115-470: 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. By this definition and U.S. Census data, there are 65.2 million Gen Xers in
230-468: A significant comparison, numbers must be altered for the size of the population that is under study. For example, the fertility rate is calculated as the ratio of the number of births to women of childbearing age to the total number of women in this age range. If these adjustments were not made, we would not know if a nation with a higher rate of births or deaths has a population with more women of childbearing age or more births per eligible woman. Within
345-464: 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
460-517: A 1950s-era 'cult of the child' to what Landon Jones called a 1970s-era 'cult of the adult'". 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". 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
575-734: 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. 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". In their 1991 book Generations , authors Howe and Strauss indicated that
690-401: A country (or other entity) contains Population t persons at time t . What is the size of the population at time t + 1 ? Natural increase from time t to t + 1: Net migration from time t to t + 1: These basic equations can also be applied to subpopulations. For example, the population size of ethnic groups or nationalities within a given society or country is subject to
805-484: A field of sociology , though there are a number of independent demography departments. These methods have primarily been developed to study human populations, but are extended to a variety of areas where researchers want to know how populations of social actors can change across time through processes of birth, death, and migration . In the context of human biological populations, demographic analysis uses administrative records to develop an independent estimate of
920-434: A hoot what others think of them. Or whether others think of them at all." 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. Individualism is one of the defining traits of Generation X, and is reflected in their entrepreneurial spirit. In
1035-460: 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. In 2002, Time magazine published an article titled Gen Xers Aren't Slackers After All , reporting that four out of five new businesses were
1150-471: 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
1265-424: A large government bailout, which placed further strain on the budget. 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. On
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#17328760982041380-429: 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. Kramer vs. Kramer , a 1979 American legal drama based on Avery Corman 's best-selling novel, came to epitomize
1495-495: A multinational professional services network headquartered in London, describes Generation X employees as those born from 1965 to 1980. 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 titled Generations , and differentiate the cohort into an early and late wave. Jeff Gordinier , in his 2008 book X Saves
1610-460: A new product, and to analyze certain dynamics of a company's workforce. Choosing a new location for a branch of a bank, choosing the area in which to start a new supermarket, consulting a bank loan officer that a particular location would be a beneficial site to start a car wash, and determining what shopping area would be best to buy and be redeveloped in metropolis area are types of problems in which demographers can be called upon. Standardization
1725-557: 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. 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
1840-498: A period of transition where in demography emerged from statistics as a separate field of interest. This period included a panoply of international 'great demographers' like Adolphe Quetelet (1796–1874), William Farr (1807–1883), Louis-Adolphe Bertillon (1821–1883) and his son Jacques (1851–1922), Joseph Körösi (1844–1906), Anders Nicolas Kaier (1838–1919), Richard Böckh (1824–1907), Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), Wilhelm Lexis (1837–1914), and Luigi Bodio (1840–1920) contributed to
1955-426: A standardized mortality rate (SMR) or standardized incidence rate (SIR). Population change is analyzed by measuring the change between one population size to another. Global population continues to rise, which makes population change an essential component to demographics. This is calculated by taking one population size minus the population size in an earlier census . The best way of measuring population change
2070-488: A time when society was less focused on children and more focused on adults. Xers were children during a time of increasing divorce rates, with divorce rates doubling in the mid-1960s, before peaking in 1980. 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
2185-499: A variety of demographic methods for modelling population processes. They include models of mortality (including the life table , Gompertz models , hazards models , Cox proportional hazards models , multiple decrement life tables , Brass relational logits), fertility (Hermes model, Coale -Trussell models, parity progression ratios ), marriage (Singulate Mean at Marriage, Page model), disability ( Sullivan's method , multistate life tables), population projections ( Lee-Carter model ,
2300-770: Is 59 years old and the youngest is, or is turning, 43 years old in 2024. The Brookings Institution , another U.S. think-tank, sets the Gen X period as between 1965 and 1981. The U.S. Federal Reserve Board uses 1965–1980. The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) uses 1965 to 1980. 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 parameters of 1965 to 1980. U.S. news outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post describe Generation X as people born between 1965 and 1980. Gallup , Bloomberg , Business Insider , and Forbes use 1965–1980. Time magazine states that Generation X
