Where were you when Space Shuttle Challenger exploded?
The answer to that question is just one example of how generations perceive common experiences. Baby boomers may have seen it from their office break room or heard it on the radio. Many Gen . The first Millennials may have witnessed this moment, but they were probably too young to remember it.
And the rest of us, about 44% of Americans living today (and growing), were born after the January 1986 disaster and didn’t share the disaster’s impact on the country .
Finding balance: Millennials and Gen Z are “spiraling”, partying hard and burning through their savings. why?
And that’s how intergenerational shared experience works. Generational identification becomes shorthand for reference to shared common cultural experiences, technological advances, and behaviors built upon witnessing collective significant historical events. Generational identity also influences policy decisions, especially regarding marketing, health care, and retirement.
An ESRI analysis of major generations by region of the country found that while millennials are concentrated in large urban areas such as Chicago, Houston, and Los Angeles, baby boomers make up the largest generational subset in large rural areas. It is shown that
The year each generation was born
Classifying someone into a particular generation based solely on their year of birth is not a perfect way to determine a person’s identity, but it can help policy makers establish standards for that person’s age group. The widely accepted year ranges that define today’s generation are:
Another example of a generational cultural touchstone is the way music is consumed. From the early days of records and radio, to cassettes and CDs, to streaming services and social media platforms, music listening formats are almost embedded in each generation’s formative years.
In 2023, Millennials remained the largest demographic in the U.S. population, a trend that began in 2019 when they outnumbered Baby Boomers due to aging.
Generations and Race in America
Grouping generational identities by race and ethnicity helps paint a complete picture of how U.S. demographics are changing. As of 2023, Generation Alpha is the most racially and ethnically diverse generation, with less than half of the population born in Generation Alpha’s birth years (2013 to present) being white.
The impact of generational identity on retirement prospects
Age is just a number, as is often said, but categorizing people by age helps researchers frame discussions around important age-specific issues such as retirement. A report released in June by the Transamerica Retirement Research Center found that nearly half of all workers across four generations, from baby boomers to Generation Z, plan to retire after age 65 or not at all. It’s one or the other.
However, confidence in retiring before age 65 declines rapidly with age. 63% of Gen Z respondents are confident in retiring by age 65, compared to just 48% of Gen Xers who have similar plans.
Sources Pew Research Center; Annie E. Casey Foundation; Purdue Global; Transamerica Retirement Research Center