S. birthrate decreased to half the level of its postwar peak, in the wake of the great baby boom, they are sometimes called the baby busters. By whatever name, so far they are an unsung generation, hardly recognized as a social force or even noticed much at all...By and large, the 18-to-29 group scornfully rejects the habits and values of the baby boomers, viewing that group as self-centered, fickle and impractical. While the baby boomers had a placid childhood in the 1950s, which helped inspire them to start their revolution, today's twenty-something generation grew up in a time of drugs, divorce and economic strain. . .They feel influenced and changed by the social problems they see as their inheritance: racial strife, homelessness, AIDS, fractured families and federal deficits.[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,970634,00.html]}} |
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Generation X is the demographic cohort following the [[post–World War II baby boom|post–World War II baby-boom]], representing a generational change from the baby boomers. Many researchers and demographers use dates that correspond to the fertility-patterns in the population. For Generation X, in the U.S. (and broadly, in the Western world), the period begins at a time when [[Total fertility rate|fertility rates]] started to significantly decrease, from the peak in the late 1950s until an upswing in the late 1970s and recovery at the start of the 1980s. |
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In the U.S., the [[Pew Research Center]], a nonpartisan think tank, delineates a Generation X period of 1965–1980 which has gradually gained acceptance in academic circles.<ref>{{Cite book|editor-last=Schweikert|editor-first=Christina|title=Changing Business Environment: Gamechangers, opportunities and Risks|publisher=Global Business Technology Association|year=2017|isbn=978-1-932917-13-0|location=New York|pages=48}}</ref> Moreover, although fertility rates are preponderant in the definition of start and end dates, the center remarks: "Generations are analytical constructs, it takes time for popular and expert consensus to develop as to the precise boundaries that demarcate one generation from another."<ref>{{cite news|title=Millennials overtake Baby Boomers as America's largest generation|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/25/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers/|access-date=18 June 2016|publisher=Pew Research|date=25 April 2016|archive-date=26 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226205545/http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/25/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers/|url-status=live}}</ref> Pew takes into account other factors, notably the labor market as well as a group's attitudinal and behavioral trends. Writing for [[The Pew Charitable Trusts|Pew]]'s ''Trend'' magazine in 2018, psychologist [[Jean Twenge]] observed that the "birth year boundaries of Gen X are debated but settle somewhere around 1965–1980".<ref name= "Twenge">{{cite web |last1=Twenge |first1=Jean |title=How Are Generations Named? |url=https://trend.pewtrusts.org/en/archive/winter-2018/foreword-how-are-generations-named |website=Trend |publisher=The Pew Charitable Trusts |access-date=30 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830135027/http://trend.pewtrusts.org/en/archive/winter-2018/foreword-how-are-generations-named |archive-date=30 August 2018 |date=26 January 2018}}</ref> According to this definition, the oldest Gen Xer is {{age|1965-01-01}} and the youngest is, or is turning, {{age|1980-12-31}} in {{year}}. |
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In economics, a [http://www.economicmobility.org/ 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. 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. |
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[[File:US Fertility Rates 1963-1981.png|thumb|left|upright=1.1|U.S. fertility rates, 1963–1981]] |
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The study, which made national [http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/25/pf/mobility_study/index.htm?cnn=yes 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. |
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The [[Brookings Institution]], another U.S. think tank, sets the Gen X period as from 1965 to 1981.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Brookings_Winogradfinal.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711122726/https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Brookings_Winogradfinal.pdf |archive-date=11 July 2017 |url-status=live|title=How Millennials Could Upend Wall Street and Corporate America|last=Winograd|first=Morley|date=May 2014|website=Brookings Institution}}</ref> The [[Federal Reserve Board|U.S. Federal Reserve Board]] uses 1965–1980.<ref>{{cite news|title=Distribution of Household Wealth in the U.S. since 1989|url=https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/distribute/table/#quarter:119;series:Net%20worth;demographic:age;population:all;units:shares|access-date=4 January 2020|publisher=Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System|date=23 December 2019|archive-date=2 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102044357/https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/distribute/table/#quarter:119;series:Net%20worth;demographic:age;population:all;units:shares|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Social Security Administration|U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA)]] uses 1965 to 1980.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-23 |title=SSA Open Data {{!}} Generational Data for SSA Employees |url=https://www.ssa.gov/open/data/EOY-Generational-Data.html |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=www.ssa.gov |language=en}}</ref> In their 2002 book ''When Generations Collide'', Lynne Lancaster and David Stillman use 1965 to 1980, while in 2012 authors Jain and Pant also used 1965 to 1980.<ref name="Cohort confusion">{{cite news|last1=Markert|first1=John|title=Demographics of Age: Generational and Cohort Confusion|url=http://www.sitemason.com/files/dW3ABy/articledemographics%20of%20age.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915033316/http://www.sitemason.com/files/dW3ABy/articledemographics%20of%20age.pdf |archive-date=15 September 2012 |url-status=live|access-date=19 June 2016|publisher=Journal of Current Issues in Research & Advertising|date=Fall 2004}}</ref> U.S. news outlets such as ''[[The New York Times]]''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/05/14/style/generation-xers.html|title=Gen X is a Mess|date=14 May 2019|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=3 November 2019|archive-date=6 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191106041725/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/05/14/style/generation-xers.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/14/style/gen-x-millenials.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/14/style/gen-x-millenials.html |archive-date=2 January 2022 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=Actually, Gen X Did Sell Out, Invent All Things Millennial, and Cause Everything Else That's Great and Awful|last=Williams|first=Alex|newspaper=The New York Times|date=14 May 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and ''[[The Washington Post]]''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/10/18/more-work-more-sleep-new-study-offers-glimpse-daily-life-millennial/|title=More work, more sleep: New study offers glimpse of daily life as a millennial|last1=Siegel|first1=Rachel|last2=Telford|first2=Taylor|date=18 October 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=3 November 2019|archive-date=3 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103023233/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/10/18/more-work-more-sleep-new-study-offers-glimpse-daily-life-millennial/|url-status=live}}</ref> describe Generation X as people born between 1965 and 1980. [[Gallup, Inc.|Gallup]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Jeffrey M. |title=LGBT Identification Rises to 5.6% in Latest U.S. Estimate |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/329708/lgbt-identification-rises-latest-estimate.aspx |website=Gallup.com |publisher=[[Gallup, Inc.|Gallup]] |access-date=21 May 2023 |language=en |date=24 February 2021}}</ref> [[Bloomberg News|Bloomberg]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-29/how-gen-x-parents-raised-gen-z-kids-different-than-millennials|title=Reality Bites Back: To Really Get Gen Z, Look at the Parents|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|date=29 July 2019|via=www.bloomberg.com|access-date=3 November 2019|archive-date=4 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804172138/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-29/how-gen-x-parents-raised-gen-z-kids-different-than-millennials|url-status=live|url-access=registration}}</ref> ''[[Business Insider]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/generation-you-are-in-by-birth-year-millennial-gen-x-baby-boomer-2018-3|title=Here's which generation you're part of based on your birth year – and why those distinctions exist|website=[[Business Insider]]|date=19 April 2018|access-date=3 November 2019|archive-date=17 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817134130/https://www.businessinsider.com/generation-you-are-in-by-birth-year-millennial-gen-x-baby-boomer-2018-3|url-status=live}}</ref> and ''[[Forbes]]''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2019/10/15/as-baby-boomers-near-retirement-companies-risk-a-leadership-shortage/|title=Council Post: As Baby Boomers Near Retirement, Companies Risk A Leadership Shortage|first=Nanette|last=Miner|website=Forbes|access-date=3 November 2019|archive-date=22 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022105734/https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2019/10/15/as-baby-boomers-near-retirement-companies-risk-a-leadership-shortage/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/megangorman/2019/01/23/why-gen-x-is-not-a-forgotten-financial-generation/|title=Why Gen X Is Not A Forgotten Financial Generation|last=Gorman|first=Megan|website=Forbes|access-date=3 November 2019|archive-date=17 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117070135/https://www.forbes.com/sites/megangorman/2019/01/23/why-gen-x-is-not-a-forgotten-financial-generation/|url-status=live}}</ref> use 1965–1980. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine wrote that Generation X is "roughly defined as anyone born between 1965 and 1980".<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=16 April 2008|title=Gen-X: The Ignored Generation?|url=http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1731528,00.html|magazine=Time|last1=Stephey|first1=M. J.|access-date=20 June 2016|archive-date=20 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160620201749/http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1731528,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> George Masnick of the [[Joint Center for Housing Studies|Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies]] puts this generation in the time frame of 1965 to 1984 to satisfy the condition that boomers, Xers, and millennials "cover equal 20-year age spans".<ref name="Masnick"/> |
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In Australia, the McCrindle Research Center uses 1965–1979.<ref name="McCrindle">{{cite news|last1=McCrindle|first1=Mark|title=Generations Defined|url=http://mccrindle.com.au/resources/whitepapers/McCrindle-Research_ABC-01_Generations-Defined_Mark-McCrindle.pdf|access-date=18 June 2016|publisher=McCrindle Research Center|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616232732/http://mccrindle.com.au/resources/whitepapers/McCrindle-Research_ABC-01_Generations-Defined_Mark-McCrindle.pdf|archive-date=16 June 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the UK, the [[Resolution Foundation]] think tank defines Gen X as those born between 1966 and 1980.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/advanced/a-new-generational-contract/|title=A New Generational Contract: The final report of the Intergenerational Commission|last=Willetts|first=David|date=May 2018|website=Resolution Foundation|access-date=3 February 2023|archive-date=1 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101005115/https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/advanced/a-new-generational-contract/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[PricewaterhouseCoopers]], a multinational [[professional services networks|professional services network]] headquartered in London, describes Generation X employees as those born from 1965 to 1980.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.treefarmsystem.org/stuff/contentmgr/files/2/b02ef00aae0f0a75a5a57fb0d3f8f20c/files/atfs_national_conference___pwc_presentation.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308070716/https://www.treefarmsystem.org/stuff/contentmgr/files/2/b02ef00aae0f0a75a5a57fb0d3f8f20c/files/atfs_national_conference___pwc_presentation.pdf |archive-date=8 March 2019 |url-status=live|title=Engaging a cross-generational volunteer force|date=February 2017|website=pwc|access-date=8 March 2019}}</ref> |
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According to the US Census Bureau, from 1993 to 2006, males grossed less than their fathers (defined as the cohort 30-years prior, about the average age of fatherhood) at the same age, using combined real median income and based on the following criteria:<ref>US Census Bureau, [http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/histinc/p08ar.html] and [http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/dinctabs.html] </ref> |
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* At ages 25-34, those born from about 1965-1981 |
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* At ages 30-39, those born from about 1963-1976 |
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* At ages 25-39, those born from about 1964-1981 |
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===Other age range markers=== |
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This trend may be the cause of one of the hallmarks of Generation X: [[entrepreneurship]]. Generation X has been characterized by their strong tendency to attempt to start businesses in unconventional areas, as opposed to seeking employment with established companies. It was this tendency that fueled the [[dot-com boom]] of the 1990s. Generation X was the first group to recognized the vast potential of the [[internet]] and the [[world wide web]], and many of them started the currently dominant internet based companies (such as [[Google]], [[Yahoo]], and [[eBay]]). Some became multimillionaires before the age of 30, while many went bankrupt in the [[dot-com bust]]. Because many of the "dot-coms" were started in private homes, basements, and garages, and because the men and women who built the dot-coms worked in seclusion dressed informally, Generation X was accused of being a group of slovenly, lazy "slackers." |
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On the basis of the time it takes for a generation to mature, U.S. authors [[William Strauss and Neil Howe]] define Generation X as those born between 1961 and 1981 in their 1991 book ''Generations'', and divide the cohort into two waves.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bevan-Dye|first1=Ayesha L.|date=2017|title=Addressing the Ambiguity Surrounding Contemporary Generational Measurement Parameters|url=http://gbata.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/ReadingsBook-GBATA-2017-Final.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711174029/https://gbata.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/ReadingsBook-GBATA-2017-Final.pdf |archive-date=11 July 2020 |url-status=live|journal=Changing Business Environment: Gamechangers, Opportunities and Risks|publisher=Global Business and Technology Association|pages=47–53}}</ref> [[Jeff Gordinier]], in his 2008 book ''X Saves the World'', includes those born between 1961 and 1977 but possibly as late as 1980.<ref name="Gordinier">{{cite book|last1=Gordinier|first1=Jeff|url=https://archive.org/details/xsavesworldhowg00gord|title=X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything from Sucking|date=27 March 2008|publisher=Viking Adult|isbn=978-0-670-01858-1}}</ref> George Masnick of the [[Joint Center for Housing Studies|Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies]] puts this generation in the time frame of 1965 to 1984 to satisfy the condition that boomers, Xers, and millennials "cover equal 20-year age spans".<ref name="Masnick">{{cite web|url=https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/defining-the-generations-redux/|title=Defining the Generations|last=Masnick|first=George|date=28 November 2012|publisher=Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies|access-date=23 April 2019|archive-date=29 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329234230/https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/defining-the-generations-redux/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2004, journalist J. Markert acknowledged the 20-year increments but went a step further, dividing the generation into two 10-year cohorts. The first begins in 1966 and ends in 1975 and the second begins in 1976 and ends in 1985; this thinking is applied to each generation (Silent, boomers, Gen X, millennials, etc.).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Markert|first=J|date=2004|title=Demographics of Age: Generational and Cohort Confusion|journal=Journal of Current Isues and Research in Advertising|volume=26|issue=2|pages=11–25|doi=10.1080/10641734.2004.10505161|citeseerx=10.1.1.595.8209|s2cid=146339931}}</ref> |
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Based on events of historical importance, Schewe and Noble in 2002 argued that a cohort is formed against significant milestones and can be any length of time. They said Generation X began in 1966 and ended in 1976, with those born between 1955 and 1965 called "trailing-edge boomers".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Schewe & Noble|first=CD & SM|date=2000|title=Market Segmentation by Cohorts: The Value and Validity in America and abroad|journal=Journal of Marketing Management|volume=16|pages=129–142|doi=10.1362/026725700785100479|s2cid=168041998}}</ref> |
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Generation X was also marked by [[athleticism]] and [[environmentalism]]. The combination of a love of athletics and a love of nature gave birth to the [[extreme sports]] movement. Extreme sports included a variety of risky outdoor activities, such as [[snowboarding]], [[bungee jumping]], and [[rock climbing]]. Some extreme sports, such as snowboarding, are now mainstream sports, with [[Olympic]] and professional competitions. Others, such as bungee jumping, were fads that died out as Generation X matured. |
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[[George Barna]]'s 1994 book ''Baby Busters: The Disillusioned Generation'' called those born between 1965 and 1983 the "baby busters" generation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Barna |first=George |author-link=George Barna |date= 1994|title=1994 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f_xixc57yXQC&q=1965 |publisher=Northfield Publishing |page=14 |isbn=9781881273196}}</ref> |
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Generation X returned to the cities. Many American cities had been abandoned by the middle class in the late 1960s (a phenomenon called by some [[white flight]]). However, young people in the 1990s began returning to America's cities, revitalizing many downtown areas. |
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In his 1996 book ''Boom Bust & Echo: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Shift'', [[David Foot]] describes Generation X as late boomers and includes those born between 1960 and 1966, while the "Bust Generation", those born between 1967 and 1979, is considered a separate generation.<ref>{{cite book|author=Foot, David|title=Boom, Bust & Echo|url=https://archive.org/details/boombustechohowt00foot/page/18|publisher=Macfarlane Walter & Ross|year=1996|isbn=978-0-921912-97-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/boombustechohowt00foot/page/18 18–22]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Generation X and Political Correctness: Ideological and Religious Transformation Among Students|journal=Canadian Journal of Sociology|date=Fall 1997|first=Thomas Norman|last=Trenton|volume=22|issue=4|pages=417–36|url=http://www.cjsonline.ca/articles/trenton.htmL|access-date=3 June 2011|quote=In Boom, Bust & Echo, Foot (1996: 18–22) divides youth into two groups: 'Generation X' born between 1960 and 1966 and the 'Bust Generation' born between 1967 and 1979.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120731004847/http://www.cjsonline.ca/articles/trenton.htmL|archive-date=31 July 2012|doi=10.2307/3341691|jstor=3341691}}</ref> |
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Prominent political causes of Generation X included [[anti-globalization]], [[gay rights]], [[environmentalism]], opposition to South African [[Apartheid]], and autonomy for [[Tibet]]. The [[Tibetan Freedom Concert]] toured three cities, drew over 270,000 attendees, and raised over two million dollars for the cause. In [[1994]], the campus organization [[Students for a Free Tibet]] was established, and currently has 650 chapters globally. During the late [[1980s]], students demonstrated to force colleges and universities to [[divest]] themselves of their South African holdings; the students typically constructed and inhabited [[shanties]] on university grounds to illustrate the deplorable conditions caused by Apartheid. These efforts generally succeeded in persuading universities to divest South African holdings. However, due to the absence of a [[pacifist]] movement amongst members of Generation X, this generation has sometimes been labeled as apathetic. Generation X displays a widespread tolerance of [[homosexuality]], and Generation X is the oldest generation for which it was commonplace that homosexuals would not try to hide their orientation. Starting in the 1990s, young people demonstrated repeatedly in opposition of [[sweat-shopping]] and [[offshoring]] (collectively known as [[globalization]]). Such demonstrations in [[Genoa]], [[Seattle]], [[Madrid]], [[Washington]], and numerous other cities drew worldwide media attention. |
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===Generational cuspers=== |
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The dress and fashion of Generation X is generally [[individualistic]], and during the [[1990s]] it was quite [[baroque]]. Unique tattoos are popular among that generation, as is body piercing. Offbeat fashions included [[punk fashion|punk]], [[deadhead]], and [[goth fashion|goth]]. |
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People born in the latter half of the Baby Boom, from the early 1960s to the early years of Generation X, are sometimes called [[Generation Jones]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Seigle|first=Greg|date=6 April 2000|title=Some Call It 'Jones'|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/52287975.html?dids=52287975:52287975&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT|access-date=18 February 2007|archive-date=23 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023005649/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/52287975.html?dids=52287975:52287975&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT|url-status=dead}}</ref> People born in the Generation X / millennial [[Cusper|cusp]] years of the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s are sometimes called [[Xennials]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Ryan W. |date=20 December 2018 |title=Are you a Xennial? How to tell if you're the microgeneration between Gen X and Millennial |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/12/20/xennials-millennials-generation-x-microgeneration/2369230002/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801093415/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/12/20/xennials-millennials-generation-x-microgeneration/2369230002/ |archive-date=1 August 2019 |access-date=13 August 2019 |work=USA Today}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Stankorb |first=Sarah |date=25 September 2014 |title=Reasonable People Disagree about the Post-Gen X, Pre-Millennial Generation |url=http://magazine.good.is/articles/generation-xennials |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114145050/https://magazine.good.is/articles/generation-xennials |archive-date=14 January 2016 |access-date=28 March 2016 |newspaper=Huffington Post}}</ref> Other names include the ''Star Wars'' Generation,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/millennial-xennial-or-generation-x-which-generation-do-you-relate-to-most/67-486275265 |title=Millennial, Xennial or Generation X: Which generation do you relate to most? |last=Hoar |first=Lauren |date=2017-10-26 |publisher=[[WTSP]] |access-date=2024-05-30 |quote=Some experts have called Xennials, the 'Star Wars generation', because 1977 to 1983 was the timeframe of the original Star Wars trilogy.}}</ref> Generation Catalano,<ref>{{cite news |last=Shafrir |first=Doree |date=24 October 2011 |title=Generation Catalano |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2011/10/generation_catalano_the_generation_stuck_between_gen_x_and_the_m.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713084505/http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2011/10/generation_catalano_the_generation_stuck_between_gen_x_and_the_m.html |archive-date=13 July 2014 |access-date=26 June 2014 |newspaper=Slate}}</ref> and the ''[[The Oregon Trail (series)|Oregon Trail]]'' Generation.<ref name="Huffington1">{{cite news |last=Garvey |first=Ana |date=25 May 2015 |title=The Biggest (And Best) Difference Between Millennial and My Generation |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-garvey/the-biggest-and-best-difference-between-millennials_b_7438370.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323115224/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-garvey/the-biggest-and-best-difference-between-millennials_b_7438370.html |archive-date=23 March 2016 |access-date=28 March 2016 |newspaper=Huffington Post}}</ref> These "microgenerations" share characteristics of both generations. |
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==Demographics== |
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==International factors defining Generation X== |
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===United States=== |
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{{Unreferencedsection|date=November 2007}} |
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[[File:US living adult generations.png|thumb|U.S. living adult generations]] |
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In continental Europe, the generation is often known as Generation E, or simply known as the Nineties Generation, along the lines of such other European generation names as "Generation of 1968" and "Generation of 1914." In France, the term ''[[Génération Bof]]'' is in use, with "bof" being a French word for "[[Whatever (slang)|whatever]]," considered by some French people to be the defining Generation-X saying. In Iran, they are called the [[Burnt Generation]]. In some Latin American countries the name "[[Crisis Generation]]" is sometimes used due to the recurring financial crisis in the region during those years. In the Communist bloc, these Generation-Xers are often known to show a deeper dislike of the Communist system than their parents because they grew up in an era of political and economic stagnation, and were among the first to embrace the ideals of [[Glasnost]] and [[Perestroika]], which is why they tend to be called the [[Glasnost-Perestroika Generation]]. In USSR, in particular, they were often called "a generation of stokers and watchmen", referring to their tendency to take non-challenging jobs leaving them with plenty of free time, similar to Coupland's Xers. In Finland, the ''X-sukupolvi'' is sometimes derogatorily called ''pullamössösukupolvi'' (bun mash generation) by the Baby Boomers, saying "those whiners have never experienced any difficulties in their lives" (the [[recession]] of the early 1990s hit the Xers hardest--it hit just when they were about to join the work force), while the Xers call the Boomers ''kolesterolisukupolvi'' (cholesterol generation) due to their often unhealthy dietary habits. [[Japan]] has a generation with characteristics similar to those of Generation X, ''shin jin rui''. |
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There are differences in Gen X population numbers depending on the date-range selected. In the U.S., using [[United States Census|Census]] population projections, the Pew Research Center found that the Gen X population born from 1965 to 1980 numbered 65.2 million in 2019. The cohort is likely to overtake Boomers in 2028.<ref name="2020Overtake"/> A 2010 Census report counted approximately 84 million people living in the US who are defined by birth years ranging from the early 1960s to the early 1980s.<ref name="U.S. Census">{{cite web|title=U.S. Census Age and Sex Composition: 2010|url=https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-03.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110626032751/http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-03.pdf |archive-date=26 June 2011 |url-status=live|publisher=U.S. Census|access-date=12 September 2013|page=4|date=11 May 2011}}</ref> |
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In a 2012 article for the [[Joint Center for Housing Studies]] of [[Harvard University]], George Masnick wrote that the "Census counted 82.1 million" Gen Xers in the U.S. Masnick concluded that immigration filled in any birth year deficits during low fertility years of the late 1960s and early 1970s.<ref name="Masnick">{{cite web|url=https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/defining-the-generations-redux/|title=Defining the Generations|last=Masnick|first=George|date=28 November 2012|publisher=Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies|access-date=23 April 2019|archive-date=29 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329234230/https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/defining-the-generations-redux/|url-status=live}}</ref> Jon Miller at the Longitudinal Study of American Youth at the [[University of Michigan]] wrote that "Generation X refers to adults born between 1961 and 1981" and it "includes 84 million people".<ref>{{cite web|last=Miller|first=Jon|title=The Generation X Report: Active, Balanced, and Happy: These Young Americans are not Bowling Alone|url=http://lsay.org/GenX_Rept_Iss1.pdf|publisher=Longitudinal Study of American Youth – University of Michigan|access-date=29 May 2013|page=1|date=Fall 2011|archive-date=28 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128113321/http://lsay.org/GenX_Rept_Iss1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref> In their 1991 book ''Generations'', authors Howe and Strauss indicated that the total number of Gen X individuals in the U.S. was 88.5 million.<ref>{{cite book|last=William Strauss|first=Neil Howe|title=Generations|year=1991|publisher=Harper Perennial|location=New York|isbn=978-0-688-11912-6|page=[https://archive.org/details/generationshisto00stra_0/page/318 318]|url=https://archive.org/details/generationshisto00stra_0/page/318}}</ref> |
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The aspects that bind Generation X across economic levels and cultures are the defining points of the 1970s: the [[Bretton Woods system]] and its subsequent failure, the impact of the [[Combined oral contraceptive pill|first oral contraceptive pills]] on social-interaction dynamics, and the [[oil shock]] of 1973. |
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====Impact of family planning programs==== |
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Other common international influences defining Generation X across the world include: increasingly flexible and varied gender roles for women contrasted with even more rigid [[gender roles]] for men, the unprecedented socio-economic impact of an ever increasing number of women entering the non-agrarian economic workforce, and the sweeping cultural-religious impact of the [[Iranian revolution]] towards the end of the 1970s in 1979. |
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[[File:US Live Births Registered and Legal Abortions Reported 1970-1980.png|thumb|upright=1.1|U.S. Live Births Registered and Legal Abortions Reported 1970–1980]] |
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The [[birth control pill]], introduced in 1960, was one contributing factor of declining birth rates. Initially, the pill spread rapidly amongst married women as an approved treatment for menstrual disturbance. However, it was also found to prevent pregnancy and was prescribed as a contraceptive in 1964. "The pill", as it became commonly known, reached younger, unmarried college women in the late 1960s when state laws were amended and reduced the [[age of majority]] from 21 to ages 18–20.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Golding and Katz|first=Claudia & Lawrence|date=August 2002|title=The Power of the Pill: Oral Contraceptives and Women's Career and Marriage Decisions|journal=Journal of Political Economy|volume=110|issue=4|pages=730–770|doi=10.1086/340778|jstor=10.1086/340778|s2cid=221286686|url=http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:2624453}}</ref> These policies are commonly referred to as the Early Legal Access (ELA) laws. |
