Generation X
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 being generally defined as people born from 1965 to 1980.[1] By this definition and U.S. Census data, there are 65.2 million Gen Xers[2] in the United States as of 2019.[3] Most of Generation X are the children of the Silent Generation and early Baby Boomers;[4][5] Xers are also often the parents of Millennials[4] and Generation Z.[6]
"Gen X" redirects here. For other uses, see Gen X (disambiguation) and Generation X (disambiguation).
As children in the 1970s and 1980s, a time of shifting societal values, Gen Xers were sometimes called the "latchkey generation", which stems from their returning as children from school to an empty home and needing to use a key to let themselves in. This was a result of what is now called free-range parenting, plus increasing divorce rates, and increased maternal participation in the workforce prior to 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), sometimes being 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 Gen Xers themselves (e.g., grunge, grindcore and related genres). Film, both the birth of franchise mega-sequels and a proliferation of independent film (enabled in part by video) was also a notable cultural influence. Video games, both in amusement parlours and in devices in Western homes, were also a major part of juvenile entertainment for the first time. Politically, in many Eastern Bloc countries, Generation X experienced the last days of communism and the transition to capitalism as part of its 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 credited as entrepreneurial, and productive in the workplace.
Health problems
While previous research has 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 revealed 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 United States 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%. A common theme among those who suffered from heart attacks is that they 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 as such 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.[238]
Offspring
Generation X are usually the parents of Generation Z,[239][240][241] and sometimes Millennials.[4] 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 the Millennials and typically become financially literate at an earlier age, as many of their parents bore the full brunt of the Great Recession.[242]