With their experience of divorced parents and being the first generation latchkey kids, they have a distrust of marriage as the “happily ever after”. Generation X approaches marriage with caution. Characteristics of Generation X Respect for marriage They are sometimes referred to as the “lost” generation. What it comes down to, is Generation X is indistinct. For instance, their political attitudes also fit between those for the more conservative Baby Boomers and the more liberal Millennials. They also fall in the middle of other demographic measures. Pew Research says this generation is stuck in the middle: This generation forms the demographic bridge between the predominantly white baby boomers and the more diverse millennials. They are defined by their position between the other two larger generations. Being the smallest in number and with not much financial sway, their impact on society is limited. Generation X falls between the Baby Boomers and the Millennials. The name suits this cohort well, with the “X” referring to a lack of identity and direction that members of Generation X experience. The term can be traced back to a novel by Douglas Coupland entitled Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, in which he discusses the lives and lifestyles of young adults in the late 1980s. With Generation X there is no such defining moment in history. For instance, after WWII there was an increase in births and people born at that time came to be called Baby Boomers. With all the other generations there was something that defined them. Why are people born from 1965 – 1980 called Generation X?

It was also a time of increased divorce rates and there was no or very little after school care available. This was in the time when mothers joined the workforce in large numbers. This is the generation known as the “latchkey kids” so called because they had to unlock their apartments or homes after school because there was no one at home. They are the children of the Baby Boomers and are currently between 40-54 years old.

Generation x coupland