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Another major factor was [[abortion]], only available in a few states until its legalisation in a 1973 US Supreme Court decision in ''[[Roe v. Wade]].'' This was replicated elsewhere, with [[Timeline of reproductive rights legislation|reproductive rights legislation]] passed, notably in the UK (1967), France (1975), West Germany (1976), New Zealand (1977), Italy (1978), and the Netherlands (1980). From 1973 to 1980, the abortion rate per 1,000 US women aged 15–44 increased from 16% to 29% with more than 9.6 million terminations of pregnancy practiced. Between 1970 and 1980, on average, for every 10 American citizens born, 3 were aborted.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Stanley K|first=Henshaw|date=2008|title=Trends in the characteristics of women obtaining abortions, 1974 to 2004|url=https://www.guttmacher.org/report/trends-characteristics-women-obtaining-abortions-1974-2004-supplemental-tables|journal=Alan Guttmacher Institute|access-date=18 June 2020|archive-date=14 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200614065016/https://www.guttmacher.org/report/trends-characteristics-women-obtaining-abortions-1974-2004-supplemental-tables|url-status=live}}</ref> However, increased immigration during the same period of time helped to partially offset declining birth-rates and contributed to making Generation X an ethnically and culturally diverse demographic cohort.<ref name="Adweek">{{cite magazine|last1=Klara|first1=Robert|title=5 Reasons Marketers Have Largely Overlooked Generation X|url=http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/5-reasons-marketers-have-largely-overlooked-generation-x-170539|access-date=19 June 2016|magazine=Adweek|date=4 April 2016|archive-date=1 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161201061147/http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/5-reasons-marketers-have-largely-overlooked-generation-x-170539|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Cohort confusion">{{cite news|last1=Markert|first1=John|title=Demographics of Age: Generational and Cohort Confusion|url=http://www.sitemason.com/files/dW3ABy/articledemographics%20of%20age.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915033316/http://www.sitemason.com/files/dW3ABy/articledemographics%20of%20age.pdf |archive-date=15 September 2012 |url-status=live|access-date=19 June 2016|publisher=Journal of Current Issues in Research & Advertising|date=Fall 2004}}</ref> |
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The international experience of a cultural transition like Generation X, although in various forms, revealed the inter-dependence of economies since World War II in 1945, and showed the huge impact of American economic policies on the [[world]]. |
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====Parental lineage==== |
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==Generation X references== |
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Generally, Gen Xers are the children of the [[Silent Generation]] and older Baby Boomers.<ref name="Gordinier" /> |
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==Characteristics== |
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The section below is an attempt to compare differing concepts of Generation X birth years. |
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=== In the United States === |
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===Best-selling authors=== |
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* Cheung, Edward [http://www.longwavepress.com/baby_boomers_generation_x_1.htm "Baby Boomers, Generation X and Social Cycles"] "The Ultimate Generation X book" |
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* Zemke, Ron & Raines, Claire & Filipczak, Bob "Generations at Work: Managing the Clash of Veterans, Boomers, Xers, and Nexters in Your Workplace" American Management Association, 2000, ISBN 0814404804. |
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** 1960-1980 |
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* Ritchie, Karen "Marketing to Generation X" Free Press, 2002, ISBN 0743236580. |
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** 1961-1981 |
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* Strauss, William & Howe, Neil "[[Generations (book)|Generations: The History of America's Future, 1584 to 2069]]" HarperCollins, 1992, ISBN 0688119123. |
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** 1961-1981 (13th Generation) |
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* Tulgan, Bruce [http://www.rainmakerthinking.com/wttwback.htm "RainmakerThinking, Inc"] "Managing Generation X: How to Bring Out the Best in Young Talent" Capstone Ltd, 2003, ISBN 1900961091. Interviewing thousands of Xers, his definition has undergone modification: |
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** 1963-1981, with 1961 & 1962 as "cuspers" (1995), based on Strauss & Howe |
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** 1963-1977, with 1961 & 1962 as cuspers (1996-2000)[http://www.rainmakerthinking.com/backwotf/1996/jan.htm][http://www.rainmakerthinking.com/backwotf/1996/march.htm][http://www.rainmakerthinking.com/backwotf/1999/oct.htm] |
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** 1965-1977, with 1963 & 1964 as cuspers (2001)[http://www.rainmakerthinking.com/backwttw/2002/feb19.htm] |
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** 1965-1977, with 1960-1964 as cuspers (2002-2006) but usually only referred to as Baby Boomers (1946-1964) in company newsletters |
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** 1965-1977 (2007) those born 1946-1953 referred to as "older boomers", 1954-1964 as "younger boomers" |
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* Foot, David [http://www.davidfoot.com/index.html "Footwork Consulting Inc."] "Boom, Bust & Echo: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Shift" Saint Anthony Messenger Press and Franciscan, 1997, ISBN 0921912978. |
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** Generation X are post-birth-peak Boomers, 1960-1966 (Canada), 1958-1964 (US). Statistics Canada (US Census Bureau equivalent) also observes this demographic based on Foot's research. |
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* Smith, J Walker & Clurman, Ann S "Rocking the Ages: The Yankelovich Report on Generational Marketing" Collins; Reprint edition, 1998, ISBN 0887309003. |
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** Yankelovich Partners, One of the largest consumer research organizations in the US maintains the years 1965-1978. Trailing Boomers, 1960-1964, are referred to as the bridge between generations. The main distinction between bridgers and Xers is a brief economic boom for the former in the mid-eighties, whereas the latter generational cohort has never been able to presume economic success. "Trailing Boomers thus bridge generations - the last Boomers expecting perpetual abundance and the first Xers faced with breakdown and uncertainty." (p. 81) |
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=== |
====As children and adolescents ==== |
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=====Rising divorce rates and women workforce participation===== |
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* [http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=generation%20x The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000)] |
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Strauss and Howe, who wrote several books on generations, including one specifically on Generation X titled ''13th Gen: Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail?'' (1993), reported that Gen Xers were children at a time when society was less focused on children and more focused on adults.<ref name="13th Gen">{{cite book|last1=Howe|first1=Neil|title=13th Gen: Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail?|date=1993|publisher=Vintage|isbn=978-0-679-74365-1|url=https://archive.org/details/13thgenabortretr00howe}}</ref> Xers were children during a time of increasing [[divorce]] rates, with divorce rates doubling in the mid-1960s, before peaking in 1980.<ref name="Adweek" /><ref>{{cite news|last1=Dulaney|first1=Josh|title=A Generation Stuck in the Middle Turns 50|url=http://projects.presstelegram.com/gen-x-turns-50/|access-date=19 June 2016|publisher=PT Projects|date=27 December 2015|archive-date=18 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160518072231/http://projects.presstelegram.com/gen-x-turns-50/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Dawson|first1=Alene|title=Gen X women, young for their age|url=https://www.latimes.com/fashion/alltherage/la-ig-beauty-genx-20110925-story.html|access-date=19 June 2016|newspaper=LA Times|date=25 September 2011|archive-date=13 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160813064546/http://articles.latimes.com/2011/sep/25/image/la-ig-beauty-genx-20110925|url-status=live}}</ref> Strauss and Howe described a cultural shift where the long-held societal value of staying together for the sake of the children was replaced with a societal value of parental and individual [[self-actualization]]. Strauss wrote that society "moved from what Leslie Fiedler called a 1950s-era 'cult of the child' to what Landon Jones called a 1970s-era 'cult of the adult'".<ref name="13th Gen" /><ref name="Strauss">{{cite news|last1=Strauss|first1=William|title=What Future Awaits Today's Youth in the New Millennium?|url=https://www.angelo.edu/events/university_symposium/97_Strauss.php|access-date=19 June 2016|publisher=Angelo State University|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808195038/https://www.angelo.edu/events/university_symposium/97_Strauss.php|archive-date=8 August 2016}}</ref> ''The Generation Map'', a report from Australia's McCrindle Research Center writes of Gen X children: Boomer parents were the most divorced generation in Australian history".<ref name="GenMap">{{cite news|url=https://2qean3b1jjd1s87812ool5ji-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/McCrindle-Research_ABC-03_The-Generation-Map_Mark-McCrindle.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618103906/https://2qean3b1jjd1s87812ool5ji-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/McCrindle-Research_ABC-03_The-Generation-Map_Mark-McCrindle.pdf |archive-date=18 June 2019 |url-status=live|title=The Generation Map|access-date=2 August 2016|publisher=McCrindle Research}}</ref> According to Christine Henseler in the 2012 book ''Generation X Goes Global: Mapping a Youth Culture in Motion'', "We watched the decay and demise (of the family), and grew callous to the loss."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Henseler|first=Christine|title=Generation X Goes Global: Mapping a Youth Culture in Motion|publisher=Routledge|year=2012|isbn=978-0-415-69944-0|pages=xx}}</ref> |
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** The generation following the post-World War II baby boom, especially people born in the United States and Canada from the early 1960s to the late 1970s. |
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* [http://www.askoxford.com/results/?view=dict&freesearch=generation+x&branch=13842570&textsearchtype=exact/ Compact Oxford English Dictionary (2006)] |
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** The generation born between the mid 1960s and the mid 1970s, perceived as being disaffected and without direction. |
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* [http://www.tedrall.com/longarticle_004.htm Link Magazine: "Marketing Madness: A Postmortem for Generation X" (1997)] |
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** Examines the divergent age groups ascribed to the Generation X generational cohort by various media and demographers. |
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* [http://www.census.gov/pred/www/rpts/Generation%20X%20Final%20Report.pdf US Census Bureau "Census 2000 Ethnographic Study" (June 17, 2003)] |
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** "For the purpose of this study, Generation X is defined as people aged 21 to 32, that is, respondents born during the years 1968-1979. Various studies define Generation X differently by age, with some analysis' categorizing people born in 1961 as the cohort's oldest members, while others use a younger upper boundary to demarcate the age group (Craig and Earl Bennett, 1997). Only in hindsight will the boundaries for this cohort become clearer." |
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**Craig, SC & Bennett, SE “After the Boom: The Politics of Generation X” Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc (1997), ISBN 0847683605. Gen-X starting age break by chapter/author(s): chpt 2 1965, chpt 3 1961, chpt 4 1963, chpt 5 1965, chpt 6 1964, chpt 8 1972 (Canada).[http://books.google.com/books?id=5WLY8bHZ2xIC&pg=PA18&dq=craig+and+earl+bennett+1961+1963+1964+1965+1972&ei=5PuRR8WWBZGU7gKhwMWqBw&sig=GOMUI_vxfMbxYrdiG5lIh1EMkI8#PPA18,M1] |
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* [http://www.statcan.ca/english/freepub/92-125-GIE/html/age.htm Statistics Canada "Census Consultation Guide - Age, Sex, and Marital/Common-law Status" (1996/2001)] |
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** "Generation X. Generation Xers, the back-end boomers [1960-1966], entered the labor market in the early 1980s, when jobs were scarce. Since then, this generation has struggled to gain employment due to a weak economy and the bulk of the jobs being filled by the baby boomers. How will these people cope until the baby boomers begin to retire early in the next century? Are they more inclined to work at two or three jobs or seasonally?" |
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[[File:US Marriages Ending in Divorce 1950-1990.png|thumb|left|upright=1.1|U.S. Marriages Ending in Divorce 1950–1990]] |
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===Periodicals === |
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The Gen X childhood coincided with the [[sexual revolution]] of the 1960s to 1980s, which Susan Gregory Thomas described in her book ''In Spite of Everything'' as confusing and frightening for children in cases where a parent would bring new sexual partners into their home.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Thomas|first1=Susan|title=All Apologies: Thank You for the 'Sorry'|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-gregory-thomas/all-apologies-thank-you-f_b_931718.html|access-date=19 June 2016|work=The Huffington Post|date=22 October 2011|archive-date=15 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415055600/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-gregory-thomas/all-apologies-thank-you-f_b_931718.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Thomas also discussed how divorce was different during the Gen X childhood, with the child having a limited or severed relationship with one parent following divorce, often the father, due to differing societal and legal expectations. In the 1970s, only nine U.S. states allowed for joint custody of children, which has since been adopted by all 50 states following a push for joint custody during the mid-1980s.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Thomas|first1=Susan|title=In Spite of Everything|year=2011|publisher=Random House|isbn=978-1-4000-6882-1|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/inspiteofeveryth0000thom}}</ref> ''[[Kramer vs. Kramer]]'', a 1979 American legal drama based on [[Avery Corman]]'s best-selling novel, came to epitomize the struggle for child custody and the demise of the traditional nuclear family.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hanson|first=Peter|title=The Cinema of Generation X: A Critical Study of Films and Directors|url=https://archive.org/details/cinemaofgenerati00hans|url-access=registration|publisher=McFarland & Co|year=2002|isbn=978-0-7864-1334-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cinemaofgenerati00hans/page/45 45]}}</ref> |
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* Time Magazine "Twentysomething" (cover story - July 16, 1990) |
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** 18-29 year-olds (1961-1972) "Members of the tail end of the boom generation, now ages 26 through 29, often feel alienated from the larger group, like kid brothers and sisters who disdain the paths their siblings chose." (p. 57) |
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* Time Magazine "Great X-pectations" (cover story - June 9, 1997) Three sets appeared in the story: |
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** 1965-1977 (p. 58) |
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** "If ''twentysomethings'' entered the decade floundering in the job market, did they deserve to be labeled dazed and confused?" [1961-1972] (p. 60) |
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** 1965-1976 (p. 62) |
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* New York Times "Yes, the Screen Is Tiny, but the Plans Are Big" (June 17, 2007) |
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** Chart refers to Generation X as "Ages 27-40", indicating those born 1967-1980 <ref>Story, Louise, “IYes, the Screen Is Tiny, but the Plans Are Big," The New York Times, [[17 June]] [[2007]] [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/business/yourmoney/17mobile.html] retrieved [[2007-06-17]]</ref> |
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[[File:US Participation Rates for Women Professionals 1966-2013.png|thumb|upright=1.1|U.S. Participation Rates for Women Professionals 1966–2013]] |
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===Influential film and television=== |
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The rapid influx of Boomer women into the labor force that began in the 1970s was marked by the confidence of many in their ability to successfully pursue a career while meeting the needs of their children. This resulted in an increase in [[latchkey child]]ren, leading to the terminology of the "latchkey generation" for Generation X.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Blakemore|first1=Erin|title=The Latchkey Generation: How Bad Was It?|url=http://daily.jstor.org/latchkey-generation-bad/|access-date=5 April 2016|publisher=JSTOR Daily|date=9 November 2015|archive-date=12 November 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151112003116/http://daily.jstor.org/latchkey-generation-bad/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="highbeam.com">{{cite web|last1=Clack|first1=Erin|title=Study probes generation gap.(Hot copy: an industry update)|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-116445054.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160503103915/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-116445054.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 May 2016|website=HighBeam Research|access-date=2 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/11/02/141930849/whats-the-defining-moment-of-your-generation|title=What's The Defining Moment of Your Generation?|work=NPR.org|access-date=11 September 2017|language=en|archive-date=10 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910004557/http://www.npr.org/2011/11/02/141930849/whats-the-defining-moment-of-your-generation|url-status=live}}</ref> These children lacked adult supervision in the hours between the end of the school day and when a parent returned home from work in the evening, and for longer periods of time during the summer. Latchkey children became common among all socioeconomic demographics, but this was particularly so among middle- and upper-class children.<ref name="highbeam.com" /> The higher the educational attainment of the parents, the higher the odds the children of this time would be latchkey children, due to increased maternal participation in the workforce at a time before childcare options outside the home were widely available.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Thomas|first1=Susan|title=All Apologies: Thank You for the 'Sorry'|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-gregory-thomas/all-apologies-thank-you-f_b_931718.html|access-date=2 April 2016|work=Huffington Post|date=21 October 2011|archive-date=15 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160415055600/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/susan-gregory-thomas/all-apologies-thank-you-f_b_931718.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=A Teacher's Guide to Generation X|url=http://www.edutopia.org/generation-x-parents-relationships-guide|website=Edutopia|access-date=2 April 2016|archive-date=23 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323084700/http://www.edutopia.org/generation-x-parents-relationships-guide|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Thomas|first1=Susan|title=The Divorce Generation|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303544604576430341393583056|access-date=2 April 2016|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|date=9 July 2011|archive-date=9 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160409014656/http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303544604576430341393583056|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Toch|first1=Thomas|title=The Making of 'To Save Our Schools, To Save Our Children': A Conversation With Marshall Frady|url=http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1984/09/19/05550017.h04.html|access-date=17 April 2016|publisher=Education Week|date=19 September 1984|archive-date=26 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426034829/http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/1984/09/19/05550017.h04.html|url-status=live}}</ref> McCrindle Research Centre described the cohort as "the first to grow up without a large adult presence, with both parents working", stating this led to Gen Xers being more peer-oriented than previous generations.<ref name="GenMap" /><ref>{{cite news|last1=Corry|first1=John|title=A Look at Schools in U.S.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/04/arts/a-look-at-schools-in-us.html|access-date=17 April 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|date=4 September 1984|archive-date=26 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160426222125/http://www.nytimes.com/1984/09/04/arts/a-look-at-schools-in-us.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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* ''[[The Breakfast Club]]'' (1985) and other films directed by [[John Hughes (film director)|John Hughes]], especially those featuring the members of the "[[Brat Pack (movies)|Brat Pack]]" such as [[Molly Ringwald]]. |
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* ''[[Clerks]]'' (film) (1994). The story of two Generation X'ers working deadend jobs, struggling to find meaning in their relationships and their work. Filled with pop culture references, the movie is filled with rapid fire dialogue and offers a humorous portrait of Generation Xers emphasis on relationships over career. [[Kevin Smith]]'s first movie. |
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* ''[[Ferris Bueller's Day Off]]'' (film) (1986). Teen slacker movie. The film follows high school senior Ferris Bueller ([[Matthew Broderick]]), who, one spring day, decides to skip school and spend the day in downtown Chicago with his friends. Quintessentially X, when times were good in the 80s before the recession. |
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* ''[[Fight Club (film)|Fight Club]]'' (Film) (1999) based on the novel [[Fight Club]] (1996) by [[Chuck Palahniuk]] (b. 1962) and his own personal experiences. Producer [[David Fincher]] (b. 1962) said about the novel, it is “… a seminal coming of age for people who are coming of age in their 30s instead of their late teens or early 20s.” [http://www.quotegarden.com/bk-fc.html] |
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* ''[[Kicking and Screaming (1995 film)|Kicking and Screaming]]'' (1995) |
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* The show ''[[Friends]]'' (1994) is often known as a Generation X portrait. The characters were teenagers during the 1980s and have the typical attitude and lifestyle of their generation, especially in the employment and relationships subjects. |
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* The television shows ''[[Beverly Hills, 90210]]'' (1990), ''[[Melrose Place]]'' (1992), ''[[The Simpsons]]'' (1989), and ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' ([[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (film)|1992 film]], [[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series)|1997 series]]) are other programs closely associated with the Gen Xers. |
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* ''[[Heathers]]'' (1989) Influential dark comedy featuring [[Wynona Ryder]] and [[Christian Slater]]. Ryder's character typified the ironic, disaffected, and pessimistic view of the generation. |
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* ''[[Pump Up the Volume (film)|Pump Up the Volume]]'' (1990) Features [[Christian Slater]] as a radio deejay. |
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* ''[[Reality Bites]]'' (film) (1994) written by Helen Childress. An aspiring videographer working on a documentary called ''Reality Bites'' about the disenfranchised lives of her friends and roommates. Their challenges, both documented and not, exemplify the career and other lifestyle choices and issues faced by their generation. |
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* ''[[Rent (musical)|Rent]]'' (1996) A [[musical theater|Broadway show]] that features characters dealing with [[AIDS]], [[sexual identity]], [[drug addiction]], and [[technology]]. The rock score is influenced by the Gen X sound. Later filmed in [[Rent (movie)|2005]]. ''Rent'' is relative to Gen Xers as ''[[Hair (musical)|Hair]]'' is to [[Baby Boom]]ers. |
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* ''[[Singles (1992 film)|Singles]]'' (film) (1992). A group of twenty-something friends, most of whom live in the same apartment complex, search for love and success in [[grunge]]-era [[Seattle]]. The soundtrack billed as the "music of a generation searching for itself" (Warner home video). |
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* ''[[Slacker (film)|Slacker]]'' (1991). Much of the cast was born in the early 1960s, with others in the late 1950s and late 1960s, spanning the "Baby Bust" years. |
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=== |
=====Conservative and neoliberal turn===== |
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Some older Gen Xers started high school in the waning years of the [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]] presidency, but much of the cohort became socially and politically conscious during the [[Reagan Era]]. President [[Ronald Reagan]], voted in office principally by the Boomer generation,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gitlin|first=Martin|title=The Baby Boomer Encyclopedia|url=https://archive.org/details/babyboomerencycl00gitl|url-access=limited|publisher=Greenwood|year=2011|isbn=978-0-313-38218-5|pages=[https://archive.org/details/babyboomerencycl00gitl/page/n184 160]}}</ref> embraced [[Laissez-faire|''laissez-faire'' economics]] with vigor. His policies included cuts in the growth of government spending, reduction in taxes for the higher echelon of society, legalization of [[Share repurchase|stock buybacks]], and deregulation of key industries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebalance.com/reaganomics-did-it-work-would-it-today-3305569#citation-2|title=Reaganomics|last=Amadeo|first=Kimberly|date=31 January 2020|website=The Balance|access-date=13 March 2020|archive-date=25 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525164514/https://www.thebalance.com/reaganomics-did-it-work-would-it-today-3305569#citation-2|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[early 1980s recession]] saw unemployment rise to 10.8% in 1982; requiring, more often than not, dual parental incomes.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/ft_dual-income-households-1960-2012-2/|title=The Rise in Dual Income Households|date=18 June 2015|website=Pew Research Center|access-date=13 March 2020|archive-date=4 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200404030454/https://www.pewresearch.org/ft_dual-income-households-1960-2012-2/|url-status=live}}</ref> One in five American children grew up in poverty during this time. The federal debt almost tripled during Reagan's time in office, from $998 billion in 1981 to $2.857 trillion in 1989, placing greater burden of repayment on the incoming generation.<ref>{{Cite book|last=di Lorenzo|first=Stefano|title=Reaganomics: The Roots of Neoliberalism|publisher=Independently Published|year=2017|isbn=978-1-9731-6329-9}}</ref> |
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<!-- Generation years are not universally agreed upon. Please keep people born from 61-81 on this list, although s/he may be also claimed by another generation. (We probably won't know for another 20 years with which they most identify) thanks |
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[[File:UnderstandingAIDS.png|thumb|left|upright=0.9|U.S. Department of Health booklet published in 1988]] |
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Yeah well ... according even to wiki those years are even more defined than one might think, and douglas coupland pretty much coined the term genX, so ... --> |
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Government expenditure shifted from domestic programs to defense. Remaining funding initiatives, moreover, tended to be diverted away from programs for children and often directed toward the elderly population, with cuts to [[Medicaid]] and programs for children and young families, and protection and expansion of [[Medicare (United States)|Medicare]] and [[Social Security (United States)|Social Security]] for the elderly population. These programs for the elderly were not tied to economic need. Congressman [[David Durenberger]] criticized this political situation, stating that while programs for poor children and for young families were cut, the government provided "free health care to elderly millionaires".<ref name="Strauss" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Holtz|first1=Geoffrey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Ay28CTKlgsC|title=Welcome to the Jungle: The Why Behind Generation X|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|year=1995|isbn=978-0-312-13210-1|pages=49–50|access-date=19 June 2016|archive-date=3 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203080702/https://books.google.com/books?id=2Ay28CTKlgsC|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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====Arts/Entertainment==== |
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*[[Jennifer Aniston]], actress |
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*[[Naomi Campbell]], model |
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*[[Cindy Crawford]], model and actress |
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*[[Tom Cruise]], actor |
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*[[Leonardo DiCaprio]], actor |
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*[[Matt Damon]], actor |
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*[[Chris Farley]] (d. 1997), comedian and actor |
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*[[Tina Fey]], actress and writer |
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*[[Jamie Foxx]], actor |
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*[[Ethan Hawke]], actor and author |
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*[[Angelina Jolie]], actress and humanitarian |
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*[[Kate Moss]], model |
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*[[River Phoenix]] (d. 1993), actor |
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*[[Brad Pitt]], actor |
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*[[Julia Roberts]], actress |
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*[[Winona Ryder]], actress |
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*[[Brooke Shields]], actress |
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*[[Anna Nicole Smith]] (d. 2007), model and television personality |
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*[[Hilary Swank]], actress |
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*[[Charlize Theron]], actress |
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*[[Chris Tucker]], comedian and actor |
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*[[The Wachowski Brothers]], Writer/Directors |
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*[[Chris Rock]], Actor/Comedian |
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*[[Johnny Depp]], Actor |
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*[[Kevin Smith]] and [[Jason Mewes]], Writers/Directors/Actors |
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*[[Douglas Coupland]], Writer/Artist |
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*[[Richard K. Morgan]], Writer |
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*[[Edward Norton]],actor |
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==== |
=====The crack epidemic and AIDS===== |
