Page 10 | BBC have deboomerised me.

Thegoatliesdownonbroadway · 2024-12-06T19:17:17+00:00

I thought boomers were up to 1964, BBC news had an article about "Alphas". In which boomers were designated as born between 1940 and 1960, so I am an "X" now. Given the resentments that exist towards "Boomers", maybe it is for the best.

ThePoshUns · 07/12/2024 23:10

This instagram account has a funny take on how each'gen' respond to different situations.

www.instagram.com/champagnecruz/profilecard/?igsh=MW8yd2hxZzRtMnc3Ng==

ThinkerCritically · 08/12/2024 00:07

1979! I’m as young as Gen X gets!
I think we are the coolest tbf.
NOTHING FAZES US, nerves of steal, killer work ethic.

I don’t blame you younger boomers for wanting to join us, but sorry you can’t. 😆

Mrsbloggz · 08/12/2024 00:09

ThePoshUns · 07/12/2024 23:10

This instagram account has a funny take on how each'gen' respond to different situations.

www.instagram.com/champagnecruz/profilecard/?igsh=MW8yd2hxZzRtMnc3Ng==

😄Thanks for the link, he's covered lots of situations hasn't he!!😂

Moonlightstars · 08/12/2024 00:24

MemorableTrenchcoat · 07/12/2024 19:37

I’m not so sure; one of the main criterion of Xennials is analogue childhood, digital adulthood, which very much describes my life. My experiences would differ wildly from a Gen X person born in, say, 1966. They would be starting work in the early-mid ‘80s, whereas I would be barely half way through primary school. There would have been very few, if any computers when they were at school, whereas I remember there being a few BBC Micros at primary, and lots of them at secondary, including a whole lab of them in the computer department, and they were soon replaced with Apple Macs.

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But that would describe me and my sister perfectly and we are born in 71 and 74. When 8 got my first non waitressing job after. Travelling the world I was 24 and I used computers all day long.

TempestTost · 08/12/2024 02:46

RedToothBrush · 07/12/2024 08:28

There's a known thing about microgeneration at the beginning/end of generations which share traits from both the generation before and the generation after. They are known collectively as 'cuspers' but each micro generation also has it's own name: Gen Jones (between Boomers and Gen X), Xennials (between Gen X and Millennials), Zillennials (between Millennials and Gen Z) and Zalphas (between Gen Z and Gen Alpha).

You can be born on a cusp but not have the characteristics of a cusper though - people who match the characteristics of their micro generation tend to be early adopters of technology and embraced change earlier than their peers.

Gen Jones - this is quite a broad age range, particularly because the end of the boomer period is fairly disputed and not as defined as later generation. I believe it's related to the assassination of JFK though, with the cuspers being those who were too young to remember the assassination when it happened.

Characteristics
These cuspers were not as financially successful as older Baby Boomers. They experienced a recession like many Generation Xers but had a much more difficult time finding jobs than Generation X did. While they learned to be IT-savvy, they did not have computers until after high school but were some of the first to purchase them for their homes. They were among some of the first to take an interest in video games. They get along well with Baby Boomers, but share different values. While they are comfortable in office environments, they are more relaxed at home. They are less interested in advancing their careers than Baby Boomers and more interested in quality of life.

Xennials - this is much more narrow in years than Gen Jones. This is largely related to the update of digital over analogue technology.

Researchers point out that these cuspers have both the healthy skepticism of Generation X and the optimism of Millennials. They are likely to challenge authority, but also are more career-focused than Generation X. While not all of these cuspers are digital natives, they are very comfortable with technology.

DH and I fall very firmly into this band. We both were socialising online very early - we have friends both sides of the divide but find that our friends from each side tend to socialise primarily within their own generation and find it hard to relate to the experiences of the other. This apparently pretty much a feature of being a cusper who are known for almost acting as communicators between the generations who don't understand each other well.

It makes a lot of sense because it's all about shared experiences.

I think there is also an element with generational cohorts related to where they grow up. For example, when I was first married I lived in a rural area where there were no telephones almost into the 1960s. That's a really differernt experience that someone growing up in a city, like my mother did, even in the early 50s. Values seem to change later in areas like that as well.

Sharptonguedwoman · 08/12/2024 08:14

Moonlightstars · 07/12/2024 09:24

I think it was down to the boom of number of babies born after the war rather than prosperity.

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I think that's correct.

