Most of us have probably heard of these terms that describe different generations: Baby Boomer, GenerationX, Millennials, iGenerations, etc. But if we are pressed to further define the birth year of each generation and its unique characteristics, we may feel a bit unprepared to adequately portrait each group. If you are in the same boat, hope you will find this blog series useful. In the coming weeks, I am hoping to introduce different resources, each in a bite size length that is easy to digest, and yet, enough to get us thinking on the implication of raising our children who grow up in today’s landscape.
For this blog, I would like to introduce “The Center for Generational Kinetics.” It is an organization that focuses on generational research, especially with Generation Y and Z. According to the Center, there are five primary generations today with the following ranges of birth years.
• iGen, Gen Z or Centennials: Born 1996 and later
• Millennials or Gen Y: Born 1977 to 1995
• Generation X: Born 1965 to 1976
• Baby Boomers: Born 1946 to 1964
• Traditionalists or Silent Generation: Born 1945 and before
Though you may find different range of birth years from other sources, in general, generations are categorized based on three key trends:
The three key trends that shape generations are parenting, technology and economics. For example, many Baby Boomers have the parenting philosophy, “We want it to be easier for our kids than it was for us.” This philosophy in turn helped create and reinforce Millennials’ sense of entitlement, which is now a hotly debated topic.
If you are like me in my 40s, you are probably part of generation X, who may have coworkers from Generation Y and are raising kids from Generation Z. When we put it in this perspective, it may get us more curious and motivated in seeking to understand the uniqueness of each population, and hence, be more effectively in relating to our coworkers, subordinates and children.
Before I look into this topic, I thought Millennial and iGeneration refer to the same group of population, but turns out not the case. Millennial refers to generation Y who are currently in their 20s to late 30s, while iGeneration refers to Generation Z who is still in school with some about to graduate from college. The main line that differentiates generation Z from generation Y is the 911 incident.
The end of the Millennials and the start of the iGen in the United States are closely tied to September 11, 2001. That day marks the number-one generation-defining moment for Millennials. Members of the iGen generation—also known as Gen Z or Centennials, they're born in 1996 and after—cannot process the significance of 9/11, and it’s always been a part of history for them.
Wonder why the Millennial and iGeneration drew so much attention nowadays? Well, not only because they grew up with very different technologies from the prior generations, but also because they are very BIG in size.
In the last two years, Millennials have become the largest generation in the U.S. workforce. Millennials are also the fastest-growing generation of customers in the marketplace, bringing the greatest lifetime value. In addition, Millennials exhibit different attitudes toward employment, sales and marketing, which are challenging many conventional strategies and approaches. No wonder everyone’s talking about Millennials—are they really different? How and why are they different? What can employers, marketers, politicians, educators, and parents do?
There are currently over 23 million Gen Z in the United States. Within the next five years, they will become the fastest-growing generation in both the workplace and the marketplace.
TO BE CONTINUED > > >
The quotes from this blog are taken mainly from the following two links. I have listed below for your reference.
http://genhq.com/FAQ-info-about-generations/
http://genhq.com/igen-gen-z-generation-z-centennials-info/