Let’s Drop The Generational Blame-Game

Millennials, Gen-Xs, Baby-boomers: we’re all in it together

Photo by Slim Emcee (UG) the poet Truth_From_Africa_Photography on Unsplash

Which category do you fall into? With a quick calculation, I seem to land somewhere between Generation X and Millennial, depending on exactly where you draw the line. I do remember reading Douglas Coupland’s novel Generation X when it first came out in the 1990s, so that probably settles the matter.

My parents are certainly Baby-Boomers. My closest friends fall into the same age-bracket as me, aware that middle-age is about to start knocking. At the co-working space where I sometimes work, fully-fledged Millennials are in abundance and the number of Generation Zs is growing by the week.

Here’s a quick run-down of the different names we give to the generations:

• Baby Boomers: Baby boomers were born between 1944 and 1964. That makes the between 55–75 years old
• Gen X: Gen X was born between 1965–1979 and are currently between 40–54 years old
• Millennials: Millennials or Gen Y were born between 1980 and 1994. They are currently between 25–39 years old
• Gen Z: Gen Z were born between 1995 and 2015. They are currently between 4 and 24 years old