2415-707: Is "roughly defined as anyone born between 1965 and 1980". George Masnick of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies puts this generation in the time-frame of 1965 to 1984, in order to satisfy the premise that boomers, Xers, and millennials "cover equal 20-year age spans". In Australia, the McCrindle Research Center uses 1965–1979. In the UK, the Resolution Foundation think-tank defines Gen X as those born between 1966 and 1980. PricewaterhouseCoopers ,
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#17328760982042530-439: Is "taken from the name of Billy Idol’s long-defunct punk band of the late 1970s". However, in 1995 Coupland denied the term's connection to the band, stating that: 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
2645-448: Is a useful demographic technique used in the analysis of a business. It can be used as an interpretive and analytic tool for the comparison of different markets. These organizations have interests about the number and characteristics of their clients so they can maximize the sale of their products, their outlook on their influence, or the ends of their power, services, and beneficial works. Vancouver Magazine Vancouver Magazine
2760-596: Is an English-language lifestyle magazine focused on Vancouver , British Columbia and the Lower Mainland . Vancouver Magazine describes its mission as informing, guiding and entertaining residents of a "dynamic, international city." The main areas of coverage are city issues, culture, restaurants, drinking, fashion and travel. Founded in 1967, the magazine started its life as Dick McLean's Greater Vancouver Greeter Guide . In 1973 it became known as Vancouver's Leisure Magazine , when editor Mac Parry took over, though over
2875-417: Is because developed countries have proportionally more older people, who are more likely to die in a given year, so that the overall mortality rate can be higher even if the mortality rate at any given age is lower. A more complete picture of mortality is given by a life table , which summarizes mortality separately at each age. A life table is necessary to give a good estimate of life expectancy. Suppose that
2990-431: Is likely to continue to rise. Populations can change through three processes: fertility, mortality, and migration. Fertility involves the number of children that women have and is to be contrasted with fecundity (a woman's childbearing potential). Mortality is the study of the causes, consequences, and measurement of processes affecting death to members of the population. Demographers most commonly study mortality using
3105-545: Is seen as the intellectual father of ideas of overpopulation and the limits to growth. Later, more sophisticated and realistic models were presented by Benjamin Gompertz and Verhulst . In 1855, a Belgian scholar Achille Guillard defined demography as the natural and social history of human species or the mathematical knowledge of populations, of their general changes, and of their physical, civil, intellectual, and moral condition. The period 1860–1910 can be characterized as
3220-473: Is the statistical study of human populations : their size, composition (e.g., ethnic group, age), and how they change through the interplay of fertility (births), mortality (deaths), and migration. Demographic analysis examines and measures the dimensions and dynamics of populations; it can cover whole societies or groups defined by criteria such as education , nationality , religion , and ethnicity . Educational institutions usually treat demography as
3335-554: Is the case in much of the developing world, and most of historical demography . One of these techniques in contemporary demography is the sister method, where survey researchers ask women how many of their sisters have died or had children and at what age. With these surveys, researchers can then indirectly estimate birth or death rates for the entire population. Other indirect methods in contemporary demography include asking people about siblings, parents, and children. Other indirect methods are necessary in historical demography. There are
3450-468: 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, following the baby boom peak of
3565-432: Is today widely taught in many universities across the world, attracting students with initial training in social sciences, statistics or health studies. Being at the crossroads of several disciplines such as sociology , economics , epidemiology , geography , anthropology and history , demography offers tools to approach a large range of population issues by combining a more technical quantitative approach that represents
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3680-510: Is used in a wide variety of contexts. For example, it is often used in business plans, to describe the population connected to the geographic location of the business. Demographic analysis is usually abbreviated as DA. For the 2010 U.S. Census, The U.S. Census Bureau has expanded its DA categories. Also as part of the 2010 U.S. Census, DA now also includes comparative analysis between independent housing estimates, and census address lists at different key time points. Patient demographics form
3795-421: Is using the intercensal percentage change. The intercensal percentage change is the absolute change in population between the censuses divided by the population size in the earlier census. Next, multiply this a hundredfold to receive a percentage . When this statistic is achieved, the population growth between two or more nations that differ in size, can be accurately measured and examined. For there to be
3910-605: The Friends generation: rather self-involved and perhaps aimless...but fun". 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'". Ben Stiller 's 1994 film Reality Bites also sought to capture
4025-763: The International Union for the Scientific Study of Population , or a national association such as the Population Association of America in the United States, or affiliates of the Federation of Canadian Demographers in Canada . Population composition is the description of population defined by characteristics such as age, race , sex or marital status . These descriptions can be necessary for understanding
4140-649: The Leslie Matrix ), and population momentum ( Keyfitz ). The United Kingdom has a series of four national birth cohort studies, the first three spaced apart by 12 years: the 1946 National Survey of Health and Development , the 1958 National Child Development Study , the 1970 British Cohort Study , and the Millennium Cohort Study , begun much more recently in 2000. These have followed the lives of samples of people (typically beginning with around 17,000 in each study) for many years, and are still continuing. As