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Gen Xers came of age or were children during the 1980s [[crack epidemic]], which disproportionately impacted urban areas as well as the African-American community. The U.S. Drug turf battles increased violent crime. [[Crack cocaine|Crack addiction]] impacted communities and families. Between 1984 and 1989, the homicide rate for black males aged 14 to 17 doubled in the U.S., and the homicide rate for black males aged 18 to 24 increased almost as much. The crack epidemic had a destabilizing impact on families, with an increase in the number of children in foster care.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Dunlap |first=Eloise |date=2006 |title=The Severely-Distressed African American Family in the Crack Era: Empowerment is not Enough |journal=J Sociol Soc Welf. |volume=33 |issue=1 |pages=115{{ndash}}139 |pmid=18852841 |pmc=2565489 }}</ref> In 1986, President Reagan signed the [[Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986|Anti-Drug Abuse Act]] to enforce strict [[Mandatory sentencing|mandatory minimum sentencing]] for drug users. He also increased the federal budget for supply-reduction efforts.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Fryer|first1=Roland|date=April 2006|title=Measuring Crack Cocaine and Its Impact|url=http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/fryer/files/fhlm_crack_cocaine_0.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131007234650/http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/fryer/files/fhlm_crack_cocaine_0.pdf |archive-date=7 October 2013 |url-status=live|journal=Harvard University Society of Fellows|pages=3, 66|access-date=4 January 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/yuppies-beware-here-comes-generation-x/article_ce19c561-c82d-51b0-a0f9-0f680bc50da9.html|title=Yuppies, Beware: Here Comes Generation X|date=9 July 1991|newspaper=Tulsa World|access-date=19 June 2016|archive-date=28 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200228212911/https://www.tulsaworld.com/archives/yuppies-beware-here-comes-generation-x/article_ce19c561-c82d-51b0-a0f9-0f680bc50da9.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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*[[Maria Bartiromo]], journalist and financial news reporter |
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*[[Carson Daly]], talk show host |
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*[[Soledad O'Brien]], tv journalist |
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*[[Rachael Ray]], chef, talk show host, and multimedia personality |
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Fear of the impending [[HIV/AIDS|AIDS]] epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s loomed over the formative years of Generation X. The emergence of AIDS coincided with Gen X's adolescence, with the disease first clinically observed in the U.S. in 1981. By 1985, an estimated one-to-two million Americans were HIV-positive. This particularly hit the [[LGBT]] community.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-disease-that-defined-_b_5881884?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAABtjR7Bc84SyiSRKv6VQ3xatq2VPWu1GfUD_ckT_c5g_EtJI3HGX5x9IT68-4FfKqdrDftJ9HAQ9u4UM5XXjNA_HERTn7paNfwbGt1TI9MEkHC3DKQKBpIVnbvJ22FF_ewfIeJGyyBidkzrBXNndRk2Td29GCvpC1GZxqxr524E6|title=The Disease That Defined My Generation|last=Haltikis|first=Perry|date=2 February 2016|website=Huffington Post|access-date=11 March 2020|archive-date=1 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801005145/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-disease-that-defined-_b_5881884?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAABtjR7Bc84SyiSRKv6VQ3xatq2VPWu1GfUD_ckT_c5g_EtJI3HGX5x9IT68-4FfKqdrDftJ9HAQ9u4UM5XXjNA_HERTn7paNfwbGt1TI9MEkHC3DKQKBpIVnbvJ22FF_ewfIeJGyyBidkzrBXNndRk2Td29GCvpC1GZxqxr524E6|url-status=live}}</ref> As the virus spread, at a time before effective treatments were available, a public panic ensued. [[Sex education]] programs in schools were adapted to address the AIDS epidemic, which taught Gen X students that sex could kill them.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/generation-x/videos/gen-x-reacts-to-aids/|title=Generation X Reacts to AIDS|date=2016|access-date=19 June 2016|publisher=National Geographic Channel|archive-date=27 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160427015344/http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/generation-x/videos/gen-x-reacts-to-aids/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Halkitis|first1=Perry|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/perry-n-halkitis-phd-ms/the-disease-that-defined-_b_5881884.html|title=The Disease That Defined My Generation|date=2 February 2016|work=The Huffington Post|access-date=19 June 2016|archive-date=9 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809002203/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/perry-n-halkitis-phd-ms/the-disease-that-defined-_b_5881884.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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====Music==== |
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*[[Mariah Carey]], singer and actress |
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*[[Billy Corgan]], singer and guitarist |
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*[[Chris Cornell]], singer and musician |
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*[[Kurt Cobain]] (d. 1994) & [[Courtney Love]], musicians |
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*[[Sean Combs]] rapper and entrepreneur |
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*[[Celine Dion]], singer |
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*[[Dave Grohl]], musician |
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*[[Faith Hill]], country singer |
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*[[Queen Latifah]], rapper and actress |
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*[[Ricky Martin]], singer |
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*[[Kylie Minogue]], singer and actress |
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*[[Trent Reznor]], musician |
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*[[Selena]] (d. 1995), singer |
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*[[Layne Staley]] (d. 2002), musician |
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*[[Eddie Vedder]], musician |
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*[[Scott Weiland]], musician |
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*[[Dave Williams (musician)|Dave Williams]] (d. 2002), musician |
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*[[50 Cent]], rapper |
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*[[Jay-Z]], rapper |
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==== |
=====The rise of home computing===== |
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[[File:Apple II tranparent 800.png|thumb|upright=1.0|An 8-bit 1977 [[Apple II (1977 computer)|Apple II]]]] |
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*[[Tucker Carlson]],political pundit |
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Gen Xers were the first children to have access to [[personal computer]]s in their homes and at schools.<ref name="GenMap" /> In the early 1980s, the growth in the use of personal computers exploded. Manufacturers such as [[Commodore International|Commodore]], [[Atari]], and [[Apple Inc.|Apple]] responded to the demand via [[8-bit computing|8-bit]] and [[16-bit computing|16-bit machines]]. This in turn stimulated the software industries with corresponding developments for backup storage, use of the [[floppy disk]], [[zip drive]], and [[CD-ROM]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Clark Northrup|first=Cynthia|title=The American economy : a historical encyclopedia|url=https://archive.org/details/americaneconomyh12nort|url-access=limited|publisher=ABC Clio|year=2003|isbn=978-1-57607-866-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/americaneconomyh12nort/page/n166 144]}}</ref> |
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*[[Sean Hannity]], political pundit |
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*[[Ted Rall]],cartoonist and columnist |
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*[[Bobby Jindal]], governor |
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*[[Monica Lewinsky]], [[White House]] intern and presidential mistress |
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*[[Markos Moulitsas Zuniga]], political blogger |
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At school, several computer projects were supported by the Department of Education under [[United States Secretary of Education]] [[Terrel Bell]]'s "Technology Initiative".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Saettler|first=Paul|title=The evolution of American educational technology|publisher=Libraries Unlimited|year=1990|isbn=978-0-87287-613-2|pages=166}}</ref> This was later mirrored in the UK's 1982 Computers for Schools programme<ref>{{Cite book|last=Younie|first=Sarah|title=Teaching with Technologies: The Essential Guide|publisher=McGraw-Hill Education (UK)|year=2013|isbn=978-0-335-24619-9|pages=20}}</ref> and, in France, under the 1985 scheme ''[[Computing for All|Plan Informatique pour Tous (IPT)]].''<ref>{{Cite book|last=Mourot|first=Jean J.|title=La dernière classe 1984-1990|publisher=Le Scorpion Brun|year=2013|isbn=979-10-92559-00-2|pages=71}}</ref> |
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====Sports==== |
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*[[Andre Agassi]], tennis player |
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*[[Lance Armstrong]], cyclist |
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*[[Bonnie Blair]], speed skater |
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*[[Tom Brady]], football player |
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*[[Kobe Bryant]], basketball player |
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*[[Brett Favre]], football player |
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*[[Tony Hawk]], skateboarder |
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*[[Peyton Manning]], football player |
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*[[Tiger Woods]], golfer |
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*[[Kristi Yamaguchi]], figure skater |
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=====The post–civil rights generation===== |
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====Technology/Science==== |
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In the U.S., Generation X was the first cohort to grow up post-integration after [[Jim Crow laws|the racist Jim Crow]] laws. They were described in a marketing report by ''Specialty Retail'' as the kids who "lived the [[civil rights movement]]". They were among the first children to be [[Desegregation busing|bused]] to attain [[Racial integration|integration]] in the public school system. In the 1990s, Strauss reported Gen Xers were "by any measure the least racist of today's generations".<ref name="Strauss"/><ref name="Retail">{{cite news|url=http://specialtyretail.com/issue/2003/07/running-a-cart-or-kiosk/generation-x/|title=Generation X|date=Summer 2003|access-date=19 June 2016|publisher=Specialty Retail|archive-date=23 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623105506/http://specialtyretail.com/issue/2003/07/running-a-cart-or-kiosk/generation-x/|url-status=live}}</ref> In the U.S., [[Title IX]], which passed in 1972, provided increased athletic opportunities to Gen X girls in the public school setting.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Underwood|first1=Chuck|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6ZGuilmLcc| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/y6ZGuilmLcc| archive-date=28 October 2021|title=America's Generations With Chuck Underwood - Generation X|access-date=19 June 2016|publisher=PBS}}{{cbignore}}</ref> ''[[Roots (1977 miniseries)|Roots]]'', based on the novel by [[Alex Haley]] and broadcast as a 12-hour series, was viewed as a turning point in the country's ability to relate to the Afro-American history.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Erickson|first=Tamara J|title=What's Next, Gen X?: Keeping Up, Moving Ahead, and Getting the Career You Want|publisher=Harvard Business Review Pres|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4221-2064-4}}</ref> |
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*[[Tom Anderson (MySpace)|Tom Anderson]], founder [[MySpace]] |
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*[[Chad Hurley]], founder [[YouTube]] |
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*[[Larry Page]], founder [[Google]] |
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*[[Ryan White]] (d. 1990), [[AIDS]] activist |
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* [[Pierre Omidyar]], founder, [[eBay]]. |
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* [[Jerry Yang]], cofounder, [[Yahoo]]. |
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* [[David Filo]], cofounder, [[Yahoo]]. |
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* [[Kevin Rose]], cofounder, [[Digg]]. |
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* [[Mike Fincke]], Astronaut [[NASA]]. |
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====As young adults==== |
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In addition, the bands the [[Pixies]], [[Radiohead]], [[Korn]], [[The Red Hot Chili Peppers]], and [[Green Day]] either were representative of the [[Grunge music]] sound associated with this generation or later became notable as members of Gen X. |
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=====Continued growth in college enrollments===== |
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[[File:Total Fall Enrollment in US degree granting Institutions 1965-1998.png|thumb|upright=1.2|Total Fall Enrollment in U.S. degree granting Institutions 1965–1998]] |
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In the U.S., compared to the Boomer generation, Generation X was more educated than their parents. The share of young adults enrolling in college steadily increased from 1983, before peaking in 1998. In 1965, as early Boomers entered college, total enrollment of new undergraduates was just over 5.7 million individuals across the public and private sectors. By 1983, the first year of Gen X college enrollments (as per Pew Research's definition), this figure had reached 12.2 million. This was an increase of 53%, effectively a doubling in student intake. As the 1990s progressed, Gen X college enrollments continued to climb, with increased loan borrowing as the cost of an education became substantially more expensive compared to their peers in the mid-1980s.<ref>{{Cite book|last=US Congress, Senate Committee on Finance Staff|title=Education Tax Proposals: Hearing Before the Committee on Finance|publisher=US Government Printing Office, 1999|year=1999|isbn=978-0-16-058193-9|pages=99}}</ref> By 1998, the generation's last year of college enrollment, those entering the higher education sector totaled 14.3 million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d00/dt174.asp|title=Total fall enrollment in degree-granting institutions, by control and type of institution: 1965 to 1998|date=July 2000|website=National Center for Education Statistics|access-date=3 February 2023|archive-date=1 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101005108/https://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d00/dt174.asp|url-status=live}}</ref> In addition, unlike Boomers and previous generations, women outpaced men in college completion rates.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Bialik|first=Kristen|url=https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/essay/millennial-life-how-young-adulthood-today-compares-with-prior-generations/|title=Millennial life: How young adulthood today compares with prior generation|date=14 February 2019|work=Pew Research Center|access-date=3 February 2023|archive-date=8 February 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208213629/https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/essay/millennial-life-how-young-adulthood-today-compares-with-prior-generations/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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=====Adjusting to a new societal environment===== |
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==Notes== |
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For early Gen Xer graduates entering the job market at the end of the 1980s, economic conditions were challenging and did not show signs of major improvements until the mid-1990s.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ericksson|first=Tamara|title=What's Next, Gen X?: Keeping Up, Moving Ahead, and Getting the Career You Want|publisher=Harvard Business Review Press|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4221-2064-4}}</ref> In the U.S., restrictive monetary policy to curb rising inflation and the collapse of a large number of [[savings and loan association]]s (private banks that specialized in [[home mortgage]]s) impacted the welfare of many American households. This precipitated a large government bailout, which placed further strain on the budget.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Walsh|first=Carl E|date=1993|title=What caused the 1990-91 Recession?|journal=Economic Review: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco|pages=33}}</ref> Furthermore, three decades of growth came to an end. The social contract between employers and employees, which had endured during the 1960s and 1970s and was scheduled to last until retirement, was no longer applicable. By the late 1980s, there were large-scale layoffs of Boomers, corporate downsizing, and accelerated [[offshoring]] of production.<ref>{{Cite book|last=. Erickson|first=Tamara|title=What's Next, Gen X?: Keeping Up, Moving Ahead, and Getting the Career You Want|publisher=Harvard Business Pres|year=2012|isbn=978-1-4221-5615-5}}</ref> |
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{{reflist|2}} |
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On the political front, in the U.S. the generation became ambivalent if not outright disaffected with politics. They had been reared in the shadow of the [[Vietnam War]] and the [[Watergate scandal]]. They came to maturity under the Reagan and [[George H. W. Bush]] presidencies, with first-hand experience of the impact of [[Neoliberalism|neoliberal]] policies. Few had experienced a Democratic administration and even then, only, at an atmospheric level. For those on the left of the political spectrum, the disappointments with the previous Boomer student mobilizations of the 1960s and the collapse of those movements towards a consumerist "[[greed is good]]" and "[[yuppie]]" culture during the 1980s felt, to a greater extent, hypocrisy if not outright betrayal. Hence, the preoccupation on "authenticity" and not "selling-out". The [[Revolutions of 1989]] and the collapse of the socialist utopia with the [[fall of the Berlin Wall]], moreover, added to the disillusionment that any alternative to the [[capitalist model]] was possible.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Erickson|first=Tamara|title=What's Next, Gen X?: Keeping Up, Moving Ahead, and Getting the Career You Want|publisher=Harvard Business Press|year=2010|isbn=978-1-4221-5615-5}}</ref> |
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=====Birth of the "slacker"===== |
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{{multiple image |
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| image1 = Skateboarder in the air.jpg |
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| image2 = BmxStreet.JPG |
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| image3 = Raleigh chopper.jpg |
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| footer = [[Skateboard]]ing, [[BMX bike]]s, and [[Raleigh Chopper|chopper]] bikes first became popular among Generation X.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Williams |first1=Alex |title=Skateboarding Past a Midlife Crisis (Published 2012) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/fashion/skateboarding-past-a-midlife-crisis.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/fashion/skateboarding-past-a-midlife-crisis.html |archive-date=2 January 2022 |url-access=limited |url-status=live |work=The New York Times |date=9 May 2012}}{{cbignore}}</ref> |
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}} |
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In 1990, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine published an article titled "Living: Proceeding with Caution", which described those then in their 20s as aimless and unfocused. Media pundits and advertisers further struggled to define the cohort, typically portraying them as "unfocused [[Twentysomething (term)|twentysomething]]s". A [[MetLife]] report noted: "media would portray them as the ''[[Friends]]'' generation: rather self-involved and perhaps aimless...but fun".<ref name="MetLife">{{cite news|title=The MetLife Study of Gen X: The MTV Generation Moves into Mid-Life|url=https://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/studies/2013/mmi-gen-x.pdf|access-date=19 June 2016|publisher=MetLife|date=April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021014452/https://www.metlife.com/assets/cao/mmi/publications/studies/2013/mmi-gen-x.pdf|archive-date=21 October 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Time1">{{cite magazine|last1=Gross|first1=David|title=Living: Proceeding With Caution|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,970634-1,00.html|access-date=19 June 2016|magazine=Time|date=16 July 1990|archive-date=1 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701074300/http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,970634-1,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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Gen Xers were often portrayed as [[Apathy|apathetic]] or as "[[slackers]]", lacking bearings, a stereotype which was initially tied to [[Richard Linklater]]'s comedic and essentially plotless 1991 film ''[[Slacker (film)|Slacker]]''. After the film was released, "journalists and critics thought they put a finger on what was different about these young adults in that 'they were reluctant to grow up' and 'disdainful of earnest action'".<ref name="Time1" /><ref>{{cite news|last1=ScrIibner|first1=Sara|url=http://www.salon.com/2013/08/11/generation_x_gets_really_old_how_do_slackers_have_a_midlife_crisis/|title=Generation X gets really old: How do slackers have a midlife crisis?|date=11 August 2013|work=Salon|access-date=19 June 2016|archive-date=19 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160619213301/http://www.salon.com/2013/08/11/generation_x_gets_really_old_how_do_slackers_have_a_midlife_crisis/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Ben Stiller]]'s 1994 film ''[[Reality Bites]]'' also sought to capture the [[zeitgeist]] of the generation with a portrayal of the attitudes and lifestyle choices of the time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/03/reality-bites-captured-gen-x-25-years-later-helen-childress/583870/|title=Reality Bites Captured Gen X With Perfect Irony|last=Roberts|first=Soraya|date=March 2019|website=The Atlantic|access-date=3 February 2023|archive-date=1 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101005107/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2019/03/reality-bites-captured-gen-x-25-years-later-helen-childress/583870/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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Negative stereotypes of Gen X young adults continued, including that they were "bleak, cynical, and disaffected". In 1998, such stereotypes prompted sociological research at [[Stanford University]] to study the accuracy of the characterization of Gen X young adults as cynical and disaffected. Using the national [[General Social Survey]], the researchers compared answers to identical survey questions asked of 18–29-year-olds in three different time periods. Additionally, they compared how older adults answered the same survey questions over time. The surveys showed 18–29-year-old Gen Xers did exhibit higher levels of cynicism and disaffection than previous cohorts of 18–29-year-olds surveyed. However, they also found that cynicism and disaffection had increased among all age groups surveyed over time, not just young adults, making this a period effect, not a [[cohort effect]]. In other words, adults of all ages were more cynical and disaffected in the 1990s, not just Generation X.<ref>{{cite news|title=Generation X not so special: Malaise, cynicism on the rise for all age groups|url=http://news.stanford.edu/pr/98/980821genx.html|access-date=19 June 2016|publisher=Stanford University|archive-date=14 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160814224207/http://news.stanford.edu/pr/98/980821genx.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Oldsters Get The Gen X Feeling|url=http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/19980729080415data_trunc_sys.shtml|access-date=11 July 2016|publisher=SCI GOGO|date=29 August 1998|archive-date=18 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818120039/http://www.scienceagogo.com/news/19980729080415data_trunc_sys.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In a 2023 interview with television host [[Bill Maher]] on the podcast ''Club Random with Bill Maher'', vocalist and guitarist [[Billy Corgan]] hinted at how [[the Smashing Pumpkins]] spoke to the disillusionment felt by many Gen Xers as they reached adulthood, noting: |
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{{Quote|text=At least generationally, I think that's why I connected with so many people—because I was speaking the patois of: [[Gilligan's Island]] meets 'What the fuck happened in my life?'<ref>{{Cite web |last=Club Random Podcast |date=2023-05-28 |title=Billy Corgan – Club Random with Bill Maher |website=[[YouTube]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ1JP0j1wj4}}</ref>|author=}} |
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==== Rise of the Internet and the dot-com bubble ==== |
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By the mid-late 1990s, under [[Bill Clinton]]'s presidency, economic optimism had returned to the U.S.,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Weinstein|first=Deena|title=Rock'n America: A Social and Cultural History|publisher=University of Toronto Press|year=2015|isbn=978-1-4426-0018-8|pages=237}}</ref> with unemployment reduced from 7.5% in 1992 to 4% in 2000.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebalance.com/president-bill-clinton-s-economic-policies-3305559|title=President Bill Clinton's Economic Policies|website=The Balance|access-date=3 February 2023|archive-date=24 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220524002921/https://www.thebalance.com/president-bill-clinton-s-economic-policies-3305559|url-status=live}}</ref> Younger members of Gen X, straddling across administrations, politically experienced a "liberal renewal". In 1997, ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine published an article titled "Generation X Reconsidered", which retracted the previously reported negative stereotypes and reported positive accomplishments. The article cited Gen Xers' tendency to found technology [[Startup company|startup companies]] and small businesses, as well as their ambition, which research showed was higher among Gen X young adults than older generations.<ref name="Time1" /> Yet, the slacker moniker stuck.<ref name="Jury Expert">{{cite news|last1=Keene|first1=Douglas|title=Generation X members are "active, balanced and happy". Seriously?|url=http://www.thejuryexpert.com/2011/11/gen-x-members-are-active-balanced-and-happy/|access-date=19 June 2016|publisher=The Jury Expert – The Art and Science of Litigation Advocacy|date=29 November 2011|archive-date=3 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160703145524/http://www.thejuryexpert.com/2011/11/gen-x-members-are-active-balanced-and-happy/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Time2">{{cite magazine|last1=Hornblower|first1=Margot|title=Generation X Reconsidered|url=https://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19970609,00.html|access-date=19 June 2016|magazine=Time|date=9 June 1997|archive-date=1 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701084116/http://content.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,19970609,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> As the decade progressed, Gen X gained a reputation for [[entrepreneurship]]. In 1999, ''[[The New York Times]]'' dubbed them "Generation 1099", describing them as the "once pitied but now envied group of [[self-employed]] workers whose income is reported to the [[Internal Revenue Service]] not on a [[W-2 form]], but on [[Form 1099]]".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ellin|first1=Abby|title=Preludes; A Generation of Freelancers|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/15/business/preludes-a-generation-of-freelancers.html|access-date=1 July 2016|newspaper=The New York Times|date=15 August 1999|archive-date=10 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610003411/http://www.nytimes.com/1999/08/15/business/preludes-a-generation-of-freelancers.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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[[File:Nostalgia (7539894906).jpg|thumb|right|America Online (AOL) version 2.0 program disk for Microsoft Windows (1994), widely used by younger Gen Xers to access the Internet]] |
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Consumer access to the [[Internet]] and its commercial development throughout the 1990s witnessed a frenzy of IT initiatives. Newly created companies, launched on stock exchanges globally, were formed with dubitable revenue generation or cash flow.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.moneycrashers.com/dot-com-bubble-burst/|title=History of the Dot-Com Bubble Burst and How to Avoid Another|last=Smith|first=Kalen|website=Money Crashers|date=6 June 2022 |access-date=3 February 2023|archive-date=25 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220925211920/https://www.moneycrashers.com/dot-com-bubble-burst/|url-status=live}}</ref> When the [[dot-com bubble]] eventually burst in 2000, early Gen Xers who had embarked as entrepreneurs in the IT industry while riding the Internet wave, as well as newly qualified programmers at the tail-end of the generation (who had grown up with [[AOL]] and the first [[Web browser]]s), were both caught in the crash.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Wang|first=Cynthia|title=100 Questions and Answers About Gen X Plus 100 Questions and Answers About Millennials|publisher=Front Edge Publishing|year=2019|isbn=978-1-64180-048-8}}</ref> This had major repercussions, with cross-generational consequences; five years after the bubble burst, new matriculation of IT Millennial undergraduates fell by 40% and by as much as 70% in some information systems programs.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Torres-Coronas|first=Teresa|title=Encyclopedia of Human Resources Information Systems: Challenges in e-HRM: Challenges in e-HRM|publisher=IGI Global|year=2008|isbn=978-1-59904-884-0|pages=230}}</ref> |
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However, following the crisis, sociologist [[Mike Males]] reported continued confidence and optimism among the cohort. He reported "surveys consistently find 80% to 90% of Gen Xers self-confident and optimistic".<ref name="Males">{{cite news|last1=Males|first1=Mike|title=The True 'Great Generation'|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-aug-26-op-38674-story.html|access-date=19 June 2016|newspaper=LA Times|date=26 August 2001|archive-date=4 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160704111116/http://articles.latimes.com/2001/aug/26/opinion/op-38674|url-status=live}}</ref> Males wrote "these young Americans should finally get the recognition they deserve", praising the cohort and stating that "the permissively raised, universally deplored Generation X is the true 'great generation', for it has braved a hostile social climate to reverse abysmal trends". He described them as the hardest-working group since the [[Greatest Generation|World War II generation]]. He reported Gen Xers' entrepreneurial tendencies helped create the high-tech industry that fueled the 1990s economic recovery.<ref name="Males" /><ref>{{cite news|last1=Reddy|first1=Patrick|title=Generation X Reconsidered; 'Slackers' No More. Today's Young Adults Have Fought Wars Fiercely, Reversed Unfortunate Social Trends and Are Proving Themselves to be Another 'Great Generation'|url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-22449092.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911121441/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-22449092.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 September 2016|access-date=19 June 2016|newspaper=The Buffalo News|date=10 February 2002}}</ref> In 2002, ''Time'' magazine published an article titled ''Gen Xers Aren't Slackers After All'', reporting that four out of five new businesses were the work of Gen Xers.<ref name="Retail" /><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Chatzky|first1=Jean|date=31 March 2002|title=Gen Xers Aren't Slackers After All|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,221136,00.html|magazine=Time|access-date=19 June 2016|archive-date=1 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160701074918/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,221136,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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=====Response to 9/11===== |
