Generational Markers Defined - Pew Research Organization
n a recent post I responded to In a recent post I responded to an Ars Technica article about trends that make my generation (Boomers) perceive following generations (Millenials, mainly) to be “lazy”.
That’s debatable, as I commented, since the Millenials are getting older and wiser in the world, and have to make their way, as did the generations before.
But all this talk of “generations” brings up the question: what are they and how are they demarcated?
Authoritative Source
To settle this more or less definitively, we can turn to the data from the Pew Research Organization. Without further verbage, here is their definition list presented in table form (ages are as of the date of this blog entry):
| Generation | Date Range | Ages | Defining Events and Technology During Youth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silent | 1928-1945 | 79-96 | WWII, Radio |
| Boomer | 1946-1964 | 60-78 | Korea, VietNam War, Television |
| Gen-X | 1965-1980 | 44-59 | Apollo Moon Landings, Electronic Calculators |
| Millenials/Gen-Y | 1981-1996 | 28-43 | Gulf War, Personal Computers |
| Gen-Z | 1997-2012 | 12-27 | 9/11, Social Media, Smart Phones |
There are finer distinctions and subcategories, but these are the generally excepted major divisions as of the published results in 2019.
To be sure, the demarcations are somewhat fluid, especially for later generations. In fact, I seemed to recall our Boomer generation was previously defined to end around 1960. 1964 actually adds quite a bit — in fact, the whole Boomer generation span is 18 years. That suggests, ostensibly, that Boomers just reaching adulthood could technically have had Boomer children.
At any rate, we can use this as a guide and reference moving forward (when the subject comes up.)