4255-505: The Middle Ages , Christian thinkers devoted much time in refuting the Classical ideas on demography. Important contributors to the field were William of Conches , Bartholomew of Lucca , William of Auvergne , William of Pagula , and Muslim sociologists like Ibn Khaldun . One of the earliest demographic studies in the modern period was Natural and Political Observations Made upon
4370-565: The United States and much of Europe ), registry statistics are the best method for estimating the number of births and deaths. A census is the other common direct method of collecting demographic data. A census is usually conducted by a national government and attempts to enumerate every person in a country. In contrast to vital statistics data, which are typically collected continuously and summarized on an annual basis, censuses typically occur only every 10 years or so, and thus are not usually
4485-473: The United States as of 2019. Most of Generation X are the children of the Silent Generation and early Baby Boomers; Xers are also often the parents of Millennials and Generation Z . 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
4600-652: 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. 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. However, following
4715-666: The life table , a statistical device that provides information about the mortality conditions (most notably the life expectancy) in the population. Migration refers to the movement of persons from a locality of origin to a destination place across some predefined, political boundary. Migration researchers do not designate movements 'migrations' unless they are somewhat permanent. Thus, demographers do not consider tourists and travellers to be migrating. While demographers who study migration typically do so through census data on place of residence, indirect sources of data including tax forms and labour force surveys are also important. Demography
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4830-433: The social dynamics from historical and comparative research. This data is often compared using a population pyramid . Population composition is also a very important part of historical research. Information ranging back hundreds of years is not always worthwhile, because the numbers of people for which data are available may not provide the information that is important (such as population size ). Lack of information on
4945-402: The zeitgeist of the generation with a portrayal of the attitudes and lifestyle choices of the time. 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
5060-468: The "baby busters" generation rather than as Generation X . In Canada, professor David Foot describes Generation X as late boomers and includes those born between 1960 and 1966, whilst the "Bust Generation", those born between 1967 and 1979, is considered altogether a separate generation, in his 1996 book Boom Bust & Echo: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Shift . People born in
5175-535: 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 ". 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. When
5290-445: The 1985 scheme Plan Informatique pour Tous (IPT) . 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
5405-518: 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 , Misplaced Pages , Amazon.com , and YouTube , arguing that if Boomers had created them, "we'd never hear
5520-730: The Application of Probabilities to Life Contingencies (1838). In 1755, Benjamin Franklin published his essay Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc. , projecting exponential growth in British colonies . His work influenced Thomas Robert Malthus , who, writing at the end of the 18th century, feared that, if unchecked, population growth would tend to outstrip growth in food production, leading to ever-increasing famine and poverty (see Malthusian catastrophe ). Malthus
5635-556: The Bills of Mortality (1662) by John Graunt , which contains a primitive form of life table . Among the study's findings were that one-third of the children in London died before their sixteenth birthday. Mathematicians, such as Edmond Halley , developed the life table as the basis for life insurance mathematics. Richard Price was credited with the first textbook on life contingencies published in 1771, followed later by Augustus De Morgan , On
5750-454: 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. However, increased immigration during
5865-434: 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. The term Generation X has been used at various times to describe alienated youth. In
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#17328760982045980-465: The World , include those born between 1961 and 1977 but possibly as late as 1980. George Masnick of the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies puts this generation in the time-frame of 1965 to 1984, in order to satisfy the premise that boomers, Xers, and millennials "cover equal 20-year age spans". In 2004, journalist J. Markert also acknowledged the 20-year increments but goes one step further and subdivides
6095-467: The basic demographic equation holds true by definition, in practice the recording and counting of events (births, deaths, immigration, emigration) and the enumeration of the total population size are subject to error. So allowance needs to be made for error in the underlying statistics when any accounting of population size or change is made. The figure in this section shows the latest (2004) UN ( United Nations ) WHO projections of world population out to
6210-696: The best source of data on births and deaths. Analyses are conducted after a census to estimate how much over or undercounting took place. These compare the sex ratios from the census data to those estimated from natural values and mortality data. Censuses do more than just count people. They typically collect information about families or households in addition to individual characteristics such as age, sex, marital status, literacy/education, employment status, and occupation, and geographical location. They may also collect data on migration (or place of birth or of previous residence), language, religion, nationality (or ethnicity or race), and citizenship. In countries in which
