Editing Generation X (section)

==Date and age range definitions==
[[File:Western_Fertility_Rates_1960-1980.jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Western fertility rates, 1960–1980]]
Generation X is the demographic cohort following the [[post–World War II baby boom|post–World War II baby-boom]], representing a generational change from the baby boomers. Many researchers and demographers use dates that correspond to the fertility-patterns in the population. For Generation X, in the U.S. (and broadly, in the Western world), the period begins at a time when [[Total fertility rate|fertility rates]] started to significantly decrease, from the peak in the late 1950s until an upswing in the late 1970s and recovery at the start of the 1980s.

In the U.S., the [[Pew Research Center]], a nonpartisan think tank, delineates a Generation X period of 1965–1980 which has gradually gained acceptance in academic circles.<ref>{{Cite book|editor-last=Schweikert|editor-first=Christina|title=Changing Business Environment: Gamechangers, opportunities and Risks|publisher=Global Business Technology Association|year=2017|isbn=978-1-932917-13-0|location=New York|pages=48}}</ref> Moreover, although fertility rates are preponderant in the definition of start and end dates, the center remarks: "Generations are analytical constructs, it takes time for popular and expert consensus to develop as to the precise boundaries that demarcate one generation from another."<ref>{{cite news|title=Millennials overtake Baby Boomers as America's largest generation|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/25/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers/|access-date=18 June 2016|publisher=Pew Research|date=25 April 2016|archive-date=26 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226205545/http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/04/25/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers/|url-status=live}}</ref> Pew takes into account other factors, notably the labor market as well as a group's attitudinal and behavioral trends. Writing for [[The Pew Charitable Trusts|Pew]]'s ''Trend'' magazine in 2018, psychologist [[Jean Twenge]] observed that the "birth year boundaries of Gen X are debated but settle somewhere around 1965–1980".<ref name= "Twenge">{{cite web |last1=Twenge |first1=Jean |title=How Are Generations Named? |url=https://trend.pewtrusts.org/en/archive/winter-2018/foreword-how-are-generations-named |website=Trend |publisher=The Pew Charitable Trusts |access-date=30 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180830135027/http://trend.pewtrusts.org/en/archive/winter-2018/foreword-how-are-generations-named |archive-date=30 August 2018 |date=26 January 2018}}</ref> According to this definition, as of {{year}} the oldest members of Generation X are {{age|1965-01-01}} and the youngest are {{age|1980-12-31}}.

