Editing Silent Generation (section)

{{Short description|Cohort born from 1928 to 1945}}
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{{for|the album|The Silent Generation (album){{!}}''The Silent Generation'' (album)}}
{{Globalize|date=July 2021|article|US}}
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The '''Silent Generation''', also known as the '''Traditionalist Generation''', is the Western [[demography|demographic]] [[Cohort (statistics)|cohort]] following the [[Greatest Generation]] and preceding the [[baby boomers]]. The [[generation]] is generally defined as people born from 1928 to 1945.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://time.com/5618238/democrats-age/ |title=Is It Time to 'Pass the Torch?' The Generational Dilemma of the 2020 Democratic Primary |magazine=Time |access-date=December 22, 2019 |date=July 30, 2019 |archive-date=December 22, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211222113500/https://time.com/5618238/democrats-age/ |url-status=live }}</ref> By this definition and [[United States Census|U.S. Census]] data, there were 23 million Silents in the United States {{asof|2019|lc=y|post=.}}<ref name="2020Overtake">{{cite web |last1=Fry |first1=Richard |title=Millennials overtake Baby Boomers as America's largest generation |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/28/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers-as-americas-largest-generation/ |publisher=[[Pew Research Center]] |access-date=June 8, 2020 |date=April 28, 2020 |archive-date=April 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200428233813/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/28/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers-as-americas-largest-generation/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the United States, the [[Great Depression]] of the 1930s and [[World War II]] in the early-to-mid 1940s caused people to have fewer children and as a result, the generation is comparatively small.<ref name="forbes">{{cite news |last=Howe |first=Neil |date=July 13, 2014 |title=The Silent Generation, 'The Lucky Few' (Part 3 of 7) |no-pp=y |work=[[Forbes]] |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/2014/08/13/the-silent-generation-the-lucky-few-part-3-of-7/ |access-date=October 21, 2014 |archive-date=September 23, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140923194131/http://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/2014/08/13/the-silent-generation-the-lucky-few-part-3-of-7/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It includes most of those who fought during the [[Korean War]]. Upon coming of age in the [[History of the United States (1945–1964)|postwar era]], Silents were sometimes characterized as trending towards conformity and traditionalism, as well as comprising the "[[silent majority]]".<ref>{{cite web |last=McLaughlin |first=Dan |date=February 16, 2016 |title=Closing The Book on the Silent Generation |url=https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/silent-generation-it-over/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220323231419/https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/silent-generation-it-over/ |archive-date=March 23, 2022 |access-date=April 23, 2018 |work=[[National Review]]}}</ref> However, they have also been noted as forming the leadership of the [[civil rights movement]] and the [[Counterculture of the 1960s|1960s counterculture]], and creating the [[rock and roll]] music of the 1950s and 1960s.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-misconception-about-baby-boomers-and-the-sixties |title=The Misconception About Baby Boomers and the Sixties |last=Menand |first=Louis |date=August 18, 2019 |magazine=[[The New Yorker|New Yorker]] |access-date=April 21, 2021 |archive-date=April 19, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210419101400/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-misconception-about-baby-boomers-and-the-sixties |url-status=live }}</ref>

In the United Kingdom, the Silent Generation was also born during a period of relatively low birthrates for similar reasons to the United States and was quite traditional upon coming of age. They lived through times of prosperity as young adults, economic upheaval in middle age, and relative comfort in later life. The [[Sixtiers]] is a similar age group in the Soviet Union whose upbringings were also heavily influenced by the troubles of the mid-20th century. The term "the builders" has been used to describe a similar cohort in Australia.