6325-518: The category of standardization , there are two major approaches: direct standardization and indirect standardization. A stable population does not necessarily remain fixed in size. It can be expanding or shrinking. The crude death rate as defined above and applied to a whole population can give a misleading impression. For example, the number of deaths per 1,000 people can be higher in developed nations than in less-developed countries, despite standards of health being better in developed countries. This
6440-854: The cohort became socially and politically conscious during the Reagan Era . President Ronald Reagan , voted in office principally by the Boomer generation, 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. The early 1980s recession saw unemployment rise to 10.8% in 1982; requiring, more often than not, dual parental incomes. 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
6555-553: The core of the data for any medical institution, such as patient and emergency contact information and patient medical record data. They allow for the identification of a patient and their categorization into categories for the purpose of statistical analysis. Patient demographics include: date of birth , gender , date of death , postal code, ethnicity, blood type , emergency contact information, family doctor, insurance provider data, allergies , major diagnoses and major medical history. Formal demography limits its object of study to
6670-494: The core of the discipline with many other methods borrowed from social or other sciences. Demographic research is conducted in universities, in research institutes, as well as in statistical departments and in several international agencies. Population institutions are part of the CICRED (International Committee for Coordination of Demographic Research) network while most individual scientists engaged in demographic research are members of
6785-620: The course of a few months it was retitled as simply Vancouver. . Parry would go on to be editor for 16 years. Vancouver Magazine published 10 times a year and is owned by the Yellow Pages , and shares an office and editorial staff with sister publication Western Living It also currently publishes the special interest annual magazine Best of the City and Neighbourhood Guide . Yellow Pages acquired Vancouver Magazine and Western Living from Transcontinental in 2015. In 2012, it won Magazine of
6900-423: 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". 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
7015-517: 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. 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. In
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#17328760982047130-561: The definition used there is "born in the late 1950s and 1960s", which is about ten years earlier than definitions that came later. 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". Coupland referenced Billy Idol's band Generation X in the 1987 article and again in 1989 in Vista magazine. In the book proposal for his novel, Coupland writes that Generation X
7245-476: The delay in naming this demographic cohort saying, "Over 30 years after their birthday, they didn't have a name. I think that's germane." Previously, the cohort had been referred to as Post-Boomers, Baby Busters (which refers to the drop in birth rates following the baby boom in the western world, particularly in the U.S.), New Lost Generation , latchkey kids , MTV Generation , and the 13th Generation (the 13th generation since American independence ). Generation X
7360-566: 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 . At school, several computer projects were supported by the Department of Education under United States Secretary of Education Terrel Bell 's "Technology Initiative". This was later mirrored in the UK's 1982 Computers for Schools programme and, in France, under
7475-528: The development of demography and to the toolkit of methods and techniques of demographic analysis. Demography is the statistical and mathematical study of the size, composition, and spatial distribution of human populations and how these features change over time. Data are obtained from a census of the population and from registries: records of events like birth , deaths , migrations, marriages, divorces , diseases, and employment . To do this, there needs to be an understanding of how they are calculated and
7590-644: The distribution and abundance of organisms. As it relates to organizations and demography, organizations go through various liabilities to their continued survival. Hospitals, like all other large and complex organizations are impacted in the environment they work. For example, a study was done on the closure of acute care hospitals in Florida between a particular time. The study examined effect size, age, and niche density of these particular hospitals. A population theory says that organizational outcomes are mostly determined by environmental factors . Among several factors of
7705-452: 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 following World War II . The term first appeared in print in a December 1952 issue of Holiday magazine announcing their upcoming publication of Capa's photo-essay. From 1976 to 1981, English musician Billy Idol used the moniker as the name for his punk rock band . Idol had attributed
7820-610: 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". 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,
7935-546: 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". In a 2007 article published in the Harvard Business Review , authors Strauss and Howe wrote of Generation X: "They are already
8050-414: The family), and grew callous to the loss." 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. Thomas also discussed how divorce was different during the Gen X childhood, with the child having
