| Birth
Years |
NAME (S) |
1997 USA Population
size |
Attitudes and
Characteristics |
1492-1512
|
a Pilgrim generation |
|
|
1512-1532
|
a Pilgrim generation
|
|
|
1532-1555
|
a Pilgrim generation
|
|
|
1555-1583
|
a Pilgrim generation
|
|
|
1584-1614
(colonial cycle) |
Puritan generation
[idealist] |
|
|
1615-1647
(colonial cycle) |
Cavalier generation
[reactive] |
|
|
1648-1673
(colonial cycle) |
Glorious generation
[civic]
|
|
|
1674-1700
(revolutionary cycle) |
Enlightenment generation
[adaptive]
|
|
|
1701-1723
(revolutionary cycle) |
Awakening generation
[idealist]
|
|
|
1724-1741
(revolutionary cycle) |
Liberty generation
[reactive]
|
|
|
1742-1766
(revolutionary cycle) |
Republican generation
[civic]
|
|
|
1767-1791
(revolutionary cycle)
|
Compromise generation
[adaptive] |
|
|
1792-1821
(civil war cycle) |
Transcendental
[idealists]
|
|
|
1822-1842
(civil war cycle) |
Gilded generation
[reactive] |
|
|
1843-1859
(civil war cycle)
|
Progressive generation
[adaptive] |
|
|
1860-1882
("great power" cycle) |
Missionary generation
[idealistic]
|
|
|
1883-1901
("great power" cycle)
|
the LOST generation
[reactive] |
900,000
|
|
1901-1927
("great power" cycle)
|
the Seniors
GI generation
[civic]
|
19.9 million |
children of
the WWI gen. & fighters in WWII& young in the Great Depression...all
leading to strong models of teamwork to overcome and progress; society strongly interested in personal morality and
near-absolute standards of right and wrong; strong sense of personal civic duty;
marriage is for life; strong loyalty to jobs, groups, schools, etc.; yet is the
labor-union-spawning generation; credo "use it up, fix it up, make it do, or do
without"; avoid debt...save and buy with cash. Tom Brokaw's new 1998 book has a title
which he bestows on this group, The Greatest Generation. The last generation to see mothers & wives die of childbed fever due to lack of antibiotics; the generation of onset of radio and also of air
flight.
|
1927-1945
("great power" cycle) |
the Builders
Silent
generation
"veterans"
"traditionalists"
(possibly gen. #283 since Adam &
Eve)
[adaptive]
|
49 million |
born around, or parented by, those of The Great Depression of 1929
& children of the WWII gen.; there was one telephone per house; the last generation growing up without TV, we imagined what were heard on radio programs; polio Was still a fearsome crippler; marriage is for life; labor union generation;
Korean and Viet Nam War generations; in grade school, the gravest teacher
complaints were about passing notes and chewing gum in class; readers; the
Big-Band/Swing music generation; strong sense of trans-generational common values
and near-absolute truths; disciplined, self-sacrificing, &
cautious.
|
1946-1964
(millennial cycle)
|
the Baby Boomers
[idealist]
|
77 million
|
the "me" generation; "rock and roll" music gen.; (between wars is
the "Beat Generation" of the 1960s); ushered in the free love and societal
"non-violent" protests which triggered violence; self righteous &
self-centered; buy it now and use credit; too busy for much neighborly
involvement yet strong desires to reset or change the common values for the good
of all; the first TV generation; quite conversational & skilled vocal &
writer advocates; poor on marital skills...the first divorce generation; begin
"gay toleration"...AIDS begins and is first lethal infectious disease in the
history of any culture on earth which was not subjected to any quarantine
what-so-ever because of a beginning obsession of individual rights prevailing
over the common good...especially if it is applicable to any type of minority
group; optimistic, driven, team-oriented. |
1965-1979
(millennial cycle) |
the Busters
"13th"
generation
America's21st
generation
generation X
[reactive]
|
59 million |
raised by the career and money conscious Boomers amidst the societal
disappointment over governmental authority and the Viet Nam war and the scoff-law
attitudes coming out of the protest times; school problems about drugs; late to
marry (after cohabitation) and quick to divorce...many single parents; are
iconographic...clothes labels are large & shows of caring (turning out for a
worthy-cause rally) are fully sufficient expressions (while government,
charities, agencies will see to the work of it); want what they want and want it
now but struggling to buy; conversationally shallow because relating consists of
shared time watching video movies; short on loyalty & wary of commitment; all
values are relative...must tolerate all peoples; self-absorbed and suspicious of
all organization; computer generation; survivors as individuals; cautious;
skeptical, unimpressed with authority, self-reliant. 1965-1984 the "hip-Hop"
generation.
|
1980-2000
(millennial cycle)
|
the Mosaics
generation Y
the
Millennials
["Bridgers" 1977-1994]
the Net
generation
echo boomers
[? civic]
|
80 million |
undefined as yet; school problems with drugs, shootings, rape; the
internet generation with Face Book and selfie photos of themselves posted everywhere; buy it now...online. But, stronger sense of morals for the
common good. Expect employment boundaries with job being a defined segment of
life. |
| [1970s-1990s] |
generation Me |
|
overconfident & product of the enhance-self-esteem movement
& public-school academic grading inflation; be yourself & true to
yourself (resulting in a self-centered orientation); body tattoo &
piercing; |
| [1980-1990] |
Great Recession generation |
|
especially affected by the recession 12/2007-6/2011and slow job
market and problems thereof retarding becoming independent
|
| 2001-2020 |
generation Z
"Cloud Generation" |
|
totally digitally plugged into each other and the world |