Members Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012, say social media destroyed their childhood. Millennals, born between 1981 and 1996, complain that they cannot buy a house. The Baby Boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, no reason to worry about an uncertain retirement.
Many, however, forget Generation X, which consists of those born between 1965 and 1980.
According to Google searches, People are less than half interested in Generation X compared to the Millennals, Generation Z or Baby Boomers.
There are a few podcasts or memes for Generation X. Except for «Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture» by Douglas Coopland, a novel published in 1991 and made the name popular, there are a few books referring to this group.
In Britain, members of the Generation X is less likely than members of any other age group to know the generation to which they belong.
Generation X may have no place in collective imagination, but its members really suffer. This is true both because they are at a difficult age, and because the generation itself is «Damn it.».
The Unfaired Generation X
A recent Ipsos poll in 30 countries reveals that 31% of the X generation members state that they are «Not very happy.» or «Not happy», the highest percentage of any other generation. David Bloodsflower of Dartmouth College finds that all kinds of unpleasant emotions, from misery to anxiety and despair, peak around 50. This is consistent with her theory. «Life U curve», which suggests that people are happy when they are young and old, but unhappy in the middle age. The Baby Boomers passed it and soon the Millennals will pass it.
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The U curve exists partly because chronic health problems begin to appear in the middle age. People also realize that not everything they had hoped for in their careers will succeed. Moreover, people of Generation X often have to care for both their children and their parents. In America they devote 5% of their spending to caring for people under the age of 18 or over 65, compared to just 2% for Baby-boomers. In Italy, the proportion of people aged 18 to 34 living with their parents has increased from 61% to 68% in the last two decades. In Spain, the increase is even more dramatic. What generation do many of these parents belong to? In Generation X.
Nowhere else does life have the shape of the letter so intensely U as in San Francisco. The city's idealistic youth believe they will establish the next major artificial intelligence company and are willing to tolerate high cost of life and crime. The successful Baby-boomers generation, live in huge houses in Pacific Heights and hold positions on company boards. The X Generation, in the middle, has neither idealism nor comfortable jobs. Only 37% are happy with life in San Francisco, compared to 63% of Generation Z, according to a 2022 poll from the local newspaper San Francisco Standard.
A slow economic progress
Though Generation X will escape in time from the turning point, it will remain «Lost» in other respects. Generation X does gain more after inflation than previous generations —the continuation of a long historical trend, from which Millennal and Generation Z benefit. But her progress was slow. A recent study of Kevin Corinth by the American Enterprise Institute, a think-tank, and Jeff Larimore by the US Federal Reserve evaluates the incomes of American households per generation, taking into account taxes, state transfers and inflation. From the age of 36 to 40, the real incomes of the families of the Generation X was only 16% higher than those of the previous generation at the same age, the smallest improvement than any other group.
Perhaps this low income growth is a consequence of a stereotype confirmed by a series of psychological studies: the members of the Generation They hesitate to become «robot» companies, placing greater emphasis on the balance between professional and personal life and autonomy.
It is no coincidence that in 1999, when the members of Generation X were at the peak of their lives, two highly successful films in which the protagonists were freed from the shackles of everyday life. In the film «The Matrix»Thomas Anderson, a computer developer, discovers that the world is an illusion simulated by smart machines. In the movie «Fight Club», an office clerk becomes a member of a secret society, whose members are brutally hitting each other. All this is naturally very exciting, but it does not contribute at all to a steady career.
What about income?
To be fair, Generation X faced difficult circumstances. People's incomes usually increase rapidly to 30 and 40, as they take managerial positions. Unfortunately for Generation X, when in this age group, the labour markets were weak, following the 2007-09 global financial crisis.
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In 2011, for example, average nominal incomes of the British at the age of 30 increased by just 1.1%. The rise in incomes in Italy, which was seriously affected by the euro crisis, was equally low. And in Canada, from 2011 to 2017, the real average incomes of persons aged 35 to 44 did not increase at all.
Generation X also failed to accumulate wealth. In the 1980s, when many of the Baby-boomers Generation were in their 30s, global stock markets quadrupled. The generation of Millennals, who are now at their 30s, has so far enjoyed strong returns on the markets. However, During the 2000s, when Generation X hoped to gain profits, markets fell slightly. This period was a lost decade for American shares in particular, as it followed the dotcom bubble and ended with the economic crisis.
Problems with housing property
What about home ownership, the ultimate symbol of intergenerational injustice? The conventional narrative contrasts Millennals who live permanently in rental apartments with Baby Boomers enjoying six extra bedrooms. However, data on housing ownership in the US, provided by Victoria Gregory of the Fed branch in St. Louis, overturn this view. In fact, the large fall in housing ownership rates occurred from the generation of Baby Boomers in Generation X. Starting in the late 30s and early 40s, the members of the Generation X of a certain age had similar chances of acquiring property with the Millennals.
Aversion to home ownership is, in some cases, an option. But, again, circumstances are probably a major factor.
From the late 30s to the early 40s, when many people first enter the real estate market, Generation X suffered from the effects of the financial crisisDone. Hard to get a mortgageSome of those who already had a loan lost their house due to seizure and returned to rent.
Less wealth
Cumulative statistics capture all these trends. Jeremy Horpental of the University of Central Arkansas monitors average wealth by generation, using data produced by the Fed. It notes that, at 31, the Milenial generation and Generation Z have about twice as much wealth as the Middle Generation had. X at the same age.
Using research data from the European Central Bank, we find evidence of similar trends in Europe. From 2010 to 2021, Millennals in the eurozone tripled their nominal net value, compared to less than doubling for Generation X.
The position of members of the Generation X may not be significantly improved in the coming years. They may be the first to suffer the consequences of broken pension systems. The U.S. Social Security Fund is planned to run out by 2033 — Just when the X Generation members start retiring — Which means that benefits will be reduced by 20-25%, unless Congress takes action.
With information from Economist
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