8165-408: The family. The causes of turnover can be split into two separate factors, one linked with the culture of the organization, and the other relating to all other factors. People who do not fully accept a culture might leave voluntarily. Or, some individuals might leave because they fail to fit in and fail to change within a particular organization. A basic definition of population ecology is a study of
8280-445: The federal budget for supply-reduction efforts. 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. As
8395-696: The generation into two 10-year cohorts with early and later members of the generation. 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.). Based on external events of historical importance, Schewe and Noble in 2002 argue that a cohort is formed against significant milestones and can be any length of time. Against this logic, Generation X begins in 1966 and ends in 1976, with those born between 1955 and 1965 being labelled as "trailing-edge boomers". The 1994 book Baby Busters: The Disillusioned Generation by George Barna refers to those born 1965–1983 as
8510-416: The greatest entrepreneurial generation in U.S. history; their high-tech savvy and marketplace resilience have helped America prosper in the era of globalization." According to authors Michael Hais and Morley Winograd: Demography Demography (from Ancient Greek δῆμος ( dêmos ) 'people, society' and -γραφία ( -graphía ) 'writing, drawing, description')
8625-467: 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. In 1986, President Reagan signed the Anti-Drug Abuse Act to enforce strict mandatory minimum sentencing for drug users. He also increased
8740-461: 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. 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
8855-419: The incoming generation. 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
8970-399: 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. 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
9085-567: The late 1950s, until an upswing in the late 1970s and eventual recovery at the start of the 1980s. In the U.S., the Pew Research Center , a non-partisan think-tank, delineates a Generation X period of 1965–1980 which has, albeit gradually, come to gain acceptance in academic circles. 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
9200-521: The late 1960s when state laws were amended and reduced the age of majority from 21 to ages 18–20. 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
9315-684: The latter half of the Baby Boomers from the early 1960s to the early years of Generation X are sometimes called Generation Jones . People born in the Generation X / millennial cusp years of the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s are sometimes called Xennials . Other names include the Star Wars Generation, Generation Catalano, and the Oregon Trail Generation. These "microgenerations" share characteristics of both generations. There are differences in Gen X population numbers depending on
9430-470: The least racist of today's generations". In the U.S., Title IX , which passed in 1972, provided increased athletic opportunities to Gen X girls in the public school setting. 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. In the U.S., compared to the Boomer generation, Generation X
9545-406: 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
9660-437: 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 ),
9775-418: The measurement of population processes, while the broader field of social demography or population studies also analyses the relationships between economic, social, institutional, cultural, and biological processes influencing a population. Demographic thoughts traced back to antiquity, and were present in many civilisations and cultures, like Ancient Greece , Ancient Rome , China and India . Made up of
9890-442: The merry-go-round of status, money, and social climbing that so often frames modern existence. Author William Strauss noted that around the time Coupland's 1991 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" ended up sticking. The "X" refers to an unknown variable or to a desire not to be defined. Strauss's coauthor Neil Howe noted
10005-582: The military to fight the War on Terror . 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." 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
10120-467: The name of his band to the book Generation X , a 1964 book on British popular youth culture written by journalists Jane Deverson and Charles Hamblett—a copy of which had been owned by Idol's mother. These uses of the term appear to have no connection to Robert Capa's photo-essay. The term acquired a modern application after the release of Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture , a 1991 novel written by Canadian author Douglas Coupland ; however,
10235-413: The nation will become a nation of immigrants. This influx is projected to rise over the next century as new immigrants and their children will account for over half the U.S. population. These demographic shifts could ignite major adjustments in the economy, more specifically, in labor markets. People decide to exit organizations for many reasons, such as, better jobs, dissatisfaction, and concerns within
10350-544: 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
10465-458: The original data-collection procedures may prevent accurate evaluation of data quality. The demographic analysis of labor markets can be used to show slow population growth, population aging , and the increased importance of immigration. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that in the next 100 years, the United States will face some dramatic demographic changes. The population is expected to grow more slowly and age more rapidly than ever before and
10580-597: 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
10695-528: The population. Demographic analysis estimates are often considered a reliable standard for judging the accuracy of the census information gathered at any time. In the labor force , demographic analysis is used to estimate sizes and flows of populations of workers; in population ecology the focus is on the birth, death, migration and immigration of individuals in a population of living organisms, alternatively, in social human sciences could involve movement of firms and institutional forms. Demographic analysis