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In the U.S., Gen Xers were described as the major heroes of the [[September 11 terrorist attacks]] by author William Strauss. The firefighters and police responding to the attacks were predominantly from Generation X. Additionally, the leaders of the passenger revolt on [[United Airlines Flight 93]] were also, by majority, Gen Xers.<ref name="Jury Expert" /><ref>{{cite news|last1=Koidin|first1=Michelle|title=After September 11 Events Hand Generation X a 'Real Role to Play'|newspaper=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|date=11 October 2001}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Koidin|first1=Michelle|title=Events Hand Generation X A 'Real Role to Play'|url=http://www.lifecourse.com/media/articles/lib/2001/101101-saen.html|access-date=16 October 2016|publisher=LifeCourse Associates|date=11 October 2001|archive-date=19 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019061452/http://www.lifecourse.com/media/articles/lib/2001/101101-saen.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Author Neil Howe reported survey data which showed that Gen Xers were [[cohabitation|cohabiting]] and getting married in increasing numbers following the terrorist attacks. Gen X survey respondents reported that they no longer wanted to live alone.<ref>{{cite web|title=Neil Howe on Gen X and 9/11|date=2001|work=CNN|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur-b1FMUVo4 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929141554/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ur-b1FMUVo4&gl=US&hl=en| archive-date=29 September 2019|via=youtube.com}}</ref> |
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In October 2001, the ''[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]'' wrote of Gen Xers: "Now they could be facing the most formative events of their lives and their generation."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Klondin|first1=Michelle|title=After September 11 Events Hand Generation X a 'Real Role to Play'|newspaper=[[Seattle Post-Intelligencer]]|date=11 October 2001}}</ref> The ''[[Greensboro News & Record]]'' reported members of the cohort "felt a surge of [[patriotism]] since terrorists struck" by giving blood, working for charities, donating to charities, and by joining the military to fight the [[War on Terror]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Johnson|first1=Maria|title=Greatness Alive in Generation X Young Americans Show Patriotism in the Wake of the Terrorist Attacks Sept. 11|publisher=[[Greensboro News & Record]]|date=20 September 2001}}</ref> ''The Jury Expert'', a publication of The American Society of Trial Consultants, reported: "Gen X members responded to the terrorist attacks with bursts of patriotism and national fervor that surprised even themselves."<ref name="Jury Expert" /> |
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====In midlife==== |
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=====Achieving a work-life balance===== |
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In 2011, survey analysis from the ''Longitudinal Study of American Youth'' found Gen Xers (defined as those who were then between the ages of 30 and 50) to be "balanced, active, and happy" in midlife and as achieving a [[work-life balance]]. The Longitudinal Study of Youth is an [[NIH]]-[[National Institute on Aging|NIA]] funded study by the University of Michigan which has been studying Generation X since 1987. The study asked questions such as "Thinking about all aspects of your life, how happy are you? If zero means that you are very unhappy and 10 means that you are very happy, please rate your happiness." LSA reported that "[[mean]] level of happiness was 7.5 and the [[median]] (middle score) was 8. Only four percent of Generation X adults indicated a great deal of unhappiness (a score of three or lower). Twenty-nine percent of Generation X adults were very happy with a score of 9 or 10 on the scale."<ref name="LSA">{{cite web|url=http://lsay.org/GenX_Rept_Iss1.pdf|title=The Generation X Report: Active, Balanced, and Happy|last=Miller|first=Jon|date=Fall 2011|publisher=Longitudinal Study of American Youth – University of Michigan|page=1|access-date=29 May 2013|archive-date=28 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200128113321/http://lsay.org/GenX_Rept_Iss1.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.lsay.org/|title=NSF funds launch of a new LSAY 7th grade cohort in 2015 NIH-NIA fund continued study of original LSAY students|date=2011|access-date=19 June 2016|publisher=University of Michigan|archive-date=6 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160606005038/http://lsay.org/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=122088|title=Long-term Survey Reveals Gen Xers Are Active, Balanced and Happy|date=25 October 2011|access-date=19 June 2016|publisher=National Science Foundation|archive-date=7 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807195604/https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=122088|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Dawson|first1=Alene|url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/26/living/gen-x-satisfied/|title=Study says Generation X is balanced and happy|date=27 October 2011|access-date=19 June 2016|publisher=CNN|archive-date=30 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160630002619/http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/26/living/gen-x-satisfied|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In 2014, [[Pew Research]] provided further insight, describing the cohort as "savvy, skeptical and self-reliant; they're not into preening or pampering, and they just might not give much of a hoot what others think of them. Or whether others think of them at all."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Taylor|first1=Paul|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/06/05/generation-x-americas-neglected-middle-child/|title=Generation X: America's neglected 'middle child'|date=5 June 2014|access-date=19 June 2016|publisher=Pew Research|archive-date=18 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160618205325/http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/06/05/generation-x-americas-neglected-middle-child/|url-status=live}}</ref> Furthermore, guides regarding managing multiple generations in the workforce describe Gen Xers as: independent, resilient, resourceful, self-managing, adaptable, cynical, pragmatic, skeptical of authority, and as seeking a work-life balance.<ref name="MetLife" /><ref>{{cite news|url=http://positiveorgs.bus.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/Glance-Inclusion.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160822204235/http://positiveorgs.bus.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/Glance-Inclusion.pdf |archive-date=22 August 2016 |url-status=live|title=Creating a Culture of Inclusion – Leveraging Generational Diversity: At-a-Glance|date=2010|access-date=19 June 2016|publisher=University of Michigan}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Eames|first1=David|url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/david-eames/news/article.cfm?a_id=211&objectid=10496379|title=Jumping the generation gap|date=6 March 2008|newspaper=New Zealand Herald|access-date=19 June 2016|archive-date=17 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817081448/http://www.nzherald.co.nz/david-eames/news/article.cfm?a_id=211&objectid=10496379|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=White|first1=Doug|date=23 December 2014|title=What to Expect From Gen-X and Millennial Employees|url=https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240556|magazine=Entrepreneur|access-date=19 June 2016|archive-date=9 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809090746/https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/240556|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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=====Entrepreneurship as an individual trait===== |
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[[File:Sergey Brin, Web 2.0 Conference.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.1|[[Google]] co-founder [[Sergey Brin]], speaking at a [[Web 2.0]] conference]] |
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[[Individualism]] is one of the defining traits of Generation X, and is reflected in their entrepreneurial spirit.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sirias|first=Danilo|date=September 2007|title=Comparing the levels of individualism/collectivism between Baby Boomers and generation X: Implications for teamwork|url=https://www.emerald.com/|journal=Management Research News|doi=10.1108/01409170710823467|access-date=3 February 2023|archive-date=27 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190127044449/http://emerald.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 2008 book ''X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything from Sucking'', author [[Jeff Gordinier]] describes Generation X as a "[[dark horse]] demographic" which "doesn't seek the limelight". Gordiner cites examples of Gen Xers' contributions to society such as: [[Google]], [[Wikipedia]], [[Amazon.com]], and [[YouTube]], arguing that if Boomers had created them, "we'd never hear the end of it". In the book, Gordinier contrasts Gen Xers to Baby Boomers, saying Boomers tend to trumpet their accomplishments more than Gen Xers do, creating what he describes as "elaborate mythologies" around their achievements. Gordiner cites [[Steve Jobs]] as an example, while Gen Xers, he argues, are more likely to "just quietly do their thing".<ref name="Gordinier" /><ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Stephey|first1=M.J.|url=http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1731528,00.html|title=Gen-X: The Ignored Generation?|date=16 April 2008|magazine=Time|access-date=19 June 2016|archive-date=20 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160620201749/http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1731528,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In a 2007 article published in the [[Harvard Business Review]], authors Strauss and Howe wrote of Generation X: "They are already the greatest entrepreneurial generation in U.S. history; their high-tech savvy and marketplace resilience have helped America prosper in the era of globalization."<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Howe|first1=Neil|title=The next 20 years: How customer and workforce attitudes will evolve|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/6196698|access-date=19 June 2016|magazine=Harvard Business Review|date=June 2007}}</ref> According to authors Michael Hais and Morley Winograd: |
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<blockquote>Small businesses and the entrepreneurial spirit that Gen Xers embody have become one of the most popular institutions in America. There's been a recent shift in consumer behavior and Gen Xers will join the "idealist generation" in encouraging the celebration of individual effort and business risk-taking. As a result, Xers will spark a renaissance of [[entrepreneurship]] in economic life, even as overall confidence in economic institutions declines. Customers, and their needs and wants (including Millennials) will become the North Star for an entire new generation of entrepreneurs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.beinkandescent.com/articles/942/GenX|title=Why Generation X is Sparking a Renaissance in Entrepreneurship|last1=Winograd|first1=Morley|last2=Hais|first2=Michael|year=2012|access-date=2013-04-22|archive-date=9 March 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309230233/http://www.beinkandescent.com/articles/942/GenX|url-status=dead}}</ref></blockquote> |
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A 2015 study by [[Sage Group]] reports Gen Xers "dominate the playing field" with respect to founding [[Startup company|startups]] in the United States and Canada, with Xers launching the majority (55%) of all new businesses in 2015.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.sage.com/na/~/media/site/sagena/responsive/docs/startup/report|title=2015 State of the Startup|date=2015|access-date=6 August 2016|publisher=sage|archive-date=21 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021015127/https://www.sage.com/na/~/media/site/sagena/responsive/docs/startup/report|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Iudica|first1=David|url=https://advertising.yahoo.com/insights/overlooked-influence-gen-x|title=The overlooked influence of Gen X|date=12 September 2016|access-date=2 October 2016|publisher=Yahoo Advertising|archive-date=21 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161021014750/https://advertising.yahoo.com/insights/overlooked-influence-gen-x|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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=====Income benefits of a college education===== |
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Generation X was the last generation in the U.S. for whom [[Issues in higher education in the United States#Financial value of degrees|higher education was broadly financially remunerative]]. In 2019, the [[Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis]] published research (using data from the 2016 ''[[Survey of Consumer Finances]]'') demonstrating that after controlling for race and age, families with heads of household born before 1980 had higher wealth and income when the head of household had post-seconary education. For those born after 1980, the wealth premium (of college education) was no longer statistically significant (in part because of the [[Cost and financing issues facing higher education in the United States|rising cost of college]]). The income premium, while remaining positive, had declined to historic lows, with more pronounced downward trajectories among heads of household with [[Postgraduate education|postgraduate degrees]].<ref name="Emmons Kent & Ricketts 2019">{{cite journal|last1=Emmons|first1=William R.|last2=Kent|first2=Ana H.|last3=Ricketts|first3=Lowell R.|year=2019|title=Is College Still Worth It? The New Calculus of Falling Returns|url=https://files.stlouisfed.org/files/htdocs/publications/review/2019/10/15/is-college-still-worth-it-the-new-calculus-of-falling-returns.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191016192859/https://files.stlouisfed.org/files/htdocs/publications/review/2019/10/15/is-college-still-worth-it-the-new-calculus-of-falling-returns.pdf |archive-date=16 October 2019 |url-status=live|journal=Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis Review|publisher=[[Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis]]|volume=101|issue=4|pages=297–329|doi=10.20955/r.101.297-329|s2cid=211431474|doi-access=free}}</ref> |
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=====Parenting and volunteering===== |
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In terms of advocating for their children in the educational setting, author Neil Howe describes Gen X parents as distinct from Baby Boomer parents. Howe argues that Gen Xers are not [[helicopter parents]], which Howe describes as a parenting style of Boomer parents of Millennials. Howe described Gen Xers instead as "stealth fighter parents", due to the tendency of Gen X parents to let minor issues go and to not hover over their children in the educational setting, but to intervene forcefully and swiftly in the event of more serious issues.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Howe|first1=Neil|title=Meet Mr. and Mrs. Gen X: A New Parent Generation|url=http://www.aasa.org/SchoolAdministratorArticle.aspx?id=11122|access-date=19 April 2016|publisher=AASA – The School Superintendents Association|archive-date=7 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107072813/http://www.aasa.org/SchoolAdministratorArticle.aspx?id=11122|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2012, the [[Corporation for National and Community Service]] ranked Gen X volunteer rates in the U.S. at "29.4% per year", the highest compared with other generations. The rankings were based on a three-year moving average between 2009 and 2011.<ref>{{cite web|title=Volunteering and Civic Life in America: Generation X Volunteer Rates|url=http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/rankings/States/Generation-X-Volunteer-Rates/2011|publisher=Corporation for National and Community Service|access-date=31 January 2013|date=27 November 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116084906/http://www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/rankings/States/Generation-X-Volunteer-Rates/2011|archive-date=16 January 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Volunteering in the United States|url=http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/volun.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040113073422/http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/volun.pdf |archive-date=13 January 2004 |url-status=live|publisher=Bureau of Labor Statistics – U.S. Department of Labor|access-date=20 April 2013|page=1|date=22 February 2013}}</ref> |
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=====Communication style===== |
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Generation X prefers the communication modes of face-to-face and phone, whereas the younger generations prefer e-mail and texting.<ref>{{cite press release |author=<!--Not stated--> |title=CareerBuilder Survey Identifies Generational Differences in Work Styles, Communication and Changing Jobs |url=https://press.careerbuilder.com/2012-09-13-CareerBuilder-Survey-Identifies-Generational-Differences-in-Work-Styles-Communication-and-Changing-Jobs |publisher=[[CareerBuilder]] |date=2012-09-13 |access-date=2024-07-11}}</ref> In terms of writing, Generation X is more likely than Generation Z to know [[cursive]]<ref>{{cite news |last=Seariac |first=Hanna |date=2023-12-15 |title=Gen Z never learned cursive. The effects of this are more widespread than you think |url=https://www.deseret.com/2022/9/21/23363871/cursive-writing-practice-genz-never-learned-cursive/ |work=[[Deseret News]] |access-date=2024-07-22}}</ref> and more likely than Millennials to use postal [[mail]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Holder |first=Sarah |date=2018-08-09 |title=How Millennials Can Save the Postal Service |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-08-09/the-u-s-postal-service-s-plan-to-win-over-millennials |work=[[Bloomberg News]] |access-date=2024-07-22}}</ref> Also, Generation X is less likely to [[Ghosting (behavior)|ghost]] than Millennials and Generation Z.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.sbam.org/gen-z-getting-a-bad-reputation-with-employers/ |title=Gen Z Getting a Bad Reputation with Employers |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2024-03-11 |publisher=[[Small Business Association of Michigan]] |access-date=2024-07-10}}</ref> Social media usage is also different, with Generation X preferring [[LinkedIn]] and [[Facebook]], while Millennials and Generation Z prefer [[Snapchat]] and [[TikTok]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sproutsocial.com/insights/new-social-media-demographics/ |title=Social media demographics to inform your 2024 strategy |last=Zote |first=Jacqueline |date=2024-02-14 |publisher=[[Sprout Social]] |access-date=2024-07-10}}</ref> |
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=====Income differential with previous generations===== |
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A report titled ''Economic Mobility: Is the American Dream Alive and Well?'' focused on the income of males 30–39 in 2004 (those born April 1964{{spaced ndash}}March 1974). The study was released on 25 May 2007 and emphasized that this generation's men made less (by 12%) than their fathers had at the same age in 1974, thus reversing a historical trend. It concluded that, per year increases in household income generated by fathers/sons slowed from an average of 0.9% to 0.3%, barely keeping pace with inflation. "Family incomes have risen though (over the period 1947 to 2005) because more women have gone to work",<ref>{{cite web|url=https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11300002|title=Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate: Women|date=1950–2018|website=FRED: Economic Data|publisher=Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis|access-date=20 February 2018|archive-date=9 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180309014459/https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11300002|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Federal Reserve Bank of St.Louis">{{cite web|url=https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11300001|title=Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate: Men|date=January 1948|website=FRED: Economic Data|publisher=Federal Reserve Bank of St.Louis|ref=1950 to 2018|access-date=20 February 2018|archive-date=17 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517155756/https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS11300001|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Isabel Sawhill, Ph.D 2007">{{cite web|url=http://www.brookings.edu/views/papers/sawhill/200705.pdf|title=Economic Mobility: Is the American Dream Alive and Well?|author=Isabel Sawhill, PhD|last2=Morton|first2=John E.|year=2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529155632/http://www.brookings.edu/views/papers/sawhill/200705.pdf|archive-date=29 May 2013|access-date=22 March 2013}}</ref><ref name="Making less than dad did">{{cite news|last1=Ellis|first1=David|url=https://money.cnn.com/2007/05/25/pf/mobility_study/index.htm?cnn=yes|title=Making less than dad did|date=25 May 2007|work=CNN|access-date=3 May 2010|archive-date=7 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100707001755/http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/25/pf/mobility_study/index.htm?cnn=yes|url-status=live}}</ref> "supporting the incomes of men, by adding a second earner to the family. And as with male income, the trend is downward."<ref name="Federal Reserve Bank of St.Louis" /><ref name="Isabel Sawhill, Ph.D 2007" /><ref name="Making less than dad did" /> |
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===Globally === |
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Although, globally, children and adolescents of Generation X will have been heavily influenced by U.S. cultural industries with shared global currents (e.g., rising divorce rates, the AIDS epidemic, advancements in [[Information and communications technology|ICT]]), there is not one U.S.-born raised concept but multiple perspectives and geographical outgrowths. Even within the period of analysis, inside national communities, commonalities will have differed on the basis of one's birth date. The generation, Christine Henseler also remarks, was shaped as much by real-world events, within national borders, determined by specific political, cultural, and historical incidents. She adds "In other words, it is in between both real, clearly bordered spaces and more fluid global currents that we can spot the spirit of Generation X."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Henseler|first=Christine|title=Generation X Goes Global: Mapping a Youth Culture in Motion|publisher=Routledge|year=2012|isbn=978-0-415-69944-0|pages=15}}</ref> |
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In 2016, a global consumer insights project from [[Viacom International Media Networks]] and [[Viacom (2005–present)|Viacom]], based on over 12,000 respondents across 21 countries,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Rodriguez|first=Ashley|title=Generation X's rebellious nature helped reinvent adulthood|language=en-US|newspaper=Quartz|url=http://qz.com/812502/generation-x-has-found-its-groove-in-middle-age-according-to-a-new-study-from-viacom/|access-date=20 October 2016|archive-date=20 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020112117/http://qz.com/812502/generation-x-has-found-its-groove-in-middle-age-according-to-a-new-study-from-viacom/|url-status=live}}</ref> reported on Gen X's unconventional approach to sex, friendship, and family,<ref>{{Cite news|date=22 September 2016|title=Gen X's Unconventional Approach To Sex, Friendship and Family|language=en-US|newspaper=Viacom International Insights|url=http://internationalinsights.viacom.com/post/gen-xs-unconventional-approach-to-sex-friendship-and-family/|access-date=20 October 2016|archive-date=20 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020120209/http://internationalinsights.viacom.com/post/gen-xs-unconventional-approach-to-sex-friendship-and-family/|url-status=live}}</ref> their desire for flexibility and fulfillment at work<ref>{{Cite news|date=29 September 2016|title=At Work, Gen X Want Flexibility and Fulfilment More Than a Corner Office|language=en-US|newspaper=Viacom International Insights|url=http://internationalinsights.viacom.com/post/at-work-gen-x-want-flexibility-and-fulfilment-more-than-a-corner-office/|access-date=20 October 2016|archive-date=20 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020115412/http://internationalinsights.viacom.com/post/at-work-gen-x-want-flexibility-and-fulfilment-more-than-a-corner-office/|url-status=live}}</ref> and the absence of [[midlife crisis]] for Gen Xers.<ref>{{Cite news|date=4 October 2016|title=For Gen X, Midlife Is No Crisis|language=en-US|newspaper=Viacom International Insights|url=http://internationalinsights.viacom.com/post/for-gen-x-midlife-is-no-crisis/|access-date=20 October 2016|archive-date=20 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161020115151/http://internationalinsights.viacom.com/post/for-gen-x-midlife-is-no-crisis/|url-status=live}}</ref> The project also included a 20 min documentary titled ''Gen X Today''.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Taylor|first1=Anna|date=20 October 2016|title=Gen X Today: The Documentary|publisher=Viacom International Insights|url=http://internationalinsights.viacom.com/post/gen-x-today-the-documentary/|access-date=28 January 2017|archive-date=3 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203080705/https://insights.paramount.com/post/gen-x-today-the-documentary/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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==== Russia ==== |
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In [[Russia]], Generation Xers are referred to as "the last Soviet children", as the last children to come of age prior to the downfall of [[communism]] in their nation and prior to the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union]].<ref name="McCrindle">{{cite news|last1=McCrindle|first1=Mark|title=Generations Defined|url=http://mccrindle.com.au/resources/whitepapers/McCrindle-Research_ABC-01_Generations-Defined_Mark-McCrindle.pdf|access-date=18 June 2016|publisher=McCrindle Research Center|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616232732/http://mccrindle.com.au/resources/whitepapers/McCrindle-Research_ABC-01_Generations-Defined_Mark-McCrindle.pdf|archive-date=16 June 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Those that reached adulthood in the 1980s and grew up educated in the doctrines of [[Marxism]] and [[Leninism]] found themselves against a background of economic and social change, with the advent of [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] to power and ''[[Perestroika]]''. However, even before the collapse of the Soviet Union and the disbanding of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]], surveys demonstrated that Russian young people repudiated the key features of the Communist worldview that their party leaders, schoolteachers, and even parents had tried to instill in them.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bernbaum|first=John A|date=9 July 1996|title=Russia's "Generation X": Who Are They?|url=http://beam-inc.org/russias-generation-x-who-are-they/|website=beam-inc.org|access-date=9 March 2020|archive-date=18 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210718085934/http://beam-inc.org/russias-generation-x-who-are-they/|url-status=dead}}</ref> This generation, caught in the transition between [[Marxism–Leninism]] and an unknown future, and wooed by the new domestic political classes, remained largely apathetic.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Stanley|first=Alessandra|date=6 June 1996|title=To Win Russia's 'Generation X', Yeltsin Is Pumping Up the Volume|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/06/world/to-win-russia-s-generation-x-yeltsin-is-pumping-up-the-volume.html|journal=The New York Times|access-date=9 March 2020|archive-date=6 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200906220252/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/06/06/world/to-win-russia-s-generation-x-yeltsin-is-pumping-up-the-volume.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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==== France ==== |
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In France, "Generation X" is not as widely known or used to define its members. Politically, this loosely denotes those born in the early 1960s to the early 1980s.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sally|first=Marthaler|title=Partisan De-Alignment and the Blue-Collar Electorate in France|publisher=Springer Nature Switzerland AG|year=2020|isbn=978-3-030-35467-1|pages=59}}</ref> Although fertility rates started to fall in 1965, number of births in France only followed suit in 1975.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Monnier |first=Alain |title=Le baby-boom : suite et fin |url=https://www.cairn.info/revue-population-et-societes-2007-2-page-1.htm |journal=Population & Sociétés |date=2007 |language=French |volume=2 |issue=431 |pages=4 |doi=10.3917/popsoc.431.0001 |access-date=24 July 2022 |archive-date=3 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203080704/https://www.cairn.info/revue-population-et-societes-2007-2-page-1.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> There is general agreement that, domestically, the event that is accepted in France as the separating point between the Baby Boomer generation and Generation X are the [[May 68|French strikes and violent riots of May 1968]] with those of the generation too young to participate. Those at the start of the cohort are sometimes referred to as 'Génération Bof' because of their tendency to use the word 'bof', which, translated into English, means "whatever".<ref name="McCrindle" /> |
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The generation is closely associated with socialist [[François Mitterrand]] who served as President of France during two consecutive terms between 1981 and 1995 as most transitioned from teenagers into adulthood during that period. Economically, Xers started when the new labour market was emerging and were the first to fully experience the advent of the post-industrial society. For those at the tail-end of the generation, educational and defence reforms, a new style ''[[Baccalauréat#Baccalauréat général|baccalauréat général]]'' with three distinct streams in 1995 (the preceding programme, introduced in 1968) the 2002 [[Licence Master Doctorat|licence-master-doctorat]] reform for first Millennial graduates ([[Diplôme d'études universitaires générales|DEUG]], Maîtrise, [[Diplome d'Etudes Superieures Specialisees|DESS]] and [[Diplome d'Etudes Approfondies|DEA]] degrees no longer awarded), and the cessation of military conscription in 1997 (for those born after January 1979) are considered as new transition points to the next.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Henseler|first=Christine|title=Generation X Goes Global: Mapping a Youth Culture in Motion|publisher=Routledge|year=2014|isbn=978-0-415-69944-0|location=London|pages=188}}</ref> |
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====Republic of Ireland==== |
