A few good reasons not to forget about Generation X
Posted On October 17, 2019
Stuck between the once-mighty Baby Boomers and the front-running millennials, Generation X is often considered the Forgotten Generation.
Earlier this year, however, they went from just being considered forgotten to actually being forgotten:
Smells like Disrespect.
But thankfully not everyone has forgotten about us. VisionCritical.com recently compiled a list of stats that show Generation X still has some pull in the marketplace, even if CBS News wants to pretend we don’t exist.
Consider:
Thirty-one percent of total U.S. income is earned by Gen-Xers.
Fifty-five percent of today’s startups are founded by Gen-Xers.
Gen-Xers outspend all other generations on housing, clothes, entertainment and dining out.
Some of this can be attributed simply to the level of life at which Gen-Xers currently reside – middle age. Leading-edge Gen-Xers should be in their peak earning years. Trailing Gen-Xers are at an age where they’ve had time to grow within their careers enough to consider branching out on their own. And all Gen-Xers are simply at the point in their lives where they need to go shop for a new dress, eat some fajitas and go to a movie after paying their mortgage.
But, as VisionCritical.com writer Kelvin Claveria notes, there’s also this:
Gen-Xers spend an average of 32 hours per week consuming media of all types – social, digital and traditional. And 35 percent of them have college degrees, compared to only 19 percent of millennials. While some trailing millennials may still be finishing up their degrees, this difference is still statistically significant.
They are intelligent, experienced consumers. They have economic clout. And they are paying attention.
So forget them if you dare, but it might come back to bite you. Or they may just shrug. Whatever.