10810-411: The precise boundaries that demarcate one generation from another." Pew takes into account other factors, notably the labor market as well as attitudinal and behavioral trends of a group. 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". According to this definition, the oldest Gen Xer
10925-512: The prefix demo- and the suffix -graphy , the term demography refers to the overall study of population. In ancient Greece, this can be found in the writings of Herodotus , Thucydides , Hippocrates , Epicurus , Protagoras , Polus , Plato and Aristotle . In Rome, writers and philosophers like Cicero , Seneca , Pliny the Elder , Marcus Aurelius , Epictetus , Cato , and Columella also expressed important ideas on this ground. In
11040-481: 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. Yet, the slacker moniker stuck. As the decade progressed, Gen X gained a reputation for entrepreneurship . In 1999, The New York Times dubbed them "Generation 1099", describing them as
11155-566: The questions they answer which are included in these four concepts: population change , standardization of population numbers, the demographic bookkeeping equation, and population composition. There are two types of data collection —direct and indirect—with several methods of each type. Direct data comes from vital statistics registries that track all births and deaths as well as certain changes in legal status such as marriage, divorce, and migration (registration of place of residence). In developed countries with good registration systems (such as
11270-456: 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. Generally, Gen Xers are the children of the Silent Generation and older Baby Boomers. 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
11385-417: The same sources of change. When dealing with ethnic groups, however, "net migration" might have to be subdivided into physical migration and ethnic reidentification ( assimilation ). Individuals who change their ethnic self-labels or whose ethnic classification in government statistics changes over time may be thought of as migrating or moving from one population subcategory to another. More generally, while
11500-447: The samples have been drawn in a nationally representative way, inferences can be drawn from these studies about the differences between four distinct generations of British people in terms of their health, education, attitudes, childbearing and employment patterns. Indirect standardization is used when a population is small enough that the number of events (births, deaths, etc.) are also small. In this case, methods must be used to produce
11615-554: The socialist utopia with the fall of the Berlin Wall , moreover, added to the disillusionment that any alternative to the capitalist model was possible. 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
11730-459: The struggle for child custody and the demise of the traditional nuclear family. 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. These children lacked adult supervision in
11845-530: The terrorist attacks. Gen X survey respondents reported that they no longer wanted to live alone. 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." 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
11960-404: The theory, there are four that apply to the hospital closure example: size, age, density of niches in which organizations operate, and density of niches in which organizations are established. Problems in which demographers may be called upon to assist business organizations are when determining the best prospective location in an area of a branch store or service outlet, predicting the demand for
12075-463: The total number of Gen X individuals in the U.S. was 88.5 million. 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
12190-522: 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. Gen Xers were the first children to have access to personal computers in their homes and at schools. In the early 1980s, the growth in the use of personal computers exploded. Manufacturers such as Commodore , Atari , and Apple responded to
12305-474: The vital registration system may be incomplete, the censuses are also used as a direct source of information about fertility and mortality; for example, the censuses of the People's Republic of China gather information on births and deaths that occurred in the 18 months immediately preceding the census. Indirect methods of collecting data are required in countries and periods where full data are not available, such as
12420-540: The work of Gen Xers. 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. Author Neil Howe reported survey data which showed that Gen Xers were cohabiting and getting married in increasing numbers following
12535-451: The workforce at a time before childcare options outside the home were widely available. 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. Some older Gen Xers started high school in the waning years of the Carter presidency, but much of
12650-518: The year 2150 (red = high, orange = medium, green = low). The UN "medium" projection shows world population reaching an approximate equilibrium at 9 billion by 2075. Working independently, demographers at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Austria expect world population to peak at 9 billion by 2070. Throughout the 21st century, the average age of the population
12765-442: 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." 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
12880-535: 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, 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
12995-542: 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. By 1998, the generation's last year of college enrollment, those entering the higher education sector totaled 14.3 million. In addition, unlike Boomers and previous generations, women outpaced men in college completion rates. For early Gen Xer graduates entering
13110-439: 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
13225-458: Was speaking the patois of: Gilligan's Island meets 'What the fuck happened in my life?' By the mid-late 1990s, under Bill Clinton 's presidency, economic optimism had returned to the U.S., with unemployment reduced from 7.5% in 1992 to 4% in 2000. 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
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