It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s … Generation X?
Posted On August 14, 2017
Dust off that cape, Generation X. No, not that one. The other one. The one with the big S on it. You’re being called upon to save the country. From millennials. In a recent piece for the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal’s Matthew Hennessey ticked off all the usual criticisms of the “participation trophy generation” – entitled, tech-dependent, impatient, undisciplined, obsessed with political correctness. He then closes by essentially saying the last line of defense against a country steeped in these millennial vices is Generation X. No pressure, my fellow slackers. The world needs a hero, but you’ll… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Generations, Workplace
Micro-Generation? “Xennials?”
Posted On July 3, 2017
Ever felt like you didn’t fit within your generation? Or maybe that you fit in parts of more than one? If you were born between 1977 and 1983, an Australian sociology professor believes you’re right. Dan Woodman, an associate sociology professor at the University of Melbourne, believes people born during that time frame don’t fit neatly into either Generation X or millennials. They are instead, he says, a micro-generation all their own – one that he calls Xennials. Woodman, who was born in 1980 and is part of this micro-generation, described it to Australian lifestyle site MamaMia.com as a mix… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials, Generations
Mirror Mirror On the Wall, Who Snacks Most of All?
Posted On June 27, 2017
“Which Generation Snacks the Most?” the headline reads at TheStreet.com. And then, as if anticipating our answer, it adds: “It’s not millennials.” How can it not be millennials? They’re the ones playing all the video games and Snapchatting on their iPhones. How do you spend all that time doing such things without a bag of Dorito’s on the couch beside you? But according to TheStreet, it’s neither millennials nor iGen, who will be right there on the couch beside them if there are enough Xbox controllers, that snacks the most. It’s Baby Boomers. TheStreet last year cited research from the… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials
After taking it on the chin for housing, Gen X finding it may be their turn
Posted On March 21, 2017
There’s a lot of attention paid to millennials in the marketplace, and with good reason – they’re the largest segment of consumers. That’s true for the housing market, as well, as the 18-to-34 demographic makes up 42 percent of residential home buyers, as pointed out by Zillow.com’s Jennifer Riner in a piece we shared several months ago. But Generation X is still an extremely important part of the real estate market. With a range from mid-30s to mid-50s, many younger Gen-Xers may still be looking to move up to a larger home as their families expand, while those Gen-Xers at… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Home Ownership
Fewer Family Businesses to be Passed to Next Generation
Posted On January 31, 2017
I’ve written in this space before about the need for succession planning. The long-term viability of your business may depend on it – particularly for family-owned business that want to maintain family control. But PwC’s annual family business survey found a decreasing number of owners who planned to keep their businesses in the family. Of the survey respondents who foresaw a change in ownership within the next five years – admittedly a small number at 17 percent – only 52 percent were planning to pass their companies down to another family member. That’s the lowest number since 2010, according to… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Entrepreneurship, Generation X, Succession Planning, Work
Enough Already: The Celebrity Deaths of 2016 and Gen X Mortality
Posted On January 2, 2017
Carrie Fisher. Prince. David Bowie. Muhammad Ali. Florence Henderson. They were all icons of a Generation Xer’s youth. The female lead in the biggest movie franchise ever. Two musicians who left lasting legacies in rock and pop. The greatest boxer in the world. The TV mom after which so many other TV moms were modeled. They all died in 2016, along with many other familiar names to most Gen-Xers – George Michael, John Glenn, Gene Wilder, Alan Rickman, Alan Thicke, Pat Summitt, Gary Shandling, Glenn Frey. The sudden deaths of Michael and Fisher within the last month – and the subsequent… Read More
Categories: Generation X
Boomer’s Influence on Politics Coming to an End? And Will the Younger Gens go the Other Way?
Posted On November 2, 2016
Millennials have made their voices heard in this year’s contentious presidential election, mostly through the vociferous support for Democratic primary candidate Bernie Sanders – a phenomenon I explored in a blog back in May. After Sanders fell in the primary to Hillary Clinton, their level of support for the Democratic nominee may play a role in whether she or Republican Donald Trump wins the presidency. Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank recently cited polls showing Trump leading slightly among Baby Boomers while trailing among Gen-Xers and millennials. Milbank offered the opinion that Baby Boomers’ preference for the combative Trump is proof… Read More
Categories: Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y / Millennials, Voting Behavior
Your brand don’t matter. You better bring it.
Posted On August 17, 2016
Generation X is, in many ways, the forgotten generation. Its numbers lag well behind Baby Boomers and millennials. It has not yet reached the concentration of wealth amassed, as a group, by the Baby Boomers. And it no longer gets to decide what’s cool, as it has passed that torch to the millennials. But Generation X is still a valuable and sought-after market. And they apparently like to drive SUVs. Companies like Ford, whose Explorer Sport is a top-seller among Gen-Xers, are aggressively targeting the latchkey kid generation, Forbes automotive contributor Dale Buss found, and they have solid reasons for… Read More
Categories: Advertising, Automotive, Generation X
What’s Old is New Again. And Again. And Again.
Posted On July 8, 2016
Eleven years ago, in 2005, the Work and Family Researchers Network presented the findings of researcher Paulette R. Gerkovich, who’d studied the views of Generation X professionals. At the time, Gerkovich touted her study as breaking new ground, noting that much of the information available about Generation X prior to her work was “mostly anecdotal” or “gleaned from marketing studies.” Among her findings: There was a widespread belief that Generation X was not committed to their organizations, but this impression was false. Generation X placed a higher priority on personal and family-related goals than career goals. Generation X might be… Read More
Categories: Generation X, Work
Middle Child Syndrome of Gen X
Posted On June 29, 2016
“Marsha, Marsha, Marsha!” Most Generation Xers know exactly where that phrase came from and who said it – Jan Brady on the Brady Bunch. With her whiny lament for attention and jealousy of her sisters, Jan came to be a symbol of the archetypal middle child. In the generational household, it’s Generation X that is playing the role of Jan Brady, stuck between the bigger Baby Boom generation and the up-and-coming millennials. In a recent Forbes article, Cynthia Meyer notes that Gen-Xers are often overlooked when it comes to financial security, their concerns wedged between the impending retirement of the… Read More
Categories: Financial Services, Generation X, Wealth