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A baby boomer is a person who was born during the demographic Post-World War II baby boom. People born before 1946 were called The Silent generation. The term "baby boomer" is sometimes used in a cultural context, and sometimes used to describe someone who was born during the post-WWII baby boom. It is impossible to achieve broad consensus of a precise definition, even within a given territory. Different groups, organizations, individuals, and scholars may have widely varying opinions on what constitutes a baby boomer, both technically and culturally. Ascribing universal attributes to a broad generation is difficult, and some observers believe that it is inherently impossible. Nonetheless, many people have attempted to determine the broad cultural similarities and historical impact of the generation, and thus the term has gained widespread popular usage.

In general, baby boomers are associated with a rejection or redefinition of traditional values; however, many commentators have disputed the extent of that rejection, noting the widespread continuity of values with older and younger generations. In Europe and North America boomers are widely associated with privilege, as many grew up in a time of affluence. As a group, they were the healthiest, and wealthiest generation to that time, and amongst the first to grow up genuinely expecting the world to improve with time.

One of the unique features of Boomers was that they tended to think of themselves as a special generation, very different from those that had come before. In the 1960s, as the relatively large numbers of young people became teenagers and young adults, they, and those around them, created a very specific rhetoric around their cohort, and the change they were bringing about. This rhetoric had an important impact in the self perceptions of the boomers, as well as their tendency to define the world in terms of generations, which was a relatively new phenomenon.

GENERATION X

Generation X, commonly abbreviated to Gen X, is the generation born after the baby boom ended, with earliest birth dates seen used by researchers ranging from 1961 to the latest 1981. The term Generation X has been used in demography, the social sciences, and marketing, though it is most often used in popular culture.

In the U.S. Generation X was originally referred to as the "baby bust" generation because of the drop in the birth rate following the baby boom.

In the UK the term was first used in a 1964 study of British youth by Jane Deverson. Deverson was asked by Woman's Own magazine to interview teenagers of the time. The study revealed a generation of teenagers who "sleep together before they are married, were not taught to believe in God as 'much', dislike the Queen, and don't respect parents," these controversial findings meant that the piece was deemed unsuitable for the magazine. Deverson, in an attempt to save her research, worked with Hollywood correspondent Charles Hamblett to create a book about the study. Hamblett decided to name it Generation X.

The term was popularized by Canadian author Douglas Coupland’s 1991 novel, Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, concerning young adults during the late 1980s. While Coupland's book helped to popularize the phrase “Generation X,” in a 1989 magazine article[13] he erroneously attributed the term to Billy Idol. In fact, Idol had been a member of the punk band Generation X from 1976-1981, which was named after Deverson and Hamblett's 1965 sociology book—a copy of which was owned by Idol's mother.

Generation Y

Generation Y, also known as the Millennial Generation or Generation Next or Net Generation, describes the demographic cohort following Generation X. Its members are often referred to as Millennials or Echo Boomers. As there are no precise dates for when the Millennial generation starts and ends, commentators have used birth dates ranging somewhere from the mid 1970s to the late 1990s. This generation generally represents an increase in births from the 1960s and 70s, not because of a significant increase in birthrates, but because the large cohort of baby boomers began to have children. The 20th century trend toward smaller families in the West continued, however, so the relative impact of the "baby boom echo" was generally less pronounced than the original boom.

Characteristics of the generation vary by region, depending on social and economic conditions. However, it is generally marked by an increased use and familiarity with communications, media, and digital technologies. In most parts of the world its upbringing was marked by an increasingly neo-liberal or market oriented approach to the politics and economics.The effects of this environment are disputed.

Why do we call the last group Generation Y? Recently a cartoonist explained it very eloquently below... lease do not be offended ok? I just added this to bring a smile to your face on a lovely Friday morning!


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Have a nice day and keep that smile on your face! Cheers!