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The term "Generation X" is used to describe [[Irish people]] born between 1965 and 1985; they grew up during [[The Troubles]] and the 1980s [[economic recession]], coming of age during the [[Celtic Tiger]] period of prosperity in the 1990s onward.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-20443236.html|title=All grown up and in their forties: Whatever happened to Generation X?|first=Suzanne|last=Harrington|date=19 February 2017|website=Irish Examiner|access-date=27 June 2021|archive-date=27 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627181540/https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-20443236.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://irishstudies.nd.edu/events/2020/12/02/irelands-generation-x-with-belinda-mckeon-barry-mccrea/|title=Ireland's Generation X? with Belinda McKeon & Barry McCrea |website=Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies|date=2 December 2020 |access-date=27 June 2021|archive-date=27 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627181540/https://irishstudies.nd.edu/events/2020/12/02/irelands-generation-x-with-belinda-mckeon-barry-mccrea/|url-status=live}}</ref> The appropriateness of the term to Ireland has been questioned, with [[Darach Ó Séaghdha]] noting that "Generation X is usually contrasted with the one before by growing up in smaller and different family units on account of their parents having greater access to [[contraception]] and [[divorce]] – again, things that were not widely available in Ireland. [''Contraception was only available under prescription in 1978 and without prescription in 1985; divorce was illegal until 1996.''] However, this generation was in prime position to benefit from the Celtic Tiger, the [[Northern Ireland peace process|Peace Process]] and liberalisations introduced on foot of [[EU membership]] and was less likely to [[Irish diaspora|emigrate]] than those that came before and after. You could say that in many ways, these are Ireland’s real Boomers."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/the-irish-for-is-this-generation-ireland-progressive-one-because-we-didnt-have-baby-boomers-4664099-Jun2019/|title=The Irish For: Is Ireland more progressive now because we didn't have baby boomers?|first=Darach|last=Ó Séaghdha|website=TheJournal.ie|date=2 June 2019|access-date=27 June 2021|archive-date=27 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627181538/https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/the-irish-for-is-this-generation-ireland-progressive-one-because-we-didnt-have-baby-boomers-4664099-Jun2019/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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Culturally, [[Britpop]], [[Celtic rock]], the [[Irish traditional music|trad revival]], ''[[Father Ted]]'', the [[1990 FIFA World Cup]] and [[rave]] culture were significant.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2020/08/07/millennials-spirituality-sex-and-the-screen|title=Millennials: spirituality, sex, and the screen|website=Theos Think Tank|access-date=27 June 2021|archive-date=27 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627181540/https://www.theosthinktank.co.uk/comment/2020/08/07/millennials-spirituality-sex-and-the-screen|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/generation-x-no-it-s-generation-zzzzzz-1.215566|title=Generation X? No, it's Generation Zzzzzz|first=John|last=Waters|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=27 June 2021|archive-date=6 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206052329/https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/generation-x-no-it-s-generation-zzzzzz-1.215566|url-status=live}}</ref> [[The Divine Comedy]] song "[[Generation Sex]]" (1998) painted a picture of [[hedonism]] in the late 20th century, as well as its effect on the media.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/life/gen-x-spotting-they-ascended-the-ladder-just-as-the-celtic-tiger-was-being-birthed-35473566.html|title=Gen X-spotting: they ascended the ladder just as the Celtic Tiger was being birthed|last=Sweeney|first=Tanya|website=independent|date=24 February 2017 |access-date=27 June 2021|archive-date=27 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627181539/https://www.independent.ie/life/gen-x-spotting-they-ascended-the-ladder-just-as-the-celtic-tiger-was-being-birthed-35473566.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Greenwald">{{cite web |first=Matthew |last=Greenwald |url=https://www.allmusic.com/song/generation-sex-mt0000377781 |title=The Divine Comedy: 'Generation Sex' – Review |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=4 September 2020 |archive-date=6 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206051136/https://www.allmusic.com/song/generation-sex-mt0000377781 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[David McWilliams (economist)|David McWilliams]]' 2005 book ''[[The Pope's Children|The Pope's Children: Ireland's New Elite]]'' profiled Irish people born in the 1970s (just prior to the [[Pope John Paul II's visit to Ireland|papal visit to Ireland]]), which was a [[baby boom]] that saw Ireland's population increase for the first time since the [[Great Famine (Ireland)|1840s Great Famine]]. The Pope's Children were in position to benefit from the Celtic Tiger and the newly liberal culture, where the [[Catholic Church]] had significantly less social power.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thejournal.ie/pope-john-pauls-rte-4020761-May2018/|title=If you were named John Paul after the Pope's 1979 visit, RTÉ is looking for you|first=Gráinne Ní|last=Aodha|website=TheJournal.ie|date=19 May 2018|access-date=27 June 2021|archive-date=27 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210627181538/https://www.thejournal.ie/pope-john-pauls-rte-4020761-May2018/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/born-in-1981-am-i-part-of-generation-x-or-generation-y-1.2755760|title=Born in 1981, am I part of Generation X or Generation Y?|first=Conor|last=Ward|newspaper=The Irish Times|access-date=27 June 2021|archive-date=6 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220206144712/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/tv-radio-web/born-in-1981-am-i-part-of-generation-x-or-generation-y-1.2755760|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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==== United Kingdom ==== |
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===== As children, adolescents and young adults ===== |
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====== Political environment ====== |
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The United Kingdom's [[Economic and Social Research Council]] described Generation X as "Thatcher's children" because the cohort grew up while [[Margaret Thatcher]] was Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, "a time of social flux and transformation". Those born in the late 1960s and early 1970s grew up in a period of social unrest. While unemployment was low in the early 1970s, industrial and social unrest escalated. Strike action culminated in the "[[Winter of Discontent]]" in 1978–79, and [[the Troubles]] began to unfold in [[Northern Ireland]]. The turn to neoliberal policies introduced and maintained by consecutive conservative governments from 1979 to 1997 marked the end of the [[post-war consensus]].<ref name=":0" /> |
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====== Education ====== |
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The almost universal dismantling of the [[grammar school]] system in Great Britain during the 1960s and the 1970s meant that the vast majority of the cohort attended [[comprehensive school]]s. [[Compulsory education]] ended at the age of 16.<ref>{{cite book|last=Reitan|first=Earl Aaron|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7qaMqwGRE00C&pg=PA14|title=The Thatcher Revolution: Margaret Thatcher, John Major, Tony Blair, and the Transformation of Modern Britain, 1979–2001|year=2003|page=14|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=9780742522039 |access-date=11 April 2021|archive-date=3 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203080703/https://books.google.com/books?id=7qaMqwGRE00C&pg=PA14|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> As older members of the cohort reached the end of their mandatory schooling, levels of educational enrollment among older adolescents remained below much of the [[Western world]]. By the early 1980s, some 80% to 90% of school leavers in France and West Germany received [[vocational training]], compared with 40% in the United Kingdom. By the mid-1980s, over 80% of pupils in the United States and West Germany and over 90% in Japan stayed in education until the age of eighteen, compared with 33% of British pupils.<ref name="MacDowall2000">{{cite book|last=MacDowall|first=David|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eyK2MgEACAAJ|title=Britain in Close-up: An In-depth Study of Contemporary Britain|publisher=Longman|year=2000|access-date=11 April 2021|archive-date=3 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203080704/https://books.google.com/books?id=eyK2MgEACAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> There was, however, broadly a rise in education levels among this age range as Generation X passed through it.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bolton|first=Paul|date=27 November 2012|title=Education: Historical statistics|url=https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn04252/|access-date=10 April 2021|website=House of commons Library|archive-date=25 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525002800/https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn04252/|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In 1990, 25% of young people in England stayed in some kind of full-time education after the age of 18, this was an increase from 15% a decade earlier.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Coughlan|first=Sean|date=26 September 2019|title=The symbolic target of 50% at university reached|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/education-49841620|access-date=10 April 2021|archive-date=11 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411010003/https://www.bbc.com/news/education-49841620|url-status=live}}</ref> Later, the [[Further and Higher Education Act 1992]] and the liberalisation of higher education in the UK saw greater numbers of those born towards the tail-end of the generation gaining university places.<ref name=":0">{{cite news|date=11 March 2016|title=Thatcher's children: the lives of Generation X|publisher=Economic and Social Research Council|url=http://www.esrc.ac.uk/news-events-and-publications/news/news-items/thatcher-s-children-the-lives-of-generation-x/|url-status=dead|access-date=2 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160729024605/http://www.esrc.ac.uk/news-events-and-publications/news/news-items/thatcher-s-children-the-lives-of-generation-x/|archive-date=29 July 2016}}</ref> |
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====== Employment ====== |
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The 1980s, when some of Generation X reached working age, was an era defined by high unemployment rates.<ref>{{Cite news|date=9 April 2013|title=The Thatcher years in statistics|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-22070491|access-date=10 April 2021|archive-date=11 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411010003/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-22070491|url-status=live}}</ref> This was particularly true of the youngest members of the working aged population. In 1984, 26% of 16 to 24 year olds were neither in full-time education or participating in the workforce.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Smith|first=Nicola|date=15 December 2009|title=1980s recession was worse for young people|url=https://leftfootforward.org/2009/12/1980s-recession-was-worse-for-young-people/|access-date=10 April 2021|website=Left Foot Forward|language=en-GB|archive-date=11 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411010004/https://leftfootforward.org/2009/12/1980s-recession-was-worse-for-young-people/|url-status=live}}</ref> However, this figure did decrease as the economic situation improved reaching 17% by 1993.<ref>{{Cite web|date=January 2010|title=Youth Unemployment: Déjà Vu?|url=https://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/2117/1/SEDP-2010-04-Bell-Blanchflower%5B1%5D.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161012200101/https://dspace.stir.ac.uk/bitstream/1893/2117/1/SEDP-2010-04-Bell-Blanchflower%5B1%5D.pdf |archive-date=12 October 2016 |url-status=live|website=University of Sterling}}</ref> |
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===== In midlife ===== |
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Generation X were far more likely to have children out of wedlock than their parents. The number of babies being born to unmarried parents in [[England and Wales]] rose from 11% in 1979, a quarter in 1998, 40% by 2002 and almost half in 2012. They were also significantly more likely to have children later in life than their predecessors. The average age of a mother giving birth rose from 27 in 1982 to 30 in 2012. That year saw 29,994 children born to mothers over the age 40, an increase of 360% from 2002.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Duggan|first=Oliver|date=11 July 2013|title=Half of all babies born out of wedlock|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/half-of-all-babies-born-out-of-wedlock-8703059.html|access-date=3 August 2021|website=The Independent|language=en|archive-date=3 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203080709/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/half-of-all-babies-born-out-of-wedlock-8703059.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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A 2016 study of over 2,500 British office workers conducted by [[Workfront]] found that survey respondents of all ages selected those from Generation X as the hardest-working employees and members of the workforce (chosen by 60%).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.workfront.com/sites/default/files/2019-04/uk-state-of-work-report-nonmarketing.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402170516/https://www.workfront.com/sites/default/files/2019-04/uk-state-of-work-report-nonmarketing.pdf |archive-date=2 April 2019 |url-status=live |title=The UK State of Work Report |date=2016 |publisher=Workfront |access-date=22 July 2021 }}</ref> Gen X was also ranked highest among fellow workers for having the strongest [[work ethic]] (chosen by 59.5%), being the most helpful (55.4%), the most skilled (54.5%), and the best troubleshooters/problem-solvers (41.6%).<ref>{{cite news|last1=Leeming|first1=Robert|date=19 February 2016|title=Generation X-ers found to be the best workers in the UK|publisher=HR Review|url=http://www.hrreview.co.uk/hr-news/strategy-news/generation-x-ers-are-found-to-be-the-best-workers-in-the-uk/61386|access-date=19 June 2016|archive-date=11 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160811133219/http://www.hrreview.co.uk/hr-news/strategy-news/generation-x-ers-are-found-to-be-the-best-workers-in-the-uk/61386|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Frith|first1=Bek|date=23 February 2016|title=Are generation X the UK's hardest workers?|magazine=HR Magazine|url=http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/article-details/are-generation-x-the-uks-hardest-workers|access-date=19 June 2016|archive-date=31 May 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160531022748/http://www.hrmagazine.co.uk/article-details/are-generation-x-the-uks-hardest-workers|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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===== Political evolution ===== |
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[[Ipsos MORI]] reports that at the [[1987 United Kingdom general election|1987]] and [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992]] general elections, the first [[List of United Kingdom general elections|United Kingdom general elections]] where significant numbers of Generation X members could vote, a plurality of 18 to 24 year olds opted for the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] by a small margin. The polling organisation's figures suggest that in 1987, 39% of that age group voted Labour, 37% for the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservatives]] and 22% for the [[SDP–Liberal Alliance]]. Five years later, these numbers were fairly similar at 38% Labour, 35% Conservative and 19% [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]], a party by then formed from the previously mentioned alliance. Both these elections saw a fairly significant lead for the Conservatives in the popular vote among the general population.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=12 May 2010|title=How Britain Voted 1974 - 2010|url=https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/how-britain-voted-october-1974|website=Ipsos Mori|access-date=2 August 2021|archive-date=2 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802140820/https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/how-britain-voted-october-1974|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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At the 1997 General election where Labour won a large majority of seats and a comfortable lead in the popular vote, research suggests that voters under the age of 35 were more likely to vote Labour if they turned out than the wider electorate but significantly less likely to vote than in 1992. Analysts suggested this may have been due to fewer differences in policies between the major parties and young people having less of a sense of affiliation with particular political parties than older generations.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=Foster|first=Katie|date=23 September 2016|title=Turnout gap between young and old voters could be Tony Blair's fault|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/tony-blair-turnout-gap-young-old-general-elections-1997-voters-2015-election-new-labour-a7326131.html|access-date=2 August 2021|website=The Independent|language=en|archive-date=2 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802140818/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/tony-blair-turnout-gap-young-old-general-elections-1997-voters-2015-election-new-labour-a7326131.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A similar trend continued at the [[2001 United Kingdom general election|2001]] and [[2005 United Kingdom general election|2005]] general elections as turnout dropped further among both the relatively young and the wider public.<ref name=":68">{{Cite web|title=Voter turnout in the UK 1918-2019|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/1050929/voter-turnout-in-the-uk/|access-date=19 June 2021|website=Statista|language=en|archive-date=4 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504175331/https://www.statista.com/statistics/1050929/voter-turnout-in-the-uk/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=December 2018|title=Increasing Youth Voter Turnout|url=https://www.lse.ac.uk/PBS/assets/documents/Increasing-Youth-Voter-Turnout.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210607110218/https://www.lse.ac.uk/PBS/assets/documents/Increasing-Youth-Voter-Turnout.pdf |archive-date=7 June 2021 |url-status=live|journal=London School of Economics and Political Science}}</ref> |
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Voter turnout across the electorate began to recover from a 2001 low until the [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017 general election]].<ref name=":68" /> Generation X also became more likely to vote as they entered the midlife age demographics. Polling suggests a plurality of their age group backed the Conservatives in [[2010 United Kingdom general election|2010]] and [[2015 United Kingdom general election|2015]] but less overwhelming than much of the older generation.<ref>{{Cite web|date=21 May 2010|title=How Britain Voted in 2010|url=https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/how-britain-voted-2010|access-date=2 August 2021|archive-date=4 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104013908/https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/how-britain-voted-2010|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Kellner|first=Peter|date=8 June 2015|title=General election 2015: how Britain really voted|url=https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2015/06/08/general-election-2015-how-britain-really-voted|access-date=2 August 2021|website=yougov.co.uk|language=en-gb|archive-date=2 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802140818/https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2015/06/08/general-election-2015-how-britain-really-voted|url-status=live}}</ref> At the [[2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum|2016 EU membership referendum]] and [[2017 United Kingdom general election|2017 general election]], Generation X was split with younger members appearing to back remain and Labour and older members tending towards Leave and Conservative in a British electorate more polarised by age than ever before.<ref>{{Cite web|date=5 September 2016|title=How Britain voted in the 2016 EU referendum|url=https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/how-britain-voted-2016-eu-referendum|website=Ipsos MORI|access-date=2 August 2021|archive-date=29 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629014501/https://www.ipsos.com/ipsos-mori/en-uk/how-britain-voted-2016-eu-referendum|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Curtis|first=Chris|date=13 June 2017|title=How Britain voted at the 2017 general election|url=https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2017/06/13/how-britain-voted-2017-general-election|access-date=2 August 2021|website=yougov.co.uk|language=en-gb|archive-date=2 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802140820/https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2017/06/13/how-britain-voted-2017-general-election|url-status=live}}</ref> At the 2019 general election, voting trends continued to be heavily divided by age but a plurality<!-- Plurality means the largest minority --> of younger as well as older generation X members (then 39 to 55 year olds) voted Conservative.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Curtis|first=Chris|date=17 December 2019|title=How Britain voted in the 2019 general election|url=https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2019/12/17/how-britain-voted-2019-general-election|access-date=2 August 2021|website=yougov.co.uk|language=en-gb|archive-date=2 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210802070549/https://yougov.co.uk/topics/politics/articles-reports/2019/12/17/how-britain-voted-2019-general-election|url-status=live}}</ref>[[File:BerlinWall-BrandenburgGate.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|The [[fall of the Berlin Wall]] in 1989 was a landmark event in Generation X's formative years.|297x297px]] |
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==== Germany ==== |
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In Germany, "Generation X" is not widely used or applied. Instead, reference is sometimes made to "Generation Golf" in the previous [[West German]] republic, based on a novel by [[Florian Illies]]. In the east, children of the "Mauerfall" or coming down of the wall. For former [[East German]]s, there was adaptation, but also a sense of loss of accustomed values and structures. These effects turned into romantic narratives of their childhood. For those in the West, there was a period of discovery and exploration of what had been a forbidden land.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Henseler|first=Christine|title=Generation X Goes Global: Mapping a Youth Culture in Motion|publisher=Routledge|year=2012|isbn=978-0-415-69944-0|pages=148}}</ref> |
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==== South Africa ==== |
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In [[South Africa]], Gen Xers spent their formative years of the 1980s during the "hyper-politicized environment of the final years of [[apartheid]]".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Schenk|first1=Jan|date=November 2010|title=Locating generation X: Taste and identity in transitional South Africa|publisher=Centre For Social Science Research|issue=CSSR Working Paper No. 284|url=https://open.uct.ac.za/bitstream/item/22088/Schenk_Locating_Generation_X_Taste_2012.pdf?sequence=1|access-date=25 August 2016|archive-date=26 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826202032/https://open.uct.ac.za/bitstream/item/22088/Schenk_Locating_Generation_X_Taste_2012.pdf?sequence=1|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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==Arts and culture== |
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[[File:GenX.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|This illustration shows three cultural touchstones for Generation X: singer [[Michael Jackson]], who dominated pop charts in the 1980s; alien characters from the popular [[arcade video game]] ''[[Space Invaders]]''; and a [[videocassette]], which revolutionized home entertainment by enabling TV viewers to record shows and watch prerecorded films at home.]] |
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=== Music === |
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{{Listen |
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| filename = |
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| title = Cherub Rock |
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| description = Sample of "[[Cherub Rock]]" from [[the Smashing Pumpkins]]' 1993 breakthrough album ''[[Siamese Dream]]'', which features layers of guitar overdubs influenced by [[arena rock]] and [[shoegazing]], as well as repeated use of "the Pumpkin chord". The Smashing Pumpkins are synonymous with Generation X; and are one of the most successful [[alternative rock]] bands of the [[1990s]]. |
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}} |
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Gen Xers were the first cohort to come of age with [[MTV]]. They were the first generation to experience the emergence of [[music videos]] as teenagers and are sometimes called the [[MTV Generation]].<ref name = "MetLife"/><ref name="Isaksen 2002">{{cite encyclopedia|last=Isaksen|first=Judy L.|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_tov/ai_2419100500/|title=Generation X|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041024071508/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_tov/ai_2419100500|archive-date=24 October 2004|year=2002|encyclopedia=St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture}}</ref> Gen Xers were responsible for the [[alternative rock]] movement of the 1990s and 2000s, including the [[grunge]] subgenre.<ref name = "Time2"/><ref name="Alternative Goes Mainstream">{{cite news|title=Alternative Goes Mainstream|url=http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/generation-x/|access-date=19 June 2016|publisher=National Geographic Channel|date=2016|archive-date=16 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616014050/http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/generation-x/|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Hip hop music|Hip hop]] has also been described as defining music of the generation, particularly artists such as [[Tupac Shakur]], [[N.W.A.]], and [[The Notorious B.I.G.]]<ref name="My So Called Adulthood">{{cite news|last1=Wilson|first1=Carl|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/magazine/the-gen-x-nostalgia-boom.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/07/magazine/the-gen-x-nostalgia-boom.html |archive-date=2 January 2022 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=My So Called Adulthood|date=4 August 2011|work=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=25 August 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref> |
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====Punk rock==== |
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{{main|Punk rock}} |
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[[File:Offspringlive.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.3|[[The Offspring]] performing in 2008 in Fortaleza, Brazil]] |
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From 1974 to 1976, a new generation of rock bands arose, including the [[Ramones]], [[Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers]], and [[the Dictators]] in New York City; the [[Sex Pistols]], [[the Clash]], [[The Damned (band)|the Damned]], and [[Buzzcocks]] in the United Kingdom; and [[The Saints (Australian band)|the Saints]] in [[Brisbane]], Australia. By late 1976, these acts were generally recognized as forming the vanguard of "punk rock", and as 1977 approached, punk rock became a major and highly controversial cultural phenomenon in the UK.<ref>{{cite web |title=Punk |website=AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/punk-ma0000002806 |quote=in both the U.K. and the U.S. In America, punk remained an underground sensation, eventually spawning the hardcore and indie-rock scenes of the '80s, but in the UK, it was a full-scale phenomenon. In the U.K., the Sex Pistols were thought of as a serious threat to the well-being of the government and monarchy, but more importantly, they caused countless bands to form. |url-access=subscription |access-date=23 November 2018 |archive-date=1 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181001181553/https://www.allmusic.com/style/punk-ma0000002806 |url-status=live }}</ref> It spawned a [[punk subculture]] which expressed a youthful rebellion, characterized by distinctive [[Punk fashion|styles of clothing and adornment]] (ranging from deliberately offensive T-shirts, leather jackets, studded or spiked bands and jewelry, as well as bondage and S&M clothes) and a variety of [[Punk ideologies|anti-authoritarian ideologies]] that have since been associated with the form.<ref>{{cite web |last=Roderick |first=John |title=Punk Rock Is Bullshit: How a Toxic Social Movement Poisoned Our Culture |work=Seattle Weekly |date=27 February 2013 |url=http://www.seattleweekly.com/music/for-those-of-us-who-grew-up-in-the-shadow-of-the/ |quote=For those of us who grew up in the shadow of the baby boom, force-fed the misremembered vainglory of Woodstock long after most hippies had become coked-out, craven yuppies on their way to becoming paranoid neo-cons, punk rock provided a corrective dose of hard truth. Punk was ugly and ugly was true, no matter how many new choruses the Boomers added to their song of self-praise. It was this perceived honesty that we, the nascent Generation X, feared and worshipped. But over time punk swelled into a Stalinistic doctrine of self-denial that stunted us. The yuppies kept sucking, but by clinging to punk we started to suck too. |access-date=22 July 2021 |archive-date=28 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728180236/https://www.seattleweekly.com/music/for-those-of-us-who-grew-up-in-the-shadow-of-the/ |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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By 1977 the influence of punk rock music and its subculture became more pervasive, spreading throughout various countries worldwide.<ref>{{cite web |title=The History and Evolution of Punk Rock Music |date=10 April 2018 |work=liveabout.com |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-punk-rock-2803345 |quote=By the late '70s, punk had finished its beginning and had emerged as a solid musical force. With its rise in popularity, punk began to split into numerous sub-genres. New musicians embraced the DIY movement and began to create their own individual scenes with specific sounds. |access-date=22 July 2021 |archive-date=13 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190513205707/https://www.thoughtco.com/history-of-punk-rock-2803345 |url-status=dead }}</ref> It generally took root in local scenes that tended to reject affiliation with the mainstream.<ref>{{cite web |work=Handbook of Texas Online |first=John H. |last=Slate |title=Punk Rock |access-date=23 November 2018 |url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/xbp02 |publisher=Texas State Historical Association |archive-date=24 November 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181124055121/https://tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/xbp02 |url-status=live }}</ref> In the late 1970s, punk experienced its second wave. Acts that were not active during its formative years adopted the style. While at first punk musicians were not Gen Xers themselves (many of them were late Boomers, or [[Generation Jones]]),<ref name="Danton">{{cite web |last=Danton |first=Eric R. |title=The Conflicted Musical Legacy of Generation X |work=Hartford Courant |date=6 November 2005 |url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-2005-11-06-0511040334-story.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181123201659/https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-2005-11-06-0511040334-story.html |archive-date=23 November 2018 |quote=Punk was the first musical reaction to the classic-rock ethos of the Woodstock generation. The original punk rockers were late-period Boomers eager to distance themselves from the supercilious upper end of their demographic, and their music, reflecting the dour economics of the late 1970s, became a template for Generation X and the ensuing "post-punk" movement that eventually birthed grunge. |access-date=22 July 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> the fanbase for punk became increasingly Gen X-oriented as the earliest Xers entered their adolescence, and it therefore made a significant imprint on the cohort.<ref>{{cite web |last=Guzman |first=Richard |title=Grunge, rap music movements of the early 1990s became Gen X's soundtrack |work=Press Telegram |date=28 December 2015 |url=https://www.presstelegram.com/2015/12/28/grunge-rap-music-movements-of-the-early-1990s-became-gen-xs-soundtrack/ |quote=The Gen X soundtrack was more of a mixtape that ranged from feel-good dance and pop music, to punk, glam rock, new wave, alternative and rap. |access-date=22 July 2021 |archive-date=6 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210806145610/https://www.presstelegram.com/2015/12/28/grunge-rap-music-movements-of-the-early-1990s-became-gen-xs-soundtrack/ |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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By the 1980s, faster and more aggressive subgenres such as [[hardcore punk]] (e.g., [[Minor Threat]]), [[street punk]] (e.g., [[the Exploited]], [[NOFX]]) and [[anarcho-punk]] (e.g., [[Subhumans (British band)|Subhumans]]) became the predominant modes of punk rock. Musicians identifying with or inspired by punk often later pursued other musical directions, resulting in a broad range of spinoffs. This development gave rise to genres such as [[post-punk]], [[new wave music|new wave]] and later [[indie pop]], [[alternative rock]], and [[noise rock]]. Gen Xers were no longer simply the consumers of punk, they became the creators as well.<ref name="Danton"/> By the 1990s, punk rock re-emerged into the mainstream. Punk rock and [[pop punk]] bands with Gen X members such as [[Green Day]], [[Rancid (band)|Rancid]], [[The Offspring]], and [[Blink-182]] brought widespread popularity to the genre .<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |title=Punk |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |first=Jon |last=Savage |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/punk |quote=Punk's full impact came only after the success of Nirvana in 1991, coinciding with the ascendance of Generation X—a new, disaffected generation born in the 1960s, many members of which identified with punk’s charged, often contradictory mix of intelligence, simplicity, anger, and powerlessness. |access-date=22 July 2021 |archive-date=14 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114105315/https://www.britannica.com/art/punk |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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====Hard rock==== |
