I’m choosing my generation
Sorry millennials, but I’m Gen Z.
We’re all pretty familiar with millennials — they’ve gotten a lot of press. Older generations have been trying to figure them out since they joined the workforce, making a spectacle of the fresh faces on the scene.
The millennial generation is widely accepted to start with those born between 1981 and 1996 (though some say 1995). They were the first to come of age after the Internet went mainstream in the 90s, bridging the gap between pre- and post-digital worlds. I was born near the end of 1996, right on the edge. Until recently, the cohort following millennials had no name, so I assumed “millennial” was my generational identity…until now.
I don’t portray characteristically millennial traits. Now, I’m not going to hop on the bandwagon and rag on millennials for being self-centered, lazy and entitled. To the contrary, I see millennials as selfless to a fault. They like collaboration, they want to solve society’s problems and they think they can do it with the power of technology. They’re often described as idealistic, and they believe in community and codependency. Working together to support everyone.
But, one of the strongest millennial characteristics is an understandable fear of commitment. I mean, they started careers in the aftermath of the 2008 housing crisis, so financial instability has been on their minds. If you’ve grown up fearing another crash, would you want to risk your assets through marriage or investing in a home (after one in four mortgages sunk underwater in 2009)?
But that’s not me. I didn’t graduate college until 2018, ten years after the crash, and I started working full-time when America’s economy was thriving. Millennials had the opposite experience — a good economy was taken away from them right when they were ready to jump in. While many millennials are just now getting married and buying homes, I’ve already done both, and I’m watching the people I’ve grown up with do the same.
Here’s another thing that sets me apart from the millennial cohort: I don’t know a world without the internet.
I was playing internet-based computer games in kindergarten, using Yahoo instant messenger in fifth grade and I got Facebook in 8th grade. By the time I was in high school, me and virtually all my peers had smartphones.
Then, there’s the geopolitical world millennials experienced. Many of them were conscious beings during 9/11, they witnessed the start of the war in the Middle East and elected the first black president of the United States. Four years ago, generation researcher Jason Dorsey pointed out the importance of 9/11 in shaping the millenial generation.
“If 9/11 has always been history to you, you are not a millennial.” — Jason Dorsey, co-founder of The Center for Generational Kinetics
In contrast, I was brought up in the world that emerged after 9/11. We’ve had troops in the Middle East my whole adult life (crazy, right?) and the first presidential election year I could vote in was 2016.
Maybe millenial experiences would make me a different person, but I don’t share them with my supposed generation. Its nothing against you, millennials. I just don’t fit in.
The new wave: Generation Z
We now have a name for the generation following millennials. Some call them iGen or Homelanders, but according to popular Google search terms, Generation Z is the winner.
Generation Z is considered to be those born between 1997 and 2012. The oldest of them are my age, 22. They will become the largest generation, taking the title from millennials, by the end of this year.
This generation is the most diverse ever, with almost half of them belonging to a racial or ethnic minority (though they are less likely to be immigrants than millennials). More are enrolled in college than any other generation after their high school graduations, with 59% of 18- to 20-year-olds attending college two years ago. This means way less are working than other generations at comparable ages, with only 58% employed at this stage compared to 72% of millennials, and when they are working it’s usually part-time.
Their life experience so far is totally different than millennials. It’s more like my life experience.
I was 12-years-old when the housing market crashed, so I grew up during it, like Gen Z. The answers to all my questions were always at my fingertips — whether it was using a keyboard or a touch screen — which has contributed to my individualistic attitude and overall independence, again, like much of Gen Z. And of course, the economic and politic conditions of my adulthood are quite different than that of millennials.
These experiences contribute to the attitudes and beliefs much of this generation seems to hold. Research shows they tend to be socially liberal and fiscally conservative . They also distrust political parties and have low voter participation rates.
Pragmatic. Inventive. Responsible. Entrepreneurial. These are some of the words professor Corey Seemiller used to describe Generation Z at a Ted Talk in December 2017. Her overall take, through research and personal experience, is that Gen Z has a markedly different approach to life than other generations, including millennials. Whereas a millennial works to solve the issue of hunger by volunteering at a food bank, a Gen Zer wants to get to the root of the problem — they want to create sustainable solutions so volunteering isn’t necessary.
And that’s what makes Gen Z unique: they’re competitive individualist attitudes are balanced by a more millennial-like affinity for community and codependency. They value ethical behavior and they too want to make the world a better place by being agents of social change.
But, lets pull back on the compliments. Gen Z has also been dubbed the loneliest generation. This may just be a byproduct of the times, since depression and suicide rates across age groups have risen to new heights in recent years alongside increasing social media use, but Gen Z is uniquely affected due to their young age. There are plenty of other broad impacts of technology on this generation, too. Though they are adept multitaskers due to being raised as digital natives, they also struggle with short attention spans.
Impatient. Distracted. Apathetic. Entitled. These are the words author and entrepreneur Nathaniel A. Turner came up with to describe the Gen Z reputation. He says their technology-filled lives compounded by other issues, like climate change and racial divisions, have created the environment that’s caused Gen Z to represent these qualities.
“I want to apologize to this Generation Z, for whatever part I played in making this world a mess.” — Nathaniel A. Turner, J.D., author and entrepreneur
The good and the bad, this generation more closely describes me. Not all the way, but close. I’m in the gray area of the generational cut-off, so I’m taking the liberty of choosing one. But, even though I’m embracing this label, you can’t learn who I am by diving into all the Gen Z statistics — no matter your generational identity, everyone is a unique individual. So whether you’re millenial, Gen Z or any other generational cohort, remember that nobody fully fits in.
