“Every generation inherits a world it never made; and, as it does so, it automatically becomes the trustee of that world for those who come after. In due course, each generation makes its own accounting to its children.” – Robert Kennedy
In this lifetime, it cannot be avoided that there will be differences among everyone, especially in experiences and ages. There are various results that follow these diversities that are either or both good and bad. Generation gap is one of the outcomes of the dissimilarities, which greatly affect the relationship between the older people and the younger ones. It is primarily defined as the void that divides the ideas expressed by individuals that belong in two diverse generations.
Moreover, generation gap is frequently utilized to describe the variations in behaviors, beliefs, and preferences of the younger generations put against the older ones. There are also other significant and broad topics that show the gap between generations, including but not limited to politics, manners, principles, and pop culture. Hence, there are many platforms that tend to educate people and help them eradicate generation gap. Literature is among the many fields that gives different insights and encourages people to fully understand and get rid of the said gap. The challenging stories on Patchwork: Conversations Between Generations by Carol-Wilson Mack are great examples of how ladies from the countryside of South Carolina attempted to erase generation gap by sharing their personal tales and empathize with one another.
How Generations Are Identified
The current existing generations are being split into four large groups, which are the following:
Traditionalists – they are also referred as the silent generation because the individuals born between 1927 and 1946 were anticipated to not be heard but rather than to be seen. As of 2021, children in this group are already between 78 to 83 years old. They are mostly retirees and/or veterans; but, there are still few that are part of the workforce.
People born in this generation are often described as hard working. Traditionalists were influenced by the great work ethics of their parents in the industrialized world. Hence, they were raised during tougher times where Great Depression and World War II also happened. For them, having a job is already a grand privilege bestowed to them. Due to their hard work and determination, they are considered to be the richest generation.
Baby Boomer – they pertain to the individuals born after the Second World War. They are known to be biggest living adult generation until 2019 according to Pew Research Center. Even though there was much dissimilarity depending on the years of birth that consider a person as part of the Baby Boomer generation, the broadly accepted ones are those born between 1946 and 1964. They are popular for the rapid increase of birth rate following World War II, which influenced the generation’s name. There are approximately 72.5 million recorded baby boom populations, which are known to be the biggest generational unit at that moment.
Generation X – is the generation following the Baby Boomer Generation. They are born around the middle part of 1960s and the early part of 1980s. The accurate years that cover the Gen X people vary because there are demographers that show different birth year range. But, everybody is in agreement to the fact that Gen X is the generation that comes after Baby Boomer. People in this bunch are on the way to the middle part of their professional careers and possibly are on their peak-earning periods.
Millennials – this generation is also known as Genereration Y. Individuals belonging to this generation are those that are born around early 1970s, mid 1990s, until early 2000s. However, the greatly accepted birth year span is between 1981 and 1996. They are typically the offspring of people under the last two preceding generations, which are Gen X and baby boomers.
Generation Z – is the generation that comes after the Millenials. They are also known as zoomers. Individuals that are part of this generation are those born from middle to late 1990s until early 2010s.
Every group has its personal traits and aspects when it comes to spoken language, slang, technological expertise, workplace behaviors, lifestyle, and more.
The Damsel’s Files 