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{{main|Hard rock}} |
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Arguably in a similar way to punk, a sense of disillusionment, angst and anger catalysed [[hard rock]] and [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] to grow from the earlier influence of rock. |
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====Post-punk==== |
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{{main|Post-punk}} |
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The energy generated by the punk movement launched a subsequent proliferation of weird and eclectic post-punk sub cultures, spanning [[New wave music|new wave]], [[Gothic rock|goth]], etc., and influencing the [[New Romantic]]s. |
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====Grunge==== |
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{{Main|Grunge}} |
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[[File:Nirvana around 1992.jpg|thumb|right|[[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]] singer [[Kurt Cobain]] (pictured here in 1992) was called the "voice of Generation X" in the 1990s, playing the same role for this demographic as [[Bob Dylan]] and [[John Lennon]] played for [[Baby Boomers]] in the 1960s.<ref name="Felix-Jager, Steven 2017. p. 134">Felix-Jager, Steven (2017). ''With God on Our Side: Towards a Transformational Theology of Rock and Roll''. Wipf and Stock Publishers. p. 134.</ref>]] |
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A notable example of [[alternative rock]] is [[grunge]] and the associated subculture that developed in the [[Pacific Northwest]] of the U.S. Grunge lyrics have been called the "product of Generation X malaise".<ref name="United States 2005. p. 359">''Music Cultures in the United States: An Introduction''. Ed. Ellen Koskoff. Routledge, 2005. p. 359</ref> [[Vulture.com|Vulture]] wrote, "the best bands arose from the boredom of [[latchkey kids]]". Producer [[Jack Endino]] said, "People made records entirely to please themselves because there was nobody else to please".<ref>{{cite news|last1=Jenkins|first1=Craig|title=Pearl Jam Might Not Be Cool, But That Doesn't Mean They Aren't Great|url=https://www.vulture.com/2017/04/despite-what-you-may-think-pearl-jam-is-still-great.html|access-date=29 June 2017|work=Vulture|date=11 April 2017|archive-date=16 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170616230520/http://www.vulture.com/2017/04/despite-what-you-may-think-pearl-jam-is-still-great.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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Grunge lyrics are typically dark, [[nihilism|nihilistic]],<ref name="DiBlasi, Alex 2013. p. 520">DiBlasi, Alex (2013). "Grunge" in ''Music in American Life: An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars and Stories that Shaped Our Culture'', pp. 520–524 [520]. Edited by Jacqueline Edmondson. ABC-CLIO</ref> [[angst]]-filled, and anguished. They often address themes such as [[social alienation]], despair, and [[apathy]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://metal.mit.edu/brief-history-metal|title=A Brief History of Metal|last=Pearlin|first=Jeffrey|publisher=Massachusetts Institute of Technology|access-date=20 January 2017|archive-date=1 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170201235433/https://metal.mit.edu/brief-history-metal|url-status=dead}}</ref> ''[[The Guardian]]'' wrote that grunge "didn't recycle banal cliches but tackled weighty subjects".<ref name=Guardian>{{cite news|last1=McManus|first1=Darragh|title=Just 20 years on, grunge seems like ancient history|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2008/oct/31/grunge|access-date=29 June 2017|newspaper=The Guardian|date=31 October 2008|archive-date=13 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913200821/http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2008/oct/31/grunge|url-status=live}}</ref> Topics of grunge lyrics include [[homelessness]], [[suicide]], [[rape]],<ref>Strong, Catherine. ''Grunge: Music and Memory''. Routledge, 2016. p. 19</ref> broken homes, drug addiction, self-loathing,<ref name="Gina Misiroglu 2015. p. 343">Gina Misiroglu. ''American Countercultures: An Encyclopedia of Nonconformists, Alternative Lifestyles, and Radical Ideas in U.S. History''. Routledge, 2015. p. 343</ref> [[misogyny]], domestic abuse, and finding "meaning in an indifferent universe".<ref name=Guardian/> Grunge lyrics tend to be introspective and aim to enable the listener to see into hidden personal issues and examine depravity.<ref name="Felix-Jager, Steven 2017. p. 134"/> Notable grunge bands include [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]], [[Pearl Jam]], [[Alice in Chains]], [[Stone Temple Pilots]], and [[Soundgarden]].<ref name=Guardian/><ref name="allmusic grunge">{{cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/grunge-ma0000002626 |title=Grunge |access-date=24 August 2012 |website=[[AllMusic]] |archive-date=2 June 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120602144523/https://www.allmusic.com/style/grunge-ma0000002626 |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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====Hip hop==== |
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{{Main|Golden age hip hop}} |
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[[File:Breakdance-oldschool.png|thumb|left|upright=0.9|This cartoon depicts a 1980s-era dancer doing [[breakdancing]], an African-American dance form that was a key part of [[hip hop culture]].]] |
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The golden age of hip hop refers to [[hip hop music]] made from the mid-1980s to mid-1990s,<ref>{{Cite news|last=Caramanica|first=Jon|date=26 June 2005|title=Hip-Hop's Raiders of the Lost Archives|language=en-US|work=[[The New York Times]]|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/26/arts/music/hiphops-raiders-of-the-lost-archives.html|access-date=10 January 2023|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=10 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110174930/https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/26/arts/music/hiphops-raiders-of-the-lost-archives.html|url-status=live}}</ref> typically by artists originating from the [[New York metropolitan area]].<ref name="AllMusic.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/style/golden-age-ma0000012011|title=Golden Age|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=10 November 2016|archive-date=30 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161030215702/http://www.allmusic.com/style/golden-age-ma0000012011|url-status=live}}</ref> The music is characterized by its diversity, quality,<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web|url=https://www.today.com/popculture/remembering-golden-age-hip-hop-wbna5430999|title=The '80s were golden age of hip-hop|last=Green |first=Tony|work=[[Today (American TV program)|Today]]|date=13 July 2004|access-date=21 May 2023|archive-date=13 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213093831/https://www.today.com/popculture/remembering-golden-age-hip-hop-wbna5430999|url-status=live|quote=as hip-hop music moves into its 25th year, its 40-something followers are starting to wax nostalgic about what many feel was the "Golden Age" of hip-hop music: The ’80s.}}</ref> innovation,<ref name="rollingstone1995">{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/slickrick/albums/album/103326/review/5945316/behind_bars|title=Slick Rick: Behind Bars|last1=Coker|first1=Cheo H.|date=9 March 1995|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100202153447/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/slickrick/albums/album/103326/review/5945316/behind_bars|archive-date=2 February 2010|url-status=dead|access-date=16 September 2014|quote="Sittin' in My Car" is vintage Slick Rick; bolstered by an elegant piano loop, Doug E. Fresh's beat-box breathalistics and Slick's crooning of Billy Stewart's "Sitting in the Park," the song invokes memories of rap's '86-'89 golden age, when it seemed that every new single reinvented the genre.}}</ref> and influence after the genre's emergence and establishment in the previous decade.<ref name="autogenerated132">Green, Tony, in Wang, Oliver (ed.) ''Classic Material'', Toronto: ECW Press, 2003. p. 132</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Spin magazine picks Radiohead CD as best |url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2005-06-19-spin-top-cd_x.htm |access-date=21 May 2023 |work=[[USA Today]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |date=20 June 2005 |quote=[Spin editor-in-chief Sia] Michel [...] points out that Spin started several years before hip-hop mag Source was founded: "We put hip-hop on the cover before anyone else did." "Because we started this list in 1985, we pretty much hit hip-hop in its golden age," she says. "There were so many important, groundbreaking albums coming out right about that time."}}</ref><ref name="The Age 2003">{{cite news |title=Jungle Brothers still untamed |url=https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/music/jungle-brothers-still-untamed-20031024-gdwlf3.html |access-date=21 May 2023 |work=[[The Age]] |date=24 October 2003 |quote=Emerging from the late-1980s New York City underground rap scene, the Jungle Brothers inadvertently found themselves part of hip-hop's golden age. Their early albums, 1988's Straight Out the Jungle and 1989's Done by the Forces of Nature, are considered, along with efforts such as the Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique and De La Soul's Three Feet High and Rising, to be among the most influential hip-hop albums.}}</ref> It has various [[wikt:subject-matter|subject matter]], while the music is [[experimental hip hop|experimental]] and the [[Sampling (music)|sampling]] eclectic.<ref>Roni Sariq, [http://citypages.com/databank/18/854/article3420.asp "Crazy Wisdom Masters"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081123092309/http://citypages.com/databank/18/854/article3420.asp |date=23 November 2008 }}, ''City Pages'', 16 April 1997.</ref><ref>Will Hodgkinson, [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/homeentertainment/story/0,12830,1044954,00.html "Adventures on the wheels of steel"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080515044706/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/homeentertainment/story/0,12830,1044954,00.html |date=15 May 2008 }}, ''The Guardian'', 19 September 2003.</ref> |
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Artists associated with the era include [[LL Cool J]], [[Run–D.M.C.]], [[Public Enemy (group)|Public Enemy]], the [[Beastie Boys]], [[KRS-One]],<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Coker |first1=Cheo H. |title=KRS-One: KRS-One |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/114772/review/5944793 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=16 November 1995 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090114082045/http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/114772/review/5944793 |archive-date=14 January 2009 |quote=In a genre that regularly denigrates its heroes, KRS-One has enough battle scars to be considered the Neil Young of hip-hop: a raggedy, highly opinionated figure from rap's golden age...}}</ref> [[Eric B. & Rakim]], [[De La Soul]], [[Big Daddy Kane]], [[EPMD]], [[A Tribe Called Quest]], [[Wu-Tang Clan]], [[Slick Rick]], [[Ultramagnetic MC's]], and the [[Jungle Brothers]].<ref name="Mervis 2004">{{cite news |last1=Mervis |first1=Scott |title=From Kool Herc to 50 Cent, the story of rap -- so far |url=https://old.post-gazette.com/ae/20040215rap0215aep1.asp |access-date=29 May 2023 |work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |date=15 February 2004 |archive-date=14 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220814095144/https://old.post-gazette.com/ae/20040215rap0215aep1.asp |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kot |first1=Greg |title=Hip-Hop Below the Mainstream |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2001-sep-19-ca-47202-story.html |access-date=29 May 2023 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=19 September 2001 |quote=The golden age of hip-hop is at least a decade in the past, a time when the most artistically ambitious music--by performers such as Public Enemy, Eric B. and Rakim, De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest--was also the most commercially successful.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Coker |first1=Cheo Hodari |title='It's a Beautiful Feeling' |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1996-08-11-ca-33169-story.html |access-date=29 May 2023 |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=11 August 1996 |quote=Wearing a blue sweatsuit and a shining gold pendant, Nas reminded many in the crowd of the Golden Age of New York hip-hop, when rappers from Eric B. & Rakim to the Ultramagnetic MCs wore clothes tailored by the hip Harlem haberdashery Dapper Dan’s.}}</ref><ref name="Linhardt">{{cite news |title=Critical Beatdown: Ultramagnetic MCs |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/8383-critical-beatdown/ |access-date=29 May 2023 |date=10 June 2004 |work=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |quote=To claim that "Critical Beatdown" is the greatest hip-hop album of 1988 would take a lot of courage-- after all, it was the zenith of hip-hop's Golden Age, boasting classics from nearly every influential late-1980s rap group. And even if Ultramagnetic's Kool Keith and Ced Gee didn't possess the intricate rhythms of Rakim and Chuck D, or paint vivid ghettoscapes as well as KRS-One or Slick Rick, "Critical Beatdown" is still probably the hardest, fastest, craziest hip-hop album of that year.}}</ref><ref name="The Age 2003"/> Releases by these acts coexisted in this period with, and were as commercially viable as, those of early [[gangsta rap]] artists such as [[Ice-T]], [[Geto Boys]], and [[N.W.A]], the [[dirty rap|sex raps]] of [[2 Live Crew]] and [[Too Short]], and [[pop rap|party-oriented music]] by acts such as [[Kid 'n Play]], [[The Fat Boys]], [[DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince]], and [[MC Hammer]].<ref name="The Cotton Club">Bakari Kitwana,[http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0526,kitwana,65332,22.html/full "The Cotton Club"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080609225217/http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0526,kitwana,65332,22.html/full |date=9 June 2008 }}, ''Village Voice'', 21 June 2005.</ref> |
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In addition to lyrical self-glorification, hip hop was also used as social protest.<ref name="Mervis 2004"/> Lyrics from the era often draw attention to social issues, including afrocentric living, drug use, crime and violence, religion, culture, the state of the U.S. economy, and the modern man's struggle. [[Conscious hip hop|Conscious]] and [[political hip hop]] tracks of the time were a response to the effects of American capitalism and President Reagan's conservative political economy. According to Rose Tricia, "In rap, relationships between black cultural practice, social and economic conditions, technology, sexual and racial politics, and the institution policing of the popular terrain are complex and in constant motion".<ref>Rose, Tricia. ''Black Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary American''. Hanover: Wesleyan U, 1994. Print.</ref> |
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There was also often an emphasis on [[black nationalism]]. Hip hop artists often talked about urban poverty and the problems of alcohol, drugs, and gangs in their communities.<ref>{{cite web |title=The social significance of rap & hip-hop culture |url=https://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/mediarace/socialsignificance.htm |access-date=12 September 2019 |archive-date=21 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321161217/http://web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/mediarace/socialsignificance.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Public Enemy (group)|Public Enemy]]'s most influential song, "[[Fight the Power (Public Enemy song)|Fight the Power]]", came out at this time; the song speaks up to the government, proclaiming that people in the [[ghetto]] have [[freedom of speech]] and rights like every other American.<ref>{{cite web |title=Public Enemy – Fight the Power Lyrics |publisher=Genius Lyrics |url=https://genius.com/Public-enemy-fight-the-power-lyrics |access-date=12 September 2019 |archive-date=10 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190710021100/https://genius.com/Public-enemy-fight-the-power-lyrics |url-status=live }}</ref> |
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===Film=== |
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{{citation needed span|date=April 2021|The economic accessibility of video mediums in the consumer market supported the growth and popularity of [[independent film]].}} |
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====Indie films==== |
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[[File:Kevin Smith by Gage Skidmore 3.jpg|alt=|thumb|right|upright=0.8|[[Kevin Smith]] is an influential Gen X [[Independent film|indie film]]maker, his flagship film being ''[[Clerks (1994 film)|Clerks]]''.]] |
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Gen Xers are largely responsible for the "[[Independent film|indie film]]" movement of the 1990s, both as young directors and in large part as the audiences fueling demand for such films.<ref name = "Time2"/><ref name="Alternative Goes Mainstream"/> In cinema, directors [[Kevin Smith]], [[Quentin Tarantino]], [[Sofia Coppola]], [[Wes Anderson]], [[John Singleton]], [[Spike Jonze]], [[David Fincher]], [[Christopher Nolan]], [[Paul Thomas Anderson]], [[Steven Soderbergh]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Hanson|first=Peter|title=The Cinema of Generation X: A Critical Study of Films and Directors|year=2002|publisher=McFarland and Company|location=North Carolina and London|isbn=978-0-7864-1334-8|url=https://archive.org/details/cinemaofgenerati00hans}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.viewaskew.com/press/time/article.html|title=My Generation Believes We Can Do Anything|last=Time|first=Magazine|date=9 June 1998|publisher=View Askew|access-date=18 September 2011|archive-date=15 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120115235607/http://www.viewaskew.com/press/time/article.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Richard Linklater]]<ref>Richard Linklater, ''Slacker'', St Martins Griffin, 1992.</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Tasker|first=Yvonne|author-link1=Yvonne Tasker|title=Fifty Contemporary Film Directors |page= 365|publisher=[[Routledge]]|year= 2010|isbn=978-0-415-55433-6}}</ref> have been called Generation X filmmakers. Smith is best known for his [[View Askewniverse]] films, the flagship being ''[[Clerks (1994 film)|Clerks]]'', which is set in New Jersey circa 1994 and focuses on two convenience-store clerks in their twenties. Linklater's ''[[Slacker (film)|Slacker]]'' similarly explores young adult characters interested in [[philosophizing]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Russell|first=Dominique|title=Rape in Art Cinema |quote=In this vein, Solondz' films, while set in the present, contain an array of objects and architectural styles that evoke Generation X's childhood and adolescence. Dawn (Heather Matarazzo) wears her hair tied up in a 1970s ponytail holder with large balls, despite the fact her brother works at a 1990 Macintosh computer, in a film that came out in 1996.|publisher=[[Continuum International Publishing Group]]|date= 2010|page=130|isbn=978-0-8264-2967-4}}</ref> |
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While not a member of Gen X himself, director [[John Hughes (filmmaker)|John Hughes]] has been recognized as having created classic 1980s [[teen film]]s with early Gen X characters which "an entire generation took ownership of", including ''[[The Breakfast Club]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088847/|title=The Breakfast Club|via=www.imdb.com|access-date=6 July 2014|archive-date=4 April 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090404063749/http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088847/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Simple Minds|title=Don't You (Forget About Me)|website=[[YouTube]]|date=3 December 2010 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdqoNKCCt7A| archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211028/CdqoNKCCt7A| archive-date=28 October 2021}}{{cbignore}}</ref> ''[[Sixteen Candles]]'', ''[[Weird Science (film)|Weird Science]]'', ''[[Pretty in Pink]]'', and ''[[Ferris Bueller's Day Off]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Aronchick.|first=David|title=Happy Birthday John Hughes: The Voice of My So-Called 'Lost Generation'|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-aronchick/happy-birthday-john-hughes_b_2689002.html|work=Huff Post Entertainment|access-date=5 March 2014|date=15 February 2013|archive-date=22 June 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140622150641/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-aronchick/happy-birthday-john-hughes_b_2689002.html|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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In France, a new movement emerged, the ''[[Cinéma du look]]'', spearheaded by filmmakers [[Luc Besson]], [[Jean-Jacques Beineix]], and [[Leos Carax]]. Although not Gen Xers themselves, ''[[Subway (film)|Subway]]'' (1985), ''37°2 le matin'' (English: ''[[Betty Blue]]''; 1986), and ''[[Mauvais Sang]]'' (1986) sought to capture on screen the generation's malaise, sense of entrapment, and desire to escape.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Henseler|first=Christine|title=Generation X Goes Global: Mapping a Youth Culture in Motion|publisher=Routledge|year=2012|isbn=978-0-415-69944-0|location=London|pages=189}}</ref> |
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====Franchise mega sequels==== |
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The birth of franchise mega-sequels in the [[science fiction]], [[fantasy]], and [[horror fiction]] genres, such as the epic [[space opera]] ''[[Star Wars]]'' and the ''[[Halloween (franchise)|Halloween]]'' franchise, had a notable cultural influence. |
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===Literature=== |
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The literature of early Gen Xers is often dark and introspective. In the U.S., authors such as [[Elizabeth Wurtzel]], [[David Foster Wallace]], [[Bret Easton Ellis]], and [[Douglas Coupland]] captured the generation's zeitgeist.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Christine |first=Christine |title=Generation X Rocks: Contemporary Peninsular Fiction, Film, and Rock Culture|publisher=Vanderbilt University Press|year=2007|isbn=978-0-8265-1564-3|pages=21}}</ref> In France, [[Michel Houellebecq]] and [[Frédéric Beigbeder]] rank among major novelists whose work reflects the cohort's dissatisfaction and melancholy.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Henseler|first=Christine|title=Generation X Goes Global: Mapping a Youth Culture in Motion|publisher=Routledge|year=2012|isbn=978-0-415-69944-0|pages=180}}</ref> In the UK, [[Alex Garland]], author of ''[[The Beach (novel)|The Beach]]'' (1996), added to the genre. |
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==Health problems== |
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While previous research indicated that the likelihood of [[Myocardial infarction|heart attacks]] was declining among Americans aged 35 to 74, a 2018 study published in the [[American Heart Association]]'s journal ''[[Circulation (journal)|Circulation]]'' found that this did not apply to the younger half of that cohort (controlling for age, Generation X have not seen a reduction in heart attack risk versus previous generations). Data from 28,000 patients from across the U.S. who were hospitalized for heart attacks between 1995 and 2014 showed that a growing proportion were between the ages of 35 and 54. The proportion of heart-attack patients in this age group at the end of the study was 32%, up from 27% at the start of the study. This increase is most pronounced among women, for whom the number rose from 21% to 31%. Many of those who had heart attacks also had [[Hypertension|high blood pressure]], [[diabetes]], and [[chronic kidney disease]]. These changes have been faster for women than for men. Experts suggest a number of reasons for this. Conditions such as [[coronary artery disease]] are traditionally viewed as a man's problem, and so female patients are not considered high-risk. More often than in previous generations, Generation X women are both the primary caretakers of their families and full-time employees, reducing time for [[self-care]].<ref>{{Cite news|date=12 November 2018|title=Heart attacks are becoming more common in younger people, especially women|work=Heart.org|url=https://www.heart.org/en/news/2018/11/12/heart-attacks-are-becoming-more-common-in-younger-people-especially-women|access-date=15 June 2020|archive-date=15 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615172949/https://www.heart.org/en/news/2018/11/12/heart-attacks-are-becoming-more-common-in-younger-people-especially-women|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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==Offspring== |
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Generation X are usually the parents of [[Generation Z]],<ref name=":2">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/fashion/move-over-millennials-here-comes-generation-z.html|title=Move Over, Millennials, Here Comes Generation Z|last1=Williams|first1=Alex|date=18 September 2015|access-date=8 April 2016|work=The New York Times|archive-date=19 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150919162333/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/20/fashion/move-over-millennials-here-comes-generation-z.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.acui.org/Publications/The_Bulletin/2014/2014-10/26390/|title=Gen Z: Unlike the Generation Before|last1=Beltramini|first1=Elizabeth|date=October 2014|access-date=8 April 2016|publisher=Associations of College Unions International|archive-date=24 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160424013827/https://www.acui.org/Publications/The_Bulletin/2014/2014-10/26390/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.business2community.com/social-data/15-aspects-that-highlight-how-generation-z-is-different-from-millennials-01244940#4QkQVw62SQVFe3hk.97|title=15 Aspects That Highlight How Generation Z Is Different From Millennials|last1=Jenkins|first1=Ryan|date=9 June 2015|access-date=29 March 2016|publisher=Business2Community|archive-date=14 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160414104236/http://www.business2community.com/social-data/15-aspects-that-highlight-how-generation-z-is-different-from-millennials-01244940#4QkQVw62SQVFe3hk.97|url-status=live}}</ref> and sometimes Millennials.<ref name="Strauss 2000 54"/> Jason Dorsey, who works for the Center of Generational Kinetics, observed that like their parents from Generation X, members of Generation Z tend to be autonomous and pessimistic. They need validation less than Millennials and typically become financially literate at an earlier age, as many of their parents bore the full brunt of the [[Great Recession]].<ref name=":42">{{Cite news|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/reality-bites-back-to-understand-gen-z-look-to-the-gen-x-parents/ar-AAF0Xaj|title=Reality bites back: To understand Gen Z, look to the Gen X parents|last1=Boyle|first1=Matthew|date=31 July 2019|work=Bloomberg (via MSN)|access-date=4 August 2019|last2=Townsend|first2=Matthew|archive-date=4 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804172131/https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/reality-bites-back-to-understand-gen-z-look-to-the-gen-x-parents/ar-AAF0Xaj|url-status=live}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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{{Portal|1960s|1970s|1980s|Society}} |
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* [[Baby Boomer]] |
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* [[Generation Jones]] |
* [[Generation Jones]] |
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* [[ |
* [[Gray ceiling]] |
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* [[ |
* [[List of generations]] |
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* [[Generation Einstein]] |
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* [[MTV Generation]] |
* [[MTV Generation]] |
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* [[Xennials]] |
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* [[Zillennials]] |
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{{clear}} |
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==References== |
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{{Reflist}} |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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{{Commons category|Generation X}} |
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* [http://www.earlyxer.com/ Early Xer: Things that early Gen Xers grew up with] |
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{{Wiktionary|Generation X}} |
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* [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-69-1209/life_society/generation_x/ CBC Digital Archives – Generation X: Lives on Hold] |
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* [http://www.bicentennialbaby.com/ Bicentennial Baby: Musings on Generation X and Y] |
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*''[https://www.generationxgoesglobal.com/index.html Generation X Goes Global: Mapping a Youth Culture in Motion]'' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115125531/https://www.generationxgoesglobal.com/index.html |date=15 January 2013 }}, Christine Henseler, Ed.; 2012 |
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* [http://www.ericdigests.org/1998-1/x.htm New Learning Strategies for Generation X] - from the ERIC Clearinghouse on Adult Career and Vocational Education. |
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*[https://www.salon.com/2013/10/01/how_generation_x_went_from_jaded_to_sated_partner/ "Generation X's journey from jaded to sated"] – ''[[Salon (website)|Salon]]'', 1 October 2013 |
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*[https://vimeo.com/170480948 ''Gen X Today'']—2016 documentary by [[Viacom International Media Networks]] |
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| before = [[Baby Boomers]]<br />1946 – 1964 |
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| title = Generation X |
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before = [[Baby boomer]]<br />(1943-1946) – (1957-1964)* <ref name="r5" /> | |
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title = Generation X | |
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years = (1958-65) – (1975-81)* <ref name="r4" /> <ref name="r5" /> | |
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Generation X (often shortened to Gen X) is the demographic cohort following the Baby Boomers and preceding Millennials. Researchers and popular media often use the mid-1960s as its starting birth years and the late 1970s as its ending birth years, with the generation generally defined as people born from 1965 to 1980.[1][2][3][4][5] By this definition and U.S. Census data, there are 65.2 million Gen Xers[6] in the United States as of 2019.[7] Most of Generation X are the children of the Silent Generation and early Baby Boomers;[8][9] Xers are also often the parents of Millennials[8] and Generation Z.[10]
As children in the 1970s and 1980s, a time of shifting societal values, Gen Xers were sometimes called the "Latchkey Generation", a reference to their returning as children from school to an empty home and using a key to let themselves in. This was a result of what is now called free-range parenting, increasing divorce rates, and increased maternal participation in the workforce before widespread availability of childcare options outside the home.