[[File:US Fertility Rates 1963-1981.png|thumb|left|upright=1.1|U.S. fertility rates, 1963–1981]]
The [[Brookings Institution]], another U.S. think tank, sets the Gen X period as from 1965 to 1981.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Brookings_Winogradfinal.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170711122726/https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Brookings_Winogradfinal.pdf |archive-date=11 July 2017 |url-status=live|title=How Millennials Could Upend Wall Street and Corporate America|last=Winograd|first=Morley|date=May 2014|website=Brookings Institution}}</ref> The [[Federal Reserve Board|U.S. Federal Reserve Board]] uses 1965–1980.<ref>{{cite news|title=Distribution of Household Wealth in the U.S. since 1989|url=https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/distribute/table/#quarter:119;series:Net%20worth;demographic:age;population:all;units:shares|access-date=4 January 2020|publisher=Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System|date=23 December 2019|archive-date=2 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200102044357/https://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/z1/dataviz/dfa/distribute/table/#quarter:119;series:Net%20worth;demographic:age;population:all;units:shares|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Social Security Administration|U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA)]] uses 1965 to 1980.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-03-23 |title=SSA Open Data {{!}} Generational Data for SSA Employees |url=https://www.ssa.gov/open/data/EOY-Generational-Data.html |access-date=2024-08-27 |website=www.ssa.gov |language=en}}</ref> In their 2002 book ''When Generations Collide'', Lynne Lancaster and David Stillman use 1965 to 1980, while in 2012 authors Jain and Pant also used 1965 to 1980.<ref name="Cohort confusion">{{cite news|last1=Markert|first1=John|title=Demographics of Age: Generational and Cohort Confusion|url=http://www.sitemason.com/files/dW3ABy/articledemographics%20of%20age.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915033316/http://www.sitemason.com/files/dW3ABy/articledemographics%20of%20age.pdf |archive-date=15 September 2012 |url-status=live|access-date=19 June 2016|publisher=Journal of Current Issues in Research & Advertising|date=Fall 2004}}</ref> U.S. news outlets such as ''[[The New York Times]]''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/05/14/style/generation-xers.html|title=Gen X is a Mess|date=14 May 2019|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=3 November 2019|archive-date=6 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191106041725/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/05/14/style/generation-xers.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/14/style/gen-x-millenials.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220102/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/14/style/gen-x-millenials.html |archive-date=2 January 2022 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|title=Actually, Gen X Did Sell Out, Invent All Things Millennial, and Cause Everything Else That's Great and Awful|last=Williams|first=Alex|newspaper=The New York Times|date=14 May 2019}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and ''[[The Washington Post]]''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/10/18/more-work-more-sleep-new-study-offers-glimpse-daily-life-millennial/|title=More work, more sleep: New study offers glimpse of daily life as a millennial|last1=Siegel|first1=Rachel|last2=Telford|first2=Taylor|date=18 October 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=3 November 2019|archive-date=3 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191103023233/https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/10/18/more-work-more-sleep-new-study-offers-glimpse-daily-life-millennial/|url-status=live}}</ref> describe Generation X as people born between 1965 and 1980. [[Gallup, Inc.|Gallup]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Jones |first1=Jeffrey M. |title=LGBT Identification Rises to 5.6% in Latest U.S. Estimate |url=https://news.gallup.com/poll/329708/lgbt-identification-rises-latest-estimate.aspx |website=Gallup.com |publisher=[[Gallup, Inc.|Gallup]] |access-date=21 May 2023 |language=en |date=24 February 2021}}</ref> [[Bloomberg News|Bloomberg]],<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-29/how-gen-x-parents-raised-gen-z-kids-different-than-millennials|title=Reality Bites Back: To Really Get Gen Z, Look at the Parents|newspaper=Bloomberg.com|date=29 July 2019|via=www.bloomberg.com|access-date=3 November 2019|archive-date=4 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190804172138/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-29/how-gen-x-parents-raised-gen-z-kids-different-than-millennials|url-status=live|url-access=registration}}</ref> ''[[Business Insider]]'',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/generation-you-are-in-by-birth-year-millennial-gen-x-baby-boomer-2018-3|title=Here's which generation you're part of based on your birth year – and why those distinctions exist|website=[[Business Insider]]|date=19 April 2018|access-date=3 November 2019|archive-date=17 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190817134130/https://www.businessinsider.com/generation-you-are-in-by-birth-year-millennial-gen-x-baby-boomer-2018-3|url-status=live}}</ref> and ''[[Forbes]]''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2019/10/15/as-baby-boomers-near-retirement-companies-risk-a-leadership-shortage/|title=Council Post: As Baby Boomers Near Retirement, Companies Risk A Leadership Shortage|first=Nanette|last=Miner|website=Forbes|access-date=3 November 2019|archive-date=22 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191022105734/https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2019/10/15/as-baby-boomers-near-retirement-companies-risk-a-leadership-shortage/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/megangorman/2019/01/23/why-gen-x-is-not-a-forgotten-financial-generation/|title=Why Gen X Is Not A Forgotten Financial Generation|last=Gorman|first=Megan|website=Forbes|access-date=3 November 2019|archive-date=17 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191117070135/https://www.forbes.com/sites/megangorman/2019/01/23/why-gen-x-is-not-a-forgotten-financial-generation/|url-status=live}}</ref> use 1965–1980. ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine wrote that Generation X is "roughly defined as anyone born between 1965 and 1980".<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=16 April 2008|title=Gen-X: The Ignored Generation?|url=http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1731528,00.html|magazine=Time|last1=Stephey|first1=M. J.|access-date=20 June 2016|archive-date=20 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160620201749/http://content.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1731528,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> George Masnick of the [[Joint Center for Housing Studies|Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies]] puts this generation in the time frame of 1965 to 1984 to satisfy the condition that boomers, Xers, and millennials "cover equal 20-year age spans".<ref name="Masnick"/>