Sharptonguedwoman · 08/12/2024 08:15

JeremiahBullfrog · 07/12/2024 09:05

Because it's all made-up bollocks. Something didn't magically happen in 1964 or whenever to make babies grow up different.

(Admittedly the postwar period was a time of particularly rapid social change, so the distinctions are perhaps a bit more meaningful than later in the century. But at best this sort of thing is useful for describing general trends, and the discrete cutoffs imposed on what is really very much a continuum are unhelpful.)

Absolutely agree with this.

Sharptonguedwoman · 08/12/2024 08:19

@RedToothBrush · There's a known thing about microgeneration at the beginning/end of generations which share traits from both the generation before and the generation after.
may I ask where this information comes from? I've not come across cuspers at all before. Is there a useful book or article please?

Jagoda · 08/12/2024 08:22

Ursulla · 07/12/2024 00:10

Whatever...

You beat me to it 😂

The BBC are talking bollocks. Gen X starts 1965. Not that we give a shiny 💩 obviously.

AlbertCamusflage · 08/12/2024 08:41

The whole concept of cuspers feels a bit odd because it seems to reinforce a misperception of generational cohorts - namely, the idea that individuals really are influenced by being born within a certain date range, just as (according to astrology) they are influenced by being born during certain planetary phases.
As if boomer-cuspers were in a particular room but because they were right near the door they got splashed with a bit of Gen X (or vice versa).

There isn't really any such thing as a 'generation'. We aren't produced in batches. "My parents' generation" picks out an incrementally different set of people depending on whether I am 6, 7, 8, ... 15, 16, 17, ... 40, 45, 50 ... 60, etc.
Generational cohorts are a research device, a rough and ready way of looking at some of the trends that allow us to make broad-brush generalisations about, say, the difference between the average 30 year old and the average 60 year old. They are never going to tell us anything at all about the differences between a 60 year old and a 59 year old who fall either side of a drawing pin plonked in a chronological map.

The reality is that the cut-off dates don't have any bearing on individuals at all. They just reflect the fact that, for operational reasons, demographic researchers have to define the population base that they are researching.

Jagoda · 08/12/2024 08:59

The demographic groupings are incredibly useful for marketing and advertising purposes.

If you’re advertising baby products, you would target millennials, so you position those advertisements around tv shows most watched by them.

If you’re marketing something that appeals to GEN Z you would put it on instagram and emphasise the sustainability aspects.

Of course all Gen X or whichever cohort aren’t all the same, but there is no doubt we are shaped by our cultural heritage and the economic, social and political factors that affect us as a specific demographic.

It is a way of making more money.

But as a Gen X, I just don’t care.

PowerRangersAuntie · 08/12/2024 09:01

@AlbertCamusflage in a time where diversity and inclusion are all important, i feel it also fosters tribalism, almost.

Uricon2 · 08/12/2024 09:01

I've been deboomerised! Gen X now. Will tell my much younger sis that she's now a Xennial. She liked being Gen X MWAHAHAHA

AlbertCamusflage · 08/12/2024 09:03

The demographic groupings are incredibly useful for marketing and advertising purposes.

Yeah, of course they are useful. But people mistake what their utility and power is, and wrongly infer that they have the power to explain individuals and to tell us about phenomena at-and-around an arbitrary cut-off zone.

RedToothBrush · 08/12/2024 09:13

Sharptonguedwoman · 08/12/2024 08:19

@RedToothBrush · There's a known thing about microgeneration at the beginning/end of generations which share traits from both the generation before and the generation after.
may I ask where this information comes from? I've not come across cuspers at all before. Is there a useful book or article please?

There's a few I've seen over the years. I couldn't tell you a particularly good one.

The quotes I've used are from wiki if that helps.

If you Google cusper, Xennial or Generation Jones you should come up with a few things.

RedToothBrush · 08/12/2024 09:15

Uricon2 · 08/12/2024 09:01

I've been deboomerised! Gen X now. Will tell my much younger sis that she's now a Xennial. She liked being Gen X MWAHAHAHA

But Xennials are way cooler than Gen X.

They have all the good bits of Gen X minus the 70s strikes and stupidly hot summer plus some of the best bits of the late 90s and they are as earnest as millennials.

Jagoda · 08/12/2024 09:16

NOBODY is cooler than Gen X.