As adolescents and young adults in the 1980s and 1990s, Xers were dubbed the "MTV Generation" (a reference to the music video channel) and sometimes characterized as slackers, cynical, and disaffected. Some of the many cultural influences on Gen X youth included a proliferation of musical genres with strong social-tribal identity such as alternative rock, hip hop, punk, post-punk, rave, and heavy metal, in addition to later forms developed by Xers themselves (e.g., grunge, grindcore and related genres). Film was also a notable cultural influence, via both the birth of franchise mega-sequels and a proliferation of independent film (enabled in part by video). Video games, in both amusement parlors and devices in Western homes, were also a major part of juvenile entertainment for the first time. Politically, Generation X experienced the last days of communism in the Soviet Union and the Eastern Bloc countries of Central and Eastern Europe, witnessing the transition to capitalism in these regions during their youth. In much of the Western world, a similar time period was defined by a dominance of conservatism and free market economics.
In their midlife during the early 21st century, research describes Gen Xers as active, happy, and achieving a work–life balance. The cohort has also been more broadly described as entrepreneurial and productive in the workplace.
Terminology and etymology
The term Generation X has been used at various times to describe alienated youth. In the early 1950s, Hungarian photographer Robert Capa first used Generation X as the title for a photo-essay about young men and women growing up immediately after World War II. The term first appeared in print in a December 1952 issue of Holiday magazine announcing its upcoming publication of Capa's photo-essay.[11] From 1976 to 1981, English musician Billy Idol used the term as the name of his punk rock band.[12] Idol attributed his band's name to Jane Deverson's and Charles Hamblett's 1964 book Generation X, about British popular youth culture[13][14]—a copy of which his mother had owned.[15] These uses of the term appear to have no connection to Capa's photo-essay.[11]
The term gained a modern application after the release of Canadian author Douglas Coupland's 1991 novel Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, but the definition used there is "born in the late 1950s and 1960s", which is about ten years earlier than definitions that came later.[16][17][13][18] In 1987, Coupland had written a piece in Vancouver Magazine titled "Generation X" which was "the seed of what went on to become the book".[19][20] Coupland referenced Billy Idol's band Generation X in the 1987 article and again in 1989 in Vista magazine.[21] In the book proposal for his novel, Coupland wrote that Generation X is "taken from the name of Billy Idol’s long-defunct punk band of the late 1970s",[22] but in 1995 he denied the term's connection to the band, saying:
The book's title came not from Billy Idol's band, as many supposed, but from the final chapter of a funny sociological book on American class structure titled Class, by Paul Fussell. In his final chapter, Fussell named an "X" category of people who wanted to hop off the merry-go-round of status, money, and social climbing that so often frames modern existence.[23][19]
Author William Strauss noted that around the time Coupland's novel was published the symbol "X" was prominent in popular culture, as the film Malcolm X was released in 1992, and that the name "Generation X" stuck. The "X" refers to an unknown variable or to a desire not to be defined.[24][25][18] Strauss's coauthor Neil Howe noted the delay in naming this demographic cohort: "Over 30 years after their birthday, they didn't have a name. I think that's germane." Previously, the cohort had been called post-Boomers, Baby Busters (which refers to the drop in birth rates after the baby boom in the western world, particularly in the U.S.[where?]),[26] the New Lost Generation, latchkey kids, the MTV Generation, and the 13th Generation (the 13th generation since American independence).[12][24][21][27][28]
Date and age range definitions
Generation X is the demographic cohort following the post–World War II baby-boom, representing a generational change from the baby boomers. Many researchers and demographers use dates that correspond to the fertility-patterns in the population. For Generation X, in the U.S. (and broadly, in the Western world), the period begins at a time when fertility rates started to significantly decrease, from the peak in the late 1950s until an upswing in the late 1970s and recovery at the start of the 1980s.
In the U.S., the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan think tank, delineates a Generation X period of 1965–1980 which has gradually gained acceptance in academic circles.[29] Moreover, although fertility rates are preponderant in the definition of start and end dates, the center remarks: "Generations are analytical constructs, it takes time for popular and expert consensus to develop as to the precise boundaries that demarcate one generation from another."[30] Pew takes into account other factors, notably the labor market as well as a group's attitudinal and behavioral trends. Writing for Pew's Trend magazine in 2018, psychologist Jean Twenge observed that the "birth year boundaries of Gen X are debated but settle somewhere around 1965–1980".[1] According to this definition, the oldest Gen Xer is 60 and the youngest is, or is turning, 44 in 2025.
The Brookings Institution, another U.S. think tank, sets the Gen X period as from 1965 to 1981.[31] The U.S. Federal Reserve Board uses 1965–1980.[32] The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) uses 1965 to 1980.[33] In their 2002 book When Generations Collide, Lynne Lancaster and David Stillman use 1965 to 1980, while in 2012 authors Jain and Pant also used 1965 to 1980.[34] U.S. news outlets such as The New York Times[35][36] and The Washington Post[37] describe Generation X as people born between 1965 and 1980. Gallup,[38] Bloomberg,[39] Business Insider,[40] and Forbes[41][42] use 1965–1980. Time magazine wrote that Generation X is "roughly defined as anyone born between 1965 and 1980".[43] George Masnick of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies puts this generation in the time frame of 1965 to 1984 to satisfy the condition that boomers, Xers, and millennials "cover equal 20-year age spans".[44]
In Australia, the McCrindle Research Center uses 1965–1979.[45] In the UK, the Resolution Foundation think tank defines Gen X as those born between 1966 and 1980.[46] PricewaterhouseCoopers, a multinational professional services network headquartered in London, describes Generation X employees as those born from 1965 to 1980.[47]
Other age range markers
On the basis of the time it takes for a generation to mature, U.S. authors William Strauss and Neil Howe define Generation X as those born between 1961 and 1981 in their 1991 book Generations, and divide the cohort into two waves.[48] Jeff Gordinier, in his 2008 book X Saves the World, includes those born between 1961 and 1977 but possibly as late as 1980.[9] George Masnick of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies puts this generation in the time frame of 1965 to 1984 to satisfy the condition that boomers, Xers, and millennials "cover equal 20-year age spans".[44] In 2004, journalist J. Markert acknowledged the 20-year increments but went a step further, dividing the generation into two 10-year cohorts. The first begins in 1966 and ends in 1975 and the second begins in 1976 and ends in 1985; this thinking is applied to each generation (Silent, boomers, Gen X, millennials, etc.).[49]
Based on events of historical importance, Schewe and Noble in 2002 argued that a cohort is formed against significant milestones and can be any length of time. They said Generation X began in 1966 and ended in 1976, with those born between 1955 and 1965 called "trailing-edge boomers".[50]
George Barna's 1994 book Baby Busters: The Disillusioned Generation called those born between 1965 and 1983 the "baby busters" generation.[51]
In his 1996 book Boom Bust & Echo: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Shift, David Foot describes Generation X as late boomers and includes those born between 1960 and 1966, while the "Bust Generation", those born between 1967 and 1979, is considered a separate generation.[52][53]
Generational cuspers
People born in the latter half of the Baby Boom, from the early 1960s to the early years of Generation X, are sometimes called Generation Jones.[54] People born in the Generation X / millennial cusp years of the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s are sometimes called Xennials.[55][56] Other names include the Star Wars Generation,[57] Generation Catalano,[58] and the Oregon Trail Generation.[59] These "microgenerations" share characteristics of both generations.
Demographics
United States
There are differences in Gen X population numbers depending on the date-range selected. In the U.S., using Census population projections, the Pew Research Center found that the Gen X population born from 1965 to 1980 numbered 65.2 million in 2019. The cohort is likely to overtake Boomers in 2028.[7] A 2010 Census report counted approximately 84 million people living in the US who are defined by birth years ranging from the early 1960s to the early 1980s.[60]
In a 2012 article for the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, George Masnick wrote that the "Census counted 82.1 million" Gen Xers in the U.S. Masnick concluded that immigration filled in any birth year deficits during low fertility years of the late 1960s and early 1970s.[44] Jon Miller at the Longitudinal Study of American Youth at the University of Michigan wrote that "Generation X refers to adults born between 1961 and 1981" and it "includes 84 million people".[61] In their 1991 book Generations, authors Howe and Strauss indicated that the total number of Gen X individuals in the U.S. was 88.5 million.[62]
Impact of family planning programs
The birth control pill, introduced in 1960, was one contributing factor of declining birth rates. Initially, the pill spread rapidly amongst married women as an approved treatment for menstrual disturbance. However, it was also found to prevent pregnancy and was prescribed as a contraceptive in 1964. "The pill", as it became commonly known, reached younger, unmarried college women in the late 1960s when state laws were amended and reduced the age of majority from 21 to ages 18–20.[63] These policies are commonly referred to as the Early Legal Access (ELA) laws.
Another major factor was abortion, only available in a few states until its legalisation in a 1973 US Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade. This was replicated elsewhere, with reproductive rights legislation passed, notably in the UK (1967), France (1975), West Germany (1976), New Zealand (1977), Italy (1978), and the Netherlands (1980). From 1973 to 1980, the abortion rate per 1,000 US women aged 15–44 increased from 16% to 29% with more than 9.6 million terminations of pregnancy practiced. Between 1970 and 1980, on average, for every 10 American citizens born, 3 were aborted.[64] However, increased immigration during the same period of time helped to partially offset declining birth-rates and contributed to making Generation X an ethnically and culturally diverse demographic cohort.[12][34]
Parental lineage
Generally, Gen Xers are the children of the Silent Generation and older Baby Boomers.[9]
Characteristics
In the United States
As children and adolescents
Rising divorce rates and women workforce participation
Strauss and Howe, who wrote several books on generations, including one specifically on Generation X titled 13th Gen: Abort, Retry, Ignore, Fail? (1993), reported that Gen Xers were children at a time when society was less focused on children and more focused on adults.[65] Xers were children during a time of increasing divorce rates, with divorce rates doubling in the mid-1960s, before peaking in 1980.[12][66][67] Strauss and Howe described a cultural shift where the long-held societal value of staying together for the sake of the children was replaced with a societal value of parental and individual self-actualization. Strauss wrote that society "moved from what Leslie Fiedler called a 1950s-era 'cult of the child' to what Landon Jones called a 1970s-era 'cult of the adult'".[65][68] The Generation Map, a report from Australia's McCrindle Research Center writes of Gen X children: Boomer parents were the most divorced generation in Australian history".[69] According to Christine Henseler in the 2012 book Generation X Goes Global: Mapping a Youth Culture in Motion, "We watched the decay and demise (of the family), and grew callous to the loss."[70]
The Gen X childhood coincided with the sexual revolution of the 1960s to 1980s, which Susan Gregory Thomas described in her book In Spite of Everything as confusing and frightening for children in cases where a parent would bring new sexual partners into their home.[71] Thomas also discussed how divorce was different during the Gen X childhood, with the child having a limited or severed relationship with one parent following divorce, often the father, due to differing societal and legal expectations. In the 1970s, only nine U.S. states allowed for joint custody of children, which has since been adopted by all 50 states following a push for joint custody during the mid-1980s.[72] Kramer vs. Kramer, a 1979 American legal drama based on Avery Corman's best-selling novel, came to epitomize the struggle for child custody and the demise of the traditional nuclear family.[73]
The rapid influx of Boomer women into the labor force that began in the 1970s was marked by the confidence of many in their ability to successfully pursue a career while meeting the needs of their children. This resulted in an increase in latchkey children, leading to the terminology of the "latchkey generation" for Generation X.[74][75][76] These children lacked adult supervision in the hours between the end of the school day and when a parent returned home from work in the evening, and for longer periods of time during the summer. Latchkey children became common among all socioeconomic demographics, but this was particularly so among middle- and upper-class children.[75] The higher the educational attainment of the parents, the higher the odds the children of this time would be latchkey children, due to increased maternal participation in the workforce at a time before childcare options outside the home were widely available.[77][78][79][80] McCrindle Research Centre described the cohort as "the first to grow up without a large adult presence, with both parents working", stating this led to Gen Xers being more peer-oriented than previous generations.[69][81]
Conservative and neoliberal turn
Some older Gen Xers started high school in the waning years of the Carter presidency, but much of the cohort became socially and politically conscious during the Reagan Era. President Ronald Reagan, voted in office principally by the Boomer generation,[82] embraced laissez-faire economics with vigor. His policies included cuts in the growth of government spending, reduction in taxes for the higher echelon of society, legalization of stock buybacks, and deregulation of key industries.[83] The early 1980s recession saw unemployment rise to 10.8% in 1982; requiring, more often than not, dual parental incomes.[84] One in five American children grew up in poverty during this time. The federal debt almost tripled during Reagan's time in office, from $998 billion in 1981 to $2.857 trillion in 1989, placing greater burden of repayment on the incoming generation.[85]
Government expenditure shifted from domestic programs to defense. Remaining funding initiatives, moreover, tended to be diverted away from programs for children and often directed toward the elderly population, with cuts to Medicaid and programs for children and young families, and protection and expansion of Medicare and Social Security for the elderly population. These programs for the elderly were not tied to economic need. Congressman David Durenberger criticized this political situation, stating that while programs for poor children and for young families were cut, the government provided "free health care to elderly millionaires".[68][86]
The crack epidemic and AIDS
Gen Xers came of age or were children during the 1980s crack epidemic, which disproportionately impacted urban areas as well as the African-American community. The U.S. Drug turf battles increased violent crime. Crack addiction impacted communities and families. Between 1984 and 1989, the homicide rate for black males aged 14 to 17 doubled in the U.S., and the homicide rate for black males aged 18 to 24 increased almost as much. The crack epidemic had a destabilizing impact on families, with an increase in the number of children in foster care.[87] In 1986, President Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act to enforce strict mandatory minimum sentencing for drug users. He also increased the federal budget for supply-reduction efforts.[88][89]
Fear of the impending AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s loomed over the formative years of Generation X. The emergence of AIDS coincided with Gen X's adolescence, with the disease first clinically observed in the U.S. in 1981. By 1985, an estimated one-to-two million Americans were HIV-positive. This particularly hit the LGBT community.[90] As the virus spread, at a time before effective treatments were available, a public panic ensued. Sex education programs in schools were adapted to address the AIDS epidemic, which taught Gen X students that sex could kill them.[91][92]
The rise of home computing
Gen Xers were the first children to have access to personal computers in their homes and at schools.[69] In the early 1980s, the growth in the use of personal computers exploded. Manufacturers such as Commodore, Atari, and Apple responded to the demand via 8-bit and 16-bit machines. This in turn stimulated the software industries with corresponding developments for backup storage, use of the floppy disk, zip drive, and CD-ROM.[93]
At school, several computer projects were supported by the Department of Education under United States Secretary of Education Terrel Bell's "Technology Initiative".[94] This was later mirrored in the UK's 1982 Computers for Schools programme[95] and, in France, under the 1985 scheme Plan Informatique pour Tous (IPT).[96]
The post–civil rights generation
In the U.S., Generation X was the first cohort to grow up post-integration after the racist Jim Crow laws. They were described in a marketing report by Specialty Retail as the kids who "lived the civil rights movement". They were among the first children to be bused to attain integration in the public school system. In the 1990s, Strauss reported Gen Xers were "by any measure the least racist of today's generations".[68][97] In the U.S., Title IX, which passed in 1972, provided increased athletic opportunities to Gen X girls in the public school setting.[98] Roots, based on the novel by Alex Haley and broadcast as a 12-hour series, was viewed as a turning point in the country's ability to relate to the Afro-American history.[99]
As young adults
Continued growth in college enrollments
In the U.S., compared to the Boomer generation, Generation X was more educated than their parents. The share of young adults enrolling in college steadily increased from 1983, before peaking in 1998. In 1965, as early Boomers entered college, total enrollment of new undergraduates was just over 5.7 million individuals across the public and private sectors. By 1983, the first year of Gen X college enrollments (as per Pew Research's definition), this figure had reached 12.2 million. This was an increase of 53%, effectively a doubling in student intake. As the 1990s progressed, Gen X college enrollments continued to climb, with increased loan borrowing as the cost of an education became substantially more expensive compared to their peers in the mid-1980s.[100] By 1998, the generation's last year of college enrollment, those entering the higher education sector totaled 14.3 million.[101] In addition, unlike Boomers and previous generations, women outpaced men in college completion rates.[102]
Adjusting to a new societal environment
For early Gen Xer graduates entering the job market at the end of the 1980s, economic conditions were challenging and did not show signs of major improvements until the mid-1990s.[103] In the U.S., restrictive monetary policy to curb rising inflation and the collapse of a large number of savings and loan associations (private banks that specialized in home mortgages) impacted the welfare of many American households. This precipitated a large government bailout, which placed further strain on the budget.[104] Furthermore, three decades of growth came to an end. The social contract between employers and employees, which had endured during the 1960s and 1970s and was scheduled to last until retirement, was no longer applicable. By the late 1980s, there were large-scale layoffs of Boomers, corporate downsizing, and accelerated offshoring of production.[105]
On the political front, in the U.S. the generation became ambivalent if not outright disaffected with politics. They had been reared in the shadow of the Vietnam War and the Watergate scandal. They came to maturity under the Reagan and George H. W. Bush presidencies, with first-hand experience of the impact of neoliberal policies. Few had experienced a Democratic administration and even then, only, at an atmospheric level. For those on the left of the political spectrum, the disappointments with the previous Boomer student mobilizations of the 1960s and the collapse of those movements towards a consumerist "greed is good" and "yuppie" culture during the 1980s felt, to a greater extent, hypocrisy if not outright betrayal. Hence, the preoccupation on "authenticity" and not "selling-out". The Revolutions of 1989 and the collapse of the socialist utopia with the fall of the Berlin Wall, moreover, added to the disillusionment that any alternative to the capitalist model was possible.[106]
Birth of the "slacker"
In 1990, Time magazine published an article titled "Living: Proceeding with Caution", which described those then in their 20s as aimless and unfocused. Media pundits and advertisers further struggled to define the cohort, typically portraying them as "unfocused twentysomethings". A MetLife report noted: "media would portray them as the Friends generation: rather self-involved and perhaps aimless...but fun".[108][109]
Gen Xers were often portrayed as apathetic or as "slackers", lacking bearings, a stereotype which was initially tied to Richard Linklater's comedic and essentially plotless 1991 film Slacker. After the film was released, "journalists and critics thought they put a finger on what was different about these young adults in that 'they were reluctant to grow up' and 'disdainful of earnest action'".[109][110] Ben Stiller's 1994 film Reality Bites also sought to capture the zeitgeist of the generation with a portrayal of the attitudes and lifestyle choices of the time.[111]
Negative stereotypes of Gen X young adults continued, including that they were "bleak, cynical, and disaffected". In 1998, such stereotypes prompted sociological research at Stanford University to study the accuracy of the characterization of Gen X young adults as cynical and disaffected. Using the national General Social Survey, the researchers compared answers to identical survey questions asked of 18–29-year-olds in three different time periods. Additionally, they compared how older adults answered the same survey questions over time. The surveys showed 18–29-year-old Gen Xers did exhibit higher levels of cynicism and disaffection than previous cohorts of 18–29-year-olds surveyed. However, they also found that cynicism and disaffection had increased among all age groups surveyed over time, not just young adults, making this a period effect, not a cohort effect. In other words, adults of all ages were more cynical and disaffected in the 1990s, not just Generation X.[112][113]
In a 2023 interview with television host Bill Maher on the podcast Club Random with Bill Maher, vocalist and guitarist Billy Corgan hinted at how the Smashing Pumpkins spoke to the disillusionment felt by many Gen Xers as they reached adulthood, noting:
At least generationally, I think that's why I connected with so many people—because I was speaking the patois of: Gilligan's Island meets 'What the fuck happened in my life?'[114]
Rise of the Internet and the dot-com bubble
By the mid-late 1990s, under Bill Clinton's presidency, economic optimism had returned to the U.S.,[115] with unemployment reduced from 7.5% in 1992 to 4% in 2000.[116] Younger members of Gen X, straddling across administrations, politically experienced a "liberal renewal". In 1997, Time magazine published an article titled "Generation X Reconsidered", which retracted the previously reported negative stereotypes and reported positive accomplishments. The article cited Gen Xers' tendency to found technology startup companies and small businesses, as well as their ambition, which research showed was higher among Gen X young adults than older generations.[109] Yet, the slacker moniker stuck.[117][118] As the decade progressed, Gen X gained a reputation for entrepreneurship. In 1999, The New York Times dubbed them "Generation 1099", describing them as the "once pitied but now envied group of self-employed workers whose income is reported to the Internal Revenue Service not on a W-2 form, but on Form 1099".[119]
Consumer access to the Internet and its commercial development throughout the 1990s witnessed a frenzy of IT initiatives. Newly created companies, launched on stock exchanges globally, were formed with dubitable revenue generation or cash flow.[120] When the dot-com bubble eventually burst in 2000, early Gen Xers who had embarked as entrepreneurs in the IT industry while riding the Internet wave, as well as newly qualified programmers at the tail-end of the generation (who had grown up with AOL and the first Web browsers), were both caught in the crash.[121] This had major repercussions, with cross-generational consequences; five years after the bubble burst, new matriculation of IT Millennial undergraduates fell by 40% and by as much as 70% in some information systems programs.[122]
However, following the crisis, sociologist Mike Males reported continued confidence and optimism among the cohort. He reported "surveys consistently find 80% to 90% of Gen Xers self-confident and optimistic".[123] Males wrote "these young Americans should finally get the recognition they deserve", praising the cohort and stating that "the permissively raised, universally deplored Generation X is the true 'great generation', for it has braved a hostile social climate to reverse abysmal trends". He described them as the hardest-working group since the World War II generation. He reported Gen Xers' entrepreneurial tendencies helped create the high-tech industry that fueled the 1990s economic recovery.[123][124] In 2002, Time magazine published an article titled Gen Xers Aren't Slackers After All, reporting that four out of five new businesses were the work of Gen Xers.[97][125]
Response to 9/11
In the U.S., Gen Xers were described as the major heroes of the September 11 terrorist attacks by author William Strauss. The firefighters and police responding to the attacks were predominantly from Generation X. Additionally, the leaders of the passenger revolt on United Airlines Flight 93 were also, by majority, Gen Xers.[117][126][127] Author Neil Howe reported survey data which showed that Gen Xers were cohabiting and getting married in increasing numbers following the terrorist attacks. Gen X survey respondents reported that they no longer wanted to live alone.[128]
In October 2001, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer wrote of Gen Xers: "Now they could be facing the most formative events of their lives and their generation."[129] The Greensboro News & Record reported members of the cohort "felt a surge of patriotism since terrorists struck" by giving blood, working for charities, donating to charities, and by joining the military to fight the War on Terror.[130] The Jury Expert, a publication of The American Society of Trial Consultants, reported: "Gen X members responded to the terrorist attacks with bursts of patriotism and national fervor that surprised even themselves."[117]
In midlife
Achieving a work-life balance
In 2011, survey analysis from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth found Gen Xers (defined as those who were then between the ages of 30 and 50) to be "balanced, active, and happy" in midlife and as achieving a work-life balance. The Longitudinal Study of Youth is an NIH-NIA funded study by the University of Michigan which has been studying Generation X since 1987. The study asked questions such as "Thinking about all aspects of your life, how happy are you? If zero means that you are very unhappy and 10 means that you are very happy, please rate your happiness." LSA reported that "mean level of happiness was 7.5 and the median (middle score) was 8. Only four percent of Generation X adults indicated a great deal of unhappiness (a score of three or lower). Twenty-nine percent of Generation X adults were very happy with a score of 9 or 10 on the scale."[131][132][133][134]
In 2014, Pew Research provided further insight, describing the cohort as "savvy, skeptical and self-reliant; they're not into preening or pampering, and they just might not give much of a hoot what others think of them. Or whether others think of them at all."[135] Furthermore, guides regarding managing multiple generations in the workforce describe Gen Xers as: independent, resilient, resourceful, self-managing, adaptable, cynical, pragmatic, skeptical of authority, and as seeking a work-life balance.[108][136][137][138]
Entrepreneurship as an individual trait
Individualism is one of the defining traits of Generation X, and is reflected in their entrepreneurial spirit.[139] In the 2008 book X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything from Sucking, author Jeff Gordinier describes Generation X as a "dark horse demographic" which "doesn't seek the limelight". Gordiner cites examples of Gen Xers' contributions to society such as: Google, Wikipedia, Amazon.com, and YouTube, arguing that if Boomers had created them, "we'd never hear the end of it". In the book, Gordinier contrasts Gen Xers to Baby Boomers, saying Boomers tend to trumpet their accomplishments more than Gen Xers do, creating what he describes as "elaborate mythologies" around their achievements. Gordiner cites Steve Jobs as an example, while Gen Xers, he argues, are more likely to "just quietly do their thing".[9][140]