In Australia, the McCrindle Research Center uses 1965–1979.<ref name="McCrindle">{{cite news|last1=McCrindle|first1=Mark|title=Generations Defined|url=http://mccrindle.com.au/resources/whitepapers/McCrindle-Research_ABC-01_Generations-Defined_Mark-McCrindle.pdf|access-date=18 June 2016|publisher=McCrindle Research Center|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160616232732/http://mccrindle.com.au/resources/whitepapers/McCrindle-Research_ABC-01_Generations-Defined_Mark-McCrindle.pdf|archive-date=16 June 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> In the UK, the [[Resolution Foundation]] think tank defines Gen X as those born between 1966 and 1980.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/advanced/a-new-generational-contract/|title=A New Generational Contract: The final report of the Intergenerational Commission|last=Willetts|first=David|date=May 2018|website=Resolution Foundation|access-date=3 February 2023|archive-date=1 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101005115/https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/advanced/a-new-generational-contract/|url-status=live}}</ref> [[PricewaterhouseCoopers]], a multinational [[professional services networks|professional services network]] headquartered in London, describes Generation X employees as those born from 1965 to 1980.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.treefarmsystem.org/stuff/contentmgr/files/2/b02ef00aae0f0a75a5a57fb0d3f8f20c/files/atfs_national_conference___pwc_presentation.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190308070716/https://www.treefarmsystem.org/stuff/contentmgr/files/2/b02ef00aae0f0a75a5a57fb0d3f8f20c/files/atfs_national_conference___pwc_presentation.pdf |archive-date=8 March 2019 |url-status=live|title=Engaging a cross-generational volunteer force|date=February 2017|website=pwc|access-date=8 March 2019}}</ref>

===Other age range markers===
On the basis of the time it takes for a generation to mature, U.S. authors [[William Strauss and Neil Howe]] define Generation X as those born between 1961 and 1981 in their 1991 book ''Generations'', and divide the cohort into two waves.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bevan-Dye|first1=Ayesha L.|date=2017|title=Addressing the Ambiguity Surrounding Contemporary Generational Measurement Parameters|url=http://gbata.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/ReadingsBook-GBATA-2017-Final.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200711174029/https://gbata.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/ReadingsBook-GBATA-2017-Final.pdf |archive-date=11 July 2020 |url-status=live|journal=Changing Business Environment: Gamechangers, Opportunities and Risks|publisher=Global Business and Technology Association|pages=47–53}}</ref> [[Jeff Gordinier]], in his 2008 book ''X Saves the World'', includes those born between 1961 and 1977 but possibly as late as 1980.<ref name="Gordinier">{{cite book|last1=Gordinier|first1=Jeff|url=https://archive.org/details/xsavesworldhowg00gord|title=X Saves the World: How Generation X Got the Shaft but Can Still Keep Everything from Sucking|date=27 March 2008|publisher=Viking Adult|isbn=978-0-670-01858-1}}</ref> George Masnick of the [[Joint Center for Housing Studies|Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies]] puts this generation in the time frame of 1965 to 1984 to satisfy the condition that boomers, Xers, and millennials "cover equal 20-year age spans".<ref name="Masnick">{{cite web|url=https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/defining-the-generations-redux/|title=Defining the Generations|last=Masnick|first=George|date=28 November 2012|publisher=Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies|access-date=23 April 2019|archive-date=29 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329234230/https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/blog/defining-the-generations-redux/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2004, journalist J. Markert acknowledged the 20-year increments but went a step further, dividing the generation into two 10-year cohorts. The first begins in 1966 and ends in 1975 and the second begins in 1976 and ends in 1985; this thinking is applied to each generation (Silent, boomers, Gen X, millennials, etc.).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Markert|first=J|date=2004|title=Demographics of Age: Generational and Cohort Confusion|journal=Journal of Current Isues and Research in Advertising|volume=26|issue=2|pages=11–25|doi=10.1080/10641734.2004.10505161|citeseerx=10.1.1.595.8209|s2cid=146339931}}</ref>

Based on events of historical importance, Schewe and Noble in 2002 argued that a cohort is formed against significant milestones and can be any length of time. They said Generation X began in 1966 and ended in 1976, with those born between 1955 and 1965 called "trailing-edge boomers".<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Schewe & Noble|first=CD & SM|date=2000|title=Market Segmentation by Cohorts: The Value and Validity in America and abroad|journal=Journal of Marketing Management|volume=16|pages=129–142|doi=10.1362/026725700785100479|s2cid=168041998}}</ref>