What was that about tribalism again? 😂

Boomer55 · 08/12/2024 09:22

LemonTT · 07/12/2024 11:02

Boomers are children borne post war during a time of economic growth and prosperity. They benefited from the post war consensus in Britain - a widespread that the government should intervene to make people’s lives better. The post war boom and its collapse were experienced differently in Britain and the US.

Britain experienced a leap in standards of living in the late 50’s and 60’s. But it was nowhere near what happened in the US. Britain spent most of the late 40’s and early 50’s in the duldrums whilst recovering from the war. A lot of the improvements in Britain relied on state intervention and increasing levels of taxation and government borrowing. Our economy came close to collapse in the 1970’s when inflation prevented us borrowing more money without strict economic conditions and reform.

Each generation has experienced improvements in standards of living and periods of stagnation. Each generation has faced challenges and barriers to advancement. “Boomers and Gen x” had access to ladders they could use to climb out of poverty. But they were only accessible to a small few in the UK.

The long period of economic growth in 50’s and 60’s was unprecedented as is the long period of stagnation from 2007 to now. The reality is that the reasons why this has happened is beyond the control of our government never mind ordinary people whatever their age.

TLDR: we aren’t the US and most of their culture wars and inter generational wars don’t apply to Britain.

I think the term “boomers” came from the fact there was a very large number of babies born and growing up in the post war years.

Nothing to do with prosperity. 🤔.

dottiehens · 08/12/2024 09:23

Millennials are the worse. Boomers, X, Gen Z all cool. X the coolest 🎯

mumda · 08/12/2024 09:24

I don't need a label. Thank you anyway.

MarmaladeSideDown · 08/12/2024 09:36

GinToBegin · 07/12/2024 10:42

Same, but on the upside, use of ‘Okay Boomer’ is a quick way of knowing someone is an arsehole.

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Never heard that one before.

Jumell · 08/12/2024 09:53

dottiehens · 08/12/2024 09:23

Millennials are the worse. Boomers, X, Gen Z all cool. X the coolest 🎯

i am firmly in X category!

I know that we’re cool, but we are a bit

’i remember only 3 TV channels, street lights were our curfew, we drank out of the garden hosepipe” Facebook memes!

also our mothers smoked and drank the pub dry when they were carrying us - we had no seatbelts but hey - we all turned out alright !

obviously you are right that we’re cool as - but I feel us Xs also need to laugh at ourselves a bit !

on that note - Pimms, anyone? Or is it too early ?

LittleBearPad · 08/12/2024 12:07

Jumell · 08/12/2024 09:53

i am firmly in X category!

I know that we’re cool, but we are a bit

’i remember only 3 TV channels, street lights were our curfew, we drank out of the garden hosepipe” Facebook memes!

also our mothers smoked and drank the pub dry when they were carrying us - we had no seatbelts but hey - we all turned out alright !

obviously you are right that we’re cool as - but I feel us Xs also need to laugh at ourselves a bit !

on that note - Pimms, anyone? Or is it too early ?

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on that note - Pimms, anyone? Or is it too early ?

Too cold!

Jumell · 08/12/2024 12:10

LittleBearPad · 08/12/2024 12:07

on that note - Pimms, anyone? Or is it too early ?

Too cold!

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True .. very true !

MereDintofPandiculation · 08/12/2024 15:44

Boomer55 · 08/12/2024 09:22

I think the term “boomers” came from the fact there was a very large number of babies born and growing up in the post war years.

Nothing to do with prosperity. 🤔.

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Yes, it's comes from "baby boom", the immediate post war increase in birthrate.

The big difference between the baby boom generation and whatever the current generation is, is that we were optimistic about the future. We had the immediate threat of nuclear war, which was a downer, but if we escaped that, we were told, and there was no reason to disbelieve, that life would continue to get better, that retiring in your 50s would be the norm in the future. etc. So of course we made the most of what we could get, as there was every belief that it was poor fare compared to what later generations would enjoy.

On the other hand, it wasn't a wonderful time if you were a woman. Serious shortage of job options, even a shortage of education options. Sexual harassment was an accepted part of every day life, in was up to you to put a stop to it, you'd be laughed at if you complained. Equal pay was still on the horizon - growing up I remember job adverts which said salary £xxxx (men) £smaller amount (women).

Difficult also if you were gay - sexual activity between gays was still illegal.

I was less aware of racial inequalities - there were no ethnic minorities in my (quite large) town, certainly none in my school

Equality for people with disabilities was not on the agenda, no-one considered they should have the same access to life as those without disabilities.