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You've probably heard the term before. It was coined almost twenty years ago by Tom Brokaw. Former anchor and managing editor of NBC News, Mr. Brokaw published his best-selling book, The Greatest Generation, in 1998.
The generation is generally defined as people born from 1901 to 1927. They were shaped by the Great Depression and were the primary generation composing the enlisted forces in World War II.
Unlike the previous generation who had fought for "changing the system," the Silent Generation was about "working within the system." They did this by keeping their heads down and working hard, thus earning themselves the "silent" label. Their attitudes leaned toward not being risk-takers and playing it safe.
The makings of the Greatest Generation
Of the 16 million Americans who fought in World War II, only about 167,000 were still alive as of 2022. The National World War II Museum projects that by 2034, there will be about 1,000 surviving veterans.
Gen Xers are a comparatively rare group.
Compared to Baby Boomers (75 million) and Millennials (83 million), Generation X members are outnumbered. Estimates have placed the population at around 65 million.
Is Gen Z the poorest generation? Gen Z has experienced higher poverty rates than millennials, Gen Xers and baby boomers, according to the KIDS COUNT Data Center, but Gen Alpha is the poorest generation to date.
They're called millennials because the oldest members of this generation were reaching adulthood at the turn of the millennium. They're also sometimes referred to as Generation Y, or Gen Y, because they came after Generation X and before Gen Z.
The term was coined by Mark McCrindle, founder of the Australian consultancy firm McCrindle Research, and he explains how it came about: "It conforms to the scientific nomenclature of using the Greek alphabet instead of the Latin alphabet and there was no point in going back to A, after all they are the first ...
According to our research, millennials are the most educated generation in American history. Approximately 38 percent of millennials have a bachelor's degree or higher, compared with 32 percent of Generation X and 15 percent of baby boomers when they were the same age.
Gen Z is also the smartest and best educated generation. Having an unlimited wealth of information at our disposal has not gone to waste. In America, 57 percent of Gen Z is reported to have enrolled in a two-year or four-year college, compared to 52 percent of Millenials and 43 percent of Gen X.
Baby boomers, born during the revolutionary two decades that followed the end of the Second World War, are currently the richest generation on the planet, with the average Boomer being worth $1.2 million, according to Fortune.
Unlike previous generations, Gen Z has little to no memory of a world without the internet, smartphones, and social media. Technology is a substantial part of their life. Being continually connected can also result in self-esteem issues and feeling pressure to conform.
The dates of birth years that are associated with each generation are: Lost Generation: 1880-1900. Greatest Generation: 1900-1925. Silent Generation: 1925-1945.
Baby boomers are the generational cohort born after World War II. Also known simply as “boomers,” they are named after the unprecedented post-war spike in birth rates, referred to as the baby boom.
The term millennial (also known as Generation Y) refers to anyone born between 1981 and 1996, and Gen Z refers to anyone born from 1997 through 2012, according to the Pew Research Center. Along the blurry edge at the cusp of the two generations, between Gen Y and Z, is where zillennials live.
Etymology and nomenclature. While there is no scientific process for deciding when a name has stuck, the momentum is clearly behind Gen Z. The name Generation Z is a reference to the fact that it is the second generation after Generation X, continuing the alphabetical sequence from Generation Y (Millennials).
Generation Z vs Millennials: Key Takeaways
Millennials value stability (34%), while Gen Z puts more of an emphasis on finding their dream job (32%). More Gen Zers follow their parents' influence (42%), compared to their Millennial counterparts (36%).
The Silent Generation, also known as "Radio Babies" or "Traditionalists," includes people who were born between 1928 and 1945 and lived through World War II and the Great Depression, according to FamilySearch . These challenging experiences shaped many of the generation's attitudes toward the workplace.
The Greatest Generation commonly refers to those Americans who were born in the 1900s through the 1920s. The Greatest Generation members all lived through the Great Depression and many of them fought in World War II. These individuals have often been described as driven, patriotic, and team-players.
It's rare to have six living generations. Guinness World Records say the current record for most living generations in a family is seven.
Approximately 70% of wealthy families lose their wealth by the next generation, with 90% losing it the generation after that.
It is estimated that 70% of wealthy families will lose their wealth by the second generation and 90% will lose it by the third. There are a variety of reasons why this happens: Generations are taught not to talk about money. The prior generations worry that the next generation will become lazy and entitled.
Members of Generation Z report higher rates of depression and a number of other mental health conditions than do generations before them. At the same time, they are more likely than previous generations to report these problems, positioning those who seek help in a place to receive it.