[[George Barna]]'s 1994 book ''Baby Busters: The Disillusioned Generation'' called those born between 1965 and 1983 the "baby busters" generation.<ref>{{cite book |last=Barna |first=George |author-link=George Barna |date= 1994|title=1994 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f_xixc57yXQC&q=1965 |publisher=Northfield Publishing |page=14 |isbn=9781881273196}}</ref>

In his 1996 book ''Boom Bust & Echo: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Shift'', [[David Foot]] describes Generation X as late boomers and includes those born between 1960 and 1966, while the "Bust Generation", those born between 1967 and 1979, is considered a separate generation.<ref>{{cite book|author=Foot, David|title=Boom, Bust & Echo|url=https://archive.org/details/boombustechohowt00foot/page/18|publisher=Macfarlane Walter & Ross|year=1996|isbn=978-0-921912-97-2|pages=[https://archive.org/details/boombustechohowt00foot/page/18 18–22]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Generation X and Political Correctness: Ideological and Religious Transformation Among Students|journal=Canadian Journal of Sociology|date=Fall 1997|first=Thomas Norman|last=Trenton|volume=22|issue=4|pages=417–36|url=http://www.cjsonline.ca/articles/trenton.htmL|access-date=3 June 2011|quote=In Boom, Bust & Echo, Foot (1996: 18–22) divides youth into two groups: 'Generation X' born between 1960 and 1966 and the 'Bust Generation' born between 1967 and 1979.|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120731004847/http://www.cjsonline.ca/articles/trenton.htmL|archive-date=31 July 2012|doi=10.2307/3341691|jstor=3341691|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

===Generational cuspers===
People born in the latter half of the Baby Boom, from the early 1960s to the early years of Generation X, are sometimes called [[Generation Jones]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Seigle|first=Greg|date=6 April 2000|title=Some Call It 'Jones'|newspaper=The Washington Post|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/52287975.html?dids=52287975:52287975&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT|access-date=18 February 2007|archive-date=23 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121023005649/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/52287975.html?dids=52287975:52287975&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT|url-status=dead}}</ref> People born in the Generation X / millennial [[Cusper|cusp]] years of the late 1970s and early to mid-1980s are sometimes called [[Xennials]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Ryan W. |date=20 December 2018 |title=Are you a Xennial? How to tell if you're the microgeneration between Gen X and Millennial |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/12/20/xennials-millennials-generation-x-microgeneration/2369230002/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801093415/https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/12/20/xennials-millennials-generation-x-microgeneration/2369230002/ |archive-date=1 August 2019 |access-date=13 August 2019 |work=USA Today}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Stankorb |first=Sarah |date=25 September 2014 |title=Reasonable People Disagree about the Post-Gen X, Pre-Millennial Generation |url=http://magazine.good.is/articles/generation-xennials |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160114145050/https://magazine.good.is/articles/generation-xennials |archive-date=14 January 2016 |access-date=28 March 2016 |newspaper=Huffington Post}}</ref> Other names include the ''Star Wars'' Generation,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/millennial-xennial-or-generation-x-which-generation-do-you-relate-to-most/67-486275265 |title=Millennial, Xennial or Generation X: Which generation do you relate to most? |last=Hoar |first=Lauren |date=2017-10-26 |publisher=[[WTSP]] |access-date=2024-05-30 |quote=Some experts have called Xennials, the 'Star Wars generation', because 1977 to 1983 was the timeframe of the original Star Wars trilogy.}}</ref> Generation Catalano,<ref>{{cite news |last=Shafrir |first=Doree |date=24 October 2011 |title=Generation Catalano |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2011/10/generation_catalano_the_generation_stuck_between_gen_x_and_the_m.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713084505/http://www.slate.com/articles/life/culturebox/2011/10/generation_catalano_the_generation_stuck_between_gen_x_and_the_m.html |archive-date=13 July 2014 |access-date=26 June 2014 |newspaper=Slate}}</ref> and the ''[[The Oregon Trail (series)|Oregon Trail]]'' Generation.<ref name="Huffington1">{{cite news |last=Garvey |first=Ana |date=25 May 2015 |title=The Biggest (And Best) Difference Between Millennial and My Generation |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-garvey/the-biggest-and-best-difference-between-millennials_b_7438370.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160323115224/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/anna-garvey/the-biggest-and-best-difference-between-millennials_b_7438370.html |archive-date=23 March 2016 |access-date=28 March 2016 |newspaper=Huffington Post}}</ref> These "microgenerations" share characteristics of both generations.