My Demographics

Generation X was born during the single most anti-child phase in American history. In the early 1960s, the birth control pill became widely available, and in 1973, abortion was legalized. These are two factors that are said to have contributed to the generation’s low numbers. Generation X is sandwiched between the millennials and babyboomers with 46 million. The age range from Generation X as of 2014 is 33 to 53. In 2011, the first GenXer turned 50 years old and the youngest turned 30. The years for Generation X vary from one historian, government agency and marketing firm to the next. The United States Social Security Administration defines Generation X as “those born roughly between 1964 and 1979, while another federal agency, the U.S. Department of Defense, sets the parameters at 1965 to 1977. George Masnick of Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies sets the Baby Buster years at 1965 to 1984. Gen-Xers distrust authority and large institutions including corporations, religious institutions and the government. GenXers have come of age during an interesting time in the world. They remember rotary dial phones and the explosion of mobile technology. They remember Liquid Paper and plunking out term papers on typewriters. They grew up in a world without social media, and yet have adapted to it even invented it!