50 years of change from Boomers to the Alpha Generation

Let's start with the term 'Generation X' which iconically refers to people born after the 60s. In not even half a century, this generation has coexisted with three others: the baby boomer, Gen Y and Gen Z. The vast majority of readers will fall into one of these generation categories

Lets look at this a little bit deeper and find out what the characteristics of each generation actually are

Baby Boomers —?born between 1945 and 1964

Baby boomers are called this because they were born during the baby boom, the period in which the birth rate shot up in a number of Anglo-Saxon countries, above all the?United States, Canada?and?New Zealand,?after the end of the Second World War. They lived through the postwar period. In many countries, this period was one of deep political instability due to the postwar youth bulge coining the term Baby Boom.

Generation X?—?born between 1965 and 1981

This includes those?,?during the reconstruction of Europe after the war. Their life has not been easy either, since, after a period of upheaval, finding a job was a great challenge. To work and produce was their philosophy of life, leaving no room for idealism.?Individualism, ambition and an addiction to work — or being a workaholic — are the values with which they grew up. They went through the entire?period of technological evolution and the rise and development of the media,?as well as enjoying stability in terms of both work and family and being active both physically and mentally. In spite of?having adapted to a world ver. 4.0,?they are less dependent on smartphones than the next generations.

Generation Y —?born between 1982 and 1994

The revolution was shaped by?the Millennials or Gen Y.?Also known as?digital natives.?Technology is part of their everyday lives:?all their activities are mediated by a screen. The concept of?on?and?off?is completely integrated into their lives. However, they were not born into it; they migrated to the digital world from the analogue one in which they were living. Unlike previous generations, because of the economic crisis, the world requires them to be?better trained?to get a job, as competition is increasing. Unlike their parents (Gen X) digital natives are not satisfied with the world around them and are ambitious and want to achieve their goals. However, the millennial generation is labelled as being?lazy, narcissistic and spoilt.?In fact, in 2014,?Timemagazine labelled them as the?me-me-me?generation.

Generation Z — born between 1995 and 2010

The post-millennial?generation?or Gen Z will take the lead in a few decades. Also labelled as?Centennials,?for having been born into the world at the turn of the century. They arrived with a smartphone in hand and a tablet under their arms. But what is Gen Z??It is a group of people that is marked by the Internet.?It is part of their DNA: it storms into their homes, their education and their way of socializing. And if Generation Y has difficulty finding a job, the situation for post-millennials is even worse. Their?mastery of technologies?may make them neglect their interpersonal relationships to a greater extent, but they are the ones who?give more of a voice to social causes on the Internet.?They like to get everything they want immediately, a fact fostered by the digital world in which they are immersed, and?their lifestyle is also influenced by?YouTubers. They multi-task, but their attention span is limited. They are independent and demanding consumers and will have jobs that probably did not exist a decade ago!

Despite today's social diversity, generations Y and Z predominate. According to the studies Millennials & Centennials are almost 60% of the population. Today there are about 2 billion Millennials and 2.4 billion?Centennials,?representing 27% and 32% of the world population, respectively.

As for the current generation, those born after 2010, they have been termed the?Alpha generation.?What will their behaviour be like? In a couple of years, we will see if we notice the generation gap!