In a 2007 article published in the Harvard Business Review, authors Strauss and Howe wrote of Generation X: "They are already the greatest entrepreneurial generation in U.S. history; their high-tech savvy and marketplace resilience have helped America prosper in the era of globalization."[141] According to authors Michael Hais and Morley Winograd:
Small businesses and the entrepreneurial spirit that Gen Xers embody have become one of the most popular institutions in America. There's been a recent shift in consumer behavior and Gen Xers will join the "idealist generation" in encouraging the celebration of individual effort and business risk-taking. As a result, Xers will spark a renaissance of entrepreneurship in economic life, even as overall confidence in economic institutions declines. Customers, and their needs and wants (including Millennials) will become the North Star for an entire new generation of entrepreneurs.[142]
A 2015 study by Sage Group reports Gen Xers "dominate the playing field" with respect to founding startups in the United States and Canada, with Xers launching the majority (55%) of all new businesses in 2015.[143][144]
Income benefits of a college education
Generation X was the last generation in the U.S. for whom higher education was broadly financially remunerative. In 2019, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis published research (using data from the 2016 Survey of Consumer Finances) demonstrating that after controlling for race and age, families with heads of household born before 1980 had higher wealth and income when the head of household had post-seconary education. For those born after 1980, the wealth premium (of college education) was no longer statistically significant (in part because of the rising cost of college). The income premium, while remaining positive, had declined to historic lows, with more pronounced downward trajectories among heads of household with postgraduate degrees.[145]
Parenting and volunteering
In terms of advocating for their children in the educational setting, author Neil Howe describes Gen X parents as distinct from Baby Boomer parents. Howe argues that Gen Xers are not helicopter parents, which Howe describes as a parenting style of Boomer parents of Millennials. Howe described Gen Xers instead as "stealth fighter parents", due to the tendency of Gen X parents to let minor issues go and to not hover over their children in the educational setting, but to intervene forcefully and swiftly in the event of more serious issues.[146] In 2012, the Corporation for National and Community Service ranked Gen X volunteer rates in the U.S. at "29.4% per year", the highest compared with other generations. The rankings were based on a three-year moving average between 2009 and 2011.[147][148]
Communication style
Generation X prefers the communication modes of face-to-face and phone, whereas the younger generations prefer e-mail and texting.[149] In terms of writing, Generation X is more likely than Generation Z to know cursive[150] and more likely than Millennials to use postal mail.[151] Also, Generation X is less likely to ghost than Millennials and Generation Z.[152] Social media usage is also different, with Generation X preferring LinkedIn and Facebook, while Millennials and Generation Z prefer Snapchat and TikTok.[153]
Income differential with previous generations
A report titled Economic Mobility: Is the American Dream Alive and Well? focused on the income of males 30–39 in 2004 (those born April 1964 – March 1974). The study was released on 25 May 2007 and emphasized that this generation's men made less (by 12%) than their fathers had at the same age in 1974, thus reversing a historical trend. It concluded that, per year increases in household income generated by fathers/sons slowed from an average of 0.9% to 0.3%, barely keeping pace with inflation. "Family incomes have risen though (over the period 1947 to 2005) because more women have gone to work",[154][155][156][157] "supporting the incomes of men, by adding a second earner to the family. And as with male income, the trend is downward."[155][156][157]
Globally
Although, globally, children and adolescents of Generation X will have been heavily influenced by U.S. cultural industries with shared global currents (e.g., rising divorce rates, the AIDS epidemic, advancements in ICT), there is not one U.S.-born raised concept but multiple perspectives and geographical outgrowths. Even within the period of analysis, inside national communities, commonalities will have differed on the basis of one's birth date. The generation, Christine Henseler also remarks, was shaped as much by real-world events, within national borders, determined by specific political, cultural, and historical incidents. She adds "In other words, it is in between both real, clearly bordered spaces and more fluid global currents that we can spot the spirit of Generation X."[158]
In 2016, a global consumer insights project from Viacom International Media Networks and Viacom, based on over 12,000 respondents across 21 countries,[159] reported on Gen X's unconventional approach to sex, friendship, and family,[160] their desire for flexibility and fulfillment at work[161] and the absence of midlife crisis for Gen Xers.[162] The project also included a 20 min documentary titled Gen X Today.[163]
Russia
In Russia, Generation Xers are referred to as "the last Soviet children", as the last children to come of age prior to the downfall of communism in their nation and prior to the Dissolution of the Soviet Union.[45] Those that reached adulthood in the 1980s and grew up educated in the doctrines of Marxism and Leninism found themselves against a background of economic and social change, with the advent of Mikhail Gorbachev to power and Perestroika. However, even before the collapse of the Soviet Union and the disbanding of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, surveys demonstrated that Russian young people repudiated the key features of the Communist worldview that their party leaders, schoolteachers, and even parents had tried to instill in them.[164] This generation, caught in the transition between Marxism–Leninism and an unknown future, and wooed by the new domestic political classes, remained largely apathetic.[165]
France
In France, "Generation X" is not as widely known or used to define its members. Politically, this loosely denotes those born in the early 1960s to the early 1980s.[166] Although fertility rates started to fall in 1965, number of births in France only followed suit in 1975.[167] There is general agreement that, domestically, the event that is accepted in France as the separating point between the Baby Boomer generation and Generation X are the French strikes and violent riots of May 1968 with those of the generation too young to participate. Those at the start of the cohort are sometimes referred to as 'Génération Bof' because of their tendency to use the word 'bof', which, translated into English, means "whatever".[45]
The generation is closely associated with socialist François Mitterrand who served as President of France during two consecutive terms between 1981 and 1995 as most transitioned from teenagers into adulthood during that period. Economically, Xers started when the new labour market was emerging and were the first to fully experience the advent of the post-industrial society. For those at the tail-end of the generation, educational and defence reforms, a new style baccalauréat général with three distinct streams in 1995 (the preceding programme, introduced in 1968) the 2002 licence-master-doctorat reform for first Millennial graduates (DEUG, Maîtrise, DESS and DEA degrees no longer awarded), and the cessation of military conscription in 1997 (for those born after January 1979) are considered as new transition points to the next.[168]
Republic of Ireland
The term "Generation X" is used to describe Irish people born between 1965 and 1985; they grew up during The Troubles and the 1980s economic recession, coming of age during the Celtic Tiger period of prosperity in the 1990s onward.[169][170] The appropriateness of the term to Ireland has been questioned, with Darach Ó Séaghdha noting that "Generation X is usually contrasted with the one before by growing up in smaller and different family units on account of their parents having greater access to contraception and divorce – again, things that were not widely available in Ireland. [Contraception was only available under prescription in 1978 and without prescription in 1985; divorce was illegal until 1996.] However, this generation was in prime position to benefit from the Celtic Tiger, the Peace Process and liberalisations introduced on foot of EU membership and was less likely to emigrate than those that came before and after. You could say that in many ways, these are Ireland’s real Boomers."[171]
Culturally, Britpop, Celtic rock, the trad revival, Father Ted, the 1990 FIFA World Cup and rave culture were significant.[172][173] The Divine Comedy song "Generation Sex" (1998) painted a picture of hedonism in the late 20th century, as well as its effect on the media.[174][175] David McWilliams' 2005 book The Pope's Children: Ireland's New Elite profiled Irish people born in the 1970s (just prior to the papal visit to Ireland), which was a baby boom that saw Ireland's population increase for the first time since the 1840s Great Famine. The Pope's Children were in position to benefit from the Celtic Tiger and the newly liberal culture, where the Catholic Church had significantly less social power.[176][177]
United Kingdom
As children, adolescents and young adults
Political environment
The United Kingdom's Economic and Social Research Council described Generation X as "Thatcher's children" because the cohort grew up while Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, "a time of social flux and transformation". Those born in the late 1960s and early 1970s grew up in a period of social unrest. While unemployment was low in the early 1970s, industrial and social unrest escalated. Strike action culminated in the "Winter of Discontent" in 1978–79, and the Troubles began to unfold in Northern Ireland. The turn to neoliberal policies introduced and maintained by consecutive conservative governments from 1979 to 1997 marked the end of the post-war consensus.[178]
Education
The almost universal dismantling of the grammar school system in Great Britain during the 1960s and the 1970s meant that the vast majority of the cohort attended comprehensive schools. Compulsory education ended at the age of 16.[179][178] As older members of the cohort reached the end of their mandatory schooling, levels of educational enrollment among older adolescents remained below much of the Western world. By the early 1980s, some 80% to 90% of school leavers in France and West Germany received vocational training, compared with 40% in the United Kingdom. By the mid-1980s, over 80% of pupils in the United States and West Germany and over 90% in Japan stayed in education until the age of eighteen, compared with 33% of British pupils.[180] There was, however, broadly a rise in education levels among this age range as Generation X passed through it.[181]
In 1990, 25% of young people in England stayed in some kind of full-time education after the age of 18, this was an increase from 15% a decade earlier.[182] Later, the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 and the liberalisation of higher education in the UK saw greater numbers of those born towards the tail-end of the generation gaining university places.[178]
Employment
The 1980s, when some of Generation X reached working age, was an era defined by high unemployment rates.[183] This was particularly true of the youngest members of the working aged population. In 1984, 26% of 16 to 24 year olds were neither in full-time education or participating in the workforce.[184] However, this figure did decrease as the economic situation improved reaching 17% by 1993.[185]
In midlife
Generation X were far more likely to have children out of wedlock than their parents. The number of babies being born to unmarried parents in England and Wales rose from 11% in 1979, a quarter in 1998, 40% by 2002 and almost half in 2012. They were also significantly more likely to have children later in life than their predecessors. The average age of a mother giving birth rose from 27 in 1982 to 30 in 2012. That year saw 29,994 children born to mothers over the age 40, an increase of 360% from 2002.[186]
A 2016 study of over 2,500 British office workers conducted by Workfront found that survey respondents of all ages selected those from Generation X as the hardest-working employees and members of the workforce (chosen by 60%).[187] Gen X was also ranked highest among fellow workers for having the strongest work ethic (chosen by 59.5%), being the most helpful (55.4%), the most skilled (54.5%), and the best troubleshooters/problem-solvers (41.6%).[188][189]
Political evolution
Ipsos MORI reports that at the 1987 and 1992 general elections, the first United Kingdom general elections where significant numbers of Generation X members could vote, a plurality of 18 to 24 year olds opted for the Labour Party by a small margin. The polling organisation's figures suggest that in 1987, 39% of that age group voted Labour, 37% for the Conservatives and 22% for the SDP–Liberal Alliance. Five years later, these numbers were fairly similar at 38% Labour, 35% Conservative and 19% Liberal Democrats, a party by then formed from the previously mentioned alliance. Both these elections saw a fairly significant lead for the Conservatives in the popular vote among the general population.[190]
At the 1997 General election where Labour won a large majority of seats and a comfortable lead in the popular vote, research suggests that voters under the age of 35 were more likely to vote Labour if they turned out than the wider electorate but significantly less likely to vote than in 1992. Analysts suggested this may have been due to fewer differences in policies between the major parties and young people having less of a sense of affiliation with particular political parties than older generations.[190][191] A similar trend continued at the 2001 and 2005 general elections as turnout dropped further among both the relatively young and the wider public.[192][193]
Voter turnout across the electorate began to recover from a 2001 low until the 2017 general election.[192] Generation X also became more likely to vote as they entered the midlife age demographics. Polling suggests a plurality of their age group backed the Conservatives in 2010 and 2015 but less overwhelming than much of the older generation.[194][195] At the 2016 EU membership referendum and 2017 general election, Generation X was split with younger members appearing to back remain and Labour and older members tending towards Leave and Conservative in a British electorate more polarised by age than ever before.[196][197] At the 2019 general election, voting trends continued to be heavily divided by age but a plurality of younger as well as older generation X members (then 39 to 55 year olds) voted Conservative.[198]
Germany
In Germany, "Generation X" is not widely used or applied. Instead, reference is sometimes made to "Generation Golf" in the previous West German republic, based on a novel by Florian Illies. In the east, children of the "Mauerfall" or coming down of the wall. For former East Germans, there was adaptation, but also a sense of loss of accustomed values and structures. These effects turned into romantic narratives of their childhood. For those in the West, there was a period of discovery and exploration of what had been a forbidden land.[199]
South Africa
In South Africa, Gen Xers spent their formative years of the 1980s during the "hyper-politicized environment of the final years of apartheid".[200]
Arts and culture
Music
Gen Xers were the first cohort to come of age with MTV. They were the first generation to experience the emergence of music videos as teenagers and are sometimes called the MTV Generation.[108][201] Gen Xers were responsible for the alternative rock movement of the 1990s and 2000s, including the grunge subgenre.[118][202] Hip hop has also been described as defining music of the generation, particularly artists such as Tupac Shakur, N.W.A., and The Notorious B.I.G.[203]
Punk rock
From 1974 to 1976, a new generation of rock bands arose, including the Ramones, Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers, and the Dictators in New York City; the Sex Pistols, the Clash, the Damned, and Buzzcocks in the United Kingdom; and the Saints in Brisbane, Australia. By late 1976, these acts were generally recognized as forming the vanguard of "punk rock", and as 1977 approached, punk rock became a major and highly controversial cultural phenomenon in the UK.[204] It spawned a punk subculture which expressed a youthful rebellion, characterized by distinctive styles of clothing and adornment (ranging from deliberately offensive T-shirts, leather jackets, studded or spiked bands and jewelry, as well as bondage and S&M clothes) and a variety of anti-authoritarian ideologies that have since been associated with the form.[205]
By 1977 the influence of punk rock music and its subculture became more pervasive, spreading throughout various countries worldwide.[206] It generally took root in local scenes that tended to reject affiliation with the mainstream.[207] In the late 1970s, punk experienced its second wave. Acts that were not active during its formative years adopted the style. While at first punk musicians were not Gen Xers themselves (many of them were late Boomers, or Generation Jones),[208] the fanbase for punk became increasingly Gen X-oriented as the earliest Xers entered their adolescence, and it therefore made a significant imprint on the cohort.[209]
By the 1980s, faster and more aggressive subgenres such as hardcore punk (e.g., Minor Threat), street punk (e.g., the Exploited, NOFX) and anarcho-punk (e.g., Subhumans) became the predominant modes of punk rock. Musicians identifying with or inspired by punk often later pursued other musical directions, resulting in a broad range of spinoffs. This development gave rise to genres such as post-punk, new wave and later indie pop, alternative rock, and noise rock. Gen Xers were no longer simply the consumers of punk, they became the creators as well.[208] By the 1990s, punk rock re-emerged into the mainstream. Punk rock and pop punk bands with Gen X members such as Green Day, Rancid, The Offspring, and Blink-182 brought widespread popularity to the genre .[210]
Hard rock
Arguably in a similar way to punk, a sense of disillusionment, angst and anger catalysed hard rock and heavy metal to grow from the earlier influence of rock.
Post-punk
The energy generated by the punk movement launched a subsequent proliferation of weird and eclectic post-punk sub cultures, spanning new wave, goth, etc., and influencing the New Romantics.
Grunge
A notable example of alternative rock is grunge and the associated subculture that developed in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S. Grunge lyrics have been called the "product of Generation X malaise".[212] Vulture wrote, "the best bands arose from the boredom of latchkey kids". Producer Jack Endino said, "People made records entirely to please themselves because there was nobody else to please".[213]
Grunge lyrics are typically dark, nihilistic,[214] angst-filled, and anguished. They often address themes such as social alienation, despair, and apathy.[215] The Guardian wrote that grunge "didn't recycle banal cliches but tackled weighty subjects".[216] Topics of grunge lyrics include homelessness, suicide, rape,[217] broken homes, drug addiction, self-loathing,[218] misogyny, domestic abuse, and finding "meaning in an indifferent universe".[216] Grunge lyrics tend to be introspective and aim to enable the listener to see into hidden personal issues and examine depravity.[211] Notable grunge bands include Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots, and Soundgarden.[216][219]
Hip hop
The golden age of hip hop refers to hip hop music made from the mid-1980s to mid-1990s,[220] typically by artists originating from the New York metropolitan area.[221] The music is characterized by its diversity, quality,[222] innovation,[223] and influence after the genre's emergence and establishment in the previous decade.[224][225][226] It has various subject matter, while the music is experimental and the sampling eclectic.[227][228]
Artists associated with the era include LL Cool J, Run–D.M.C., Public Enemy, the Beastie Boys, KRS-One,[229] Eric B. & Rakim, De La Soul, Big Daddy Kane, EPMD, A Tribe Called Quest, Wu-Tang Clan, Slick Rick, Ultramagnetic MC's, and the Jungle Brothers.[230][231][232][233][226] Releases by these acts coexisted in this period with, and were as commercially viable as, those of early gangsta rap artists such as Ice-T, Geto Boys, and N.W.A, the sex raps of 2 Live Crew and Too Short, and party-oriented music by acts such as Kid 'n Play, The Fat Boys, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, and MC Hammer.[234]
In addition to lyrical self-glorification, hip hop was also used as social protest.[230] Lyrics from the era often draw attention to social issues, including afrocentric living, drug use, crime and violence, religion, culture, the state of the U.S. economy, and the modern man's struggle. Conscious and political hip hop tracks of the time were a response to the effects of American capitalism and President Reagan's conservative political economy. According to Rose Tricia, "In rap, relationships between black cultural practice, social and economic conditions, technology, sexual and racial politics, and the institution policing of the popular terrain are complex and in constant motion".[235]
There was also often an emphasis on black nationalism. Hip hop artists often talked about urban poverty and the problems of alcohol, drugs, and gangs in their communities.[236] Public Enemy's most influential song, "Fight the Power", came out at this time; the song speaks up to the government, proclaiming that people in the ghetto have freedom of speech and rights like every other American.[237]
Film
The economic accessibility of video mediums in the consumer market supported the growth and popularity of independent film.[citation needed]
Indie films
Gen Xers are largely responsible for the "indie film" movement of the 1990s, both as young directors and in large part as the audiences fueling demand for such films.[118][202] In cinema, directors Kevin Smith, Quentin Tarantino, Sofia Coppola, Wes Anderson, John Singleton, Spike Jonze, David Fincher, Christopher Nolan, Paul Thomas Anderson, Steven Soderbergh,[238][239] and Richard Linklater[240][241] have been called Generation X filmmakers. Smith is best known for his View Askewniverse films, the flagship being Clerks, which is set in New Jersey circa 1994 and focuses on two convenience-store clerks in their twenties. Linklater's Slacker similarly explores young adult characters interested in philosophizing.[242]
While not a member of Gen X himself, director John Hughes has been recognized as having created classic 1980s teen films with early Gen X characters which "an entire generation took ownership of", including The Breakfast Club,[243][244] Sixteen Candles, Weird Science, Pretty in Pink, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off.[245]
In France, a new movement emerged, the Cinéma du look, spearheaded by filmmakers Luc Besson, Jean-Jacques Beineix, and Leos Carax. Although not Gen Xers themselves, Subway (1985), 37°2 le matin (English: Betty Blue; 1986), and Mauvais Sang (1986) sought to capture on screen the generation's malaise, sense of entrapment, and desire to escape.[246]
Franchise mega sequels
The birth of franchise mega-sequels in the science fiction, fantasy, and horror fiction genres, such as the epic space opera Star Wars and the Halloween franchise, had a notable cultural influence.
Literature
The literature of early Gen Xers is often dark and introspective. In the U.S., authors such as Elizabeth Wurtzel, David Foster Wallace, Bret Easton Ellis, and Douglas Coupland captured the generation's zeitgeist.[247] In France, Michel Houellebecq and Frédéric Beigbeder rank among major novelists whose work reflects the cohort's dissatisfaction and melancholy.[248] In the UK, Alex Garland, author of The Beach (1996), added to the genre.
Health problems
While previous research indicated that the likelihood of heart attacks was declining among Americans aged 35 to 74, a 2018 study published in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation found that this did not apply to the younger half of that cohort (controlling for age, Generation X have not seen a reduction in heart attack risk versus previous generations). Data from 28,000 patients from across the U.S. who were hospitalized for heart attacks between 1995 and 2014 showed that a growing proportion were between the ages of 35 and 54. The proportion of heart-attack patients in this age group at the end of the study was 32%, up from 27% at the start of the study. This increase is most pronounced among women, for whom the number rose from 21% to 31%. Many of those who had heart attacks also had high blood pressure, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. These changes have been faster for women than for men. Experts suggest a number of reasons for this. Conditions such as coronary artery disease are traditionally viewed as a man's problem, and so female patients are not considered high-risk. More often than in previous generations, Generation X women are both the primary caretakers of their families and full-time employees, reducing time for self-care.[249]
Offspring
Generation X are usually the parents of Generation Z,[250][251][252] and sometimes Millennials.[8] Jason Dorsey, who works for the Center of Generational Kinetics, observed that like their parents from Generation X, members of Generation Z tend to be autonomous and pessimistic. They need validation less than Millennials and typically become financially literate at an earlier age, as many of their parents bore the full brunt of the Great Recession.[253]
See also
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Punk was the first musical reaction to the classic-rock ethos of the Woodstock generation. The original punk rockers were late-period Boomers eager to distance themselves from the supercilious upper end of their demographic, and their music, reflecting the dour economics of the late 1970s, became a template for Generation X and the ensuing "post-punk" movement that eventually birthed grunge.
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The Gen X soundtrack was more of a mixtape that ranged from feel-good dance and pop music, to punk, glam rock, new wave, alternative and rap.
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Punk's full impact came only after the success of Nirvana in 1991, coinciding with the ascendance of Generation X—a new, disaffected generation born in the 1960s, many members of which identified with punk's charged, often contradictory mix of intelligence, simplicity, anger, and powerlessness.
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as hip-hop music moves into its 25th year, its 40-something followers are starting to wax nostalgic about what many feel was the "Golden Age" of hip-hop music: The '80s.
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"Sittin' in My Car" is vintage Slick Rick; bolstered by an elegant piano loop, Doug E. Fresh's beat-box breathalistics and Slick's crooning of Billy Stewart's "Sitting in the Park," the song invokes memories of rap's '86-'89 golden age, when it seemed that every new single reinvented the genre.
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[Spin editor-in-chief Sia] Michel [...] points out that Spin started several years before hip-hop mag Source was founded: "We put hip-hop on the cover before anyone else did." "Because we started this list in 1985, we pretty much hit hip-hop in its golden age," she says. "There were so many important, groundbreaking albums coming out right about that time."
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Emerging from the late-1980s New York City underground rap scene, the Jungle Brothers inadvertently found themselves part of hip-hop's golden age. Their early albums, 1988's Straight Out the Jungle and 1989's Done by the Forces of Nature, are considered, along with efforts such as the Beastie Boys' Paul's Boutique and De La Soul's Three Feet High and Rising, to be among the most influential hip-hop albums.
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In a genre that regularly denigrates its heroes, KRS-One has enough battle scars to be considered the Neil Young of hip-hop: a raggedy, highly opinionated figure from rap's golden age...
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The golden age of hip-hop is at least a decade in the past, a time when the most artistically ambitious music--by performers such as Public Enemy, Eric B. and Rakim, De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest--was also the most commercially successful.
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Wearing a blue sweatsuit and a shining gold pendant, Nas reminded many in the crowd of the Golden Age of New York hip-hop, when rappers from Eric B. & Rakim to the Ultramagnetic MCs wore clothes tailored by the hip Harlem haberdashery Dapper Dan's.
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To claim that "Critical Beatdown" is the greatest hip-hop album of 1988 would take a lot of courage-- after all, it was the zenith of hip-hop's Golden Age, boasting classics from nearly every influential late-1980s rap group. And even if Ultramagnetic's Kool Keith and Ced Gee didn't possess the intricate rhythms of Rakim and Chuck D, or paint vivid ghettoscapes as well as KRS-One or Slick Rick, "Critical Beatdown" is still probably the hardest, fastest, craziest hip-hop album of that year.
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In this vein, Solondz' films, while set in the present, contain an array of objects and architectural styles that evoke Generation X's childhood and adolescence. Dawn (Heather Matarazzo) wears her hair tied up in a 1970s ponytail holder with large balls, despite the fact her brother works at a 1990 Macintosh computer, in a film that came out in 1996.
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External links
- Generation X Goes Global: Mapping a Youth Culture in Motion Archived 15 January 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Christine Henseler, Ed.; 2012
- "Generation X's journey from jaded to sated" – Salon, 1 October 2013
- Gen X Today—2016 documentary by Viacom International Media Networks