Generation Z (or Gen Z for short) is the demographic cohort succeeding millenia and preceding Generation Alpha. Researchers and popular media use the mid-to-late 1990s as starting birth years and the early 2010 as ending birth years. Most members of Generation Z have used digital technology since a young age and are comfortable with the internet and social media, but are not necessarily digitally literate. Most members of Generation Z are the children of Generation X.
The first use of the term generation Z has been in september 2000 advertising age article discussing changes that will occur in the education system over the following years as this demographic cohorts entered school. Oxford living dictionary describes generation z as “generation reaching their adulthood at the second decade of the 21st century”. According to Mirriam Webinar dictionary the term Zoomer has been used to as nickname for members of the generation z since at least 2016, PEW research centre also surveyed various names cohort trend on google and find out that in the Us the term generation z is the most used by far, and according to the research conducted by the U.S department of health service and human services that also PEW research centre have adopted the term post millennial. Statistics Canada has noted that the cohort is sometimes referred to as “internet generation) as it’s first generation to be born after the popularization of the internet. Generation z has been given many terms depending which state or belief it is, proposed names like I generatio, Gen wii, digital native, plural, zoommer and so on.
In Japan, the cohort is described as Neo-Digital Natives, a step beyond the previous cohort described as Digital Natives. Digital Natives primarily communicate by text or voice, while neo-digital natives use video, video-telephony, and movies. This emphasizes the shift from PC to mobile and text to video among the neo-digital.
Generation Alpha (or Gen Alpha for short) is the demographic cohort succeeding Generation z. Researchers and popular media use the early 2010s as starting birth years and the mid-2020s as ending birth years. Named after the first letter in theGreek, Generation Alpha is the first to be born entirely in the 21st century. Most members of Generation Alpha are the children of Millennials.
Date and Age Range Definition
The Pew Research Center defines Generation Z as people born from 1997 onward, choosing this date for “different formative experiences,” such as new technological developments and socio-economic trends, including the widespread availability of wireless internet access and high-bandwidth cellular service, and key world events, including the September 11 terrorist attacks. Members of Gen Z were no older than four years of age at the time of the attacks, and consequently had little to no memory of the event. Pew has stated that they have not set a definition for the endpoint of Gen Z, but they did use 1997 to 2012 to define Gen Z for an analysis in 2019. According to this definition, as of 2020 the oldest member of Generation Z is 23 years old, and the youngest will turn 8 this year.
Demographers usually define the Generation Z cohort as people born since 1997. The American psychological association started Generation Z in 1997. News outlets such as The Wall Street Journal and the Harvard Business Review describe Generation Z as people born since 1997, and the New York Times describes members of Generation Z as people born after 1996. Bloomerang news describes Gen Z as those born between 1997 and 2012. In Japan, generations are defined by a ten-year span with “Neo-Digital natives” beginning after 1996. PBS and Reuters define Generation Z as the group born after 1996.
Psychologist Jean Twenge describes Generation Z as those born in 1995 or later. Forbes stated that Generation Z is “composed of those born between 1995 and 2010.”In a 2018 report, Goldman Sachs describes “Gen-Z” as “today’s teenagers through 23-year olds. Australia’s McCrindle Research Centre defines Generation Z as those born between 1995–2009, starting with a recorded rise in birth rates, and fitting their newer definition of a generational span with a maximum of 15 years. The Irish Times defines Generation Z as “people born between 1995 and 2010. BBCdescribes the cohort as anyone born after about 1995. Ipsos Mori states that their official definition of Gen Z is anyone born from 1996. Business insider defines Generation Z as those born between 1996 and 2010, as does Forbes who also uses 1996–2010
Statistics Canada defines Generation Z as starting from the birth year 1993. Statistics Canada does not recognize a traditional Millennials Cohort and instead has Generation Z directly follow what it designates as Children of Baby Boomers. Randstad Canada describes Generation Z as those born between 1995–2014.
In a minority viewpoint, authorNeil Howe, co-creator of theStrauss- Howe generation theory, defines the Homeland Generation as those born 2005 onwards, but states that the “2005 date remains tentative”, saying “you can’t be sure where history will someday draw a cohort dividing line until a generation fully comes of age”.
Arts and culture
According to Cross-cultural Gen Z, “Our research indicates that a majority of Gen Z will define their cultural identity in fundamentally different ways from their predecessors. By embracing and balancing multiple cultures, they are moving their cultural identity beyond simple definitions of race and ethnicity.
Both september 11 terrorist attack and the areas of recession have greatly influenced the attitudes of Generation z. True, this generation has little or no idea of what went wrong, which means they either in avery young age or don’t know what went wrong during the outbreak, but they have been subjected under a very powerful influence of not wanting to go through the struggles and sufferness they’ve seen their parents and siblings go through and with this has given them the strong of mind of taking up responsibilities at a very young age. Some of the people born around this time have become a source of living for their family, footing college bills and trying to make through every possible means they possibly can. Some venture into business, having the entrepreneurship mind and adding to the fact that most are technology oriented makes it easier for them to portray what they are into. But then, it has also been confirmed that this generation happens to be the most unhappy generation compared to the previous generation that has been in existence, they fall under a great depression of making up for the family needs, some are scared of being kicked out of college due to the finance, so they became financially depressed. A 2014 study Generation Z Goes to College found that Generation Z students self-identify as being loyal, compassionate, thoughtful, open-minded, responsible, and determined. How they see their Generation Z peers is quite different from their own self-identity. They view their peers as competitive, spontaneous, adventuresome, and curious all characteristics that they do not see readily in themselves.In addition, some authors consider that some of their competencies, such as reading competence, are being transformed due to their familiarity with digital devices, platforms and texts.
In 2016, the Varkey Foundation and POpulus conducted an international study examining the attitudes of over 20,000 people aged 15 to 21 in twenty countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They found that most important personal values to these people were helping their families and themselves get ahead in life (both 27%), followed by honesty (26%). Looking beyond their local communities came last at 6%, some young mean followed the trend of some celebrities, some were greatly affected by athletes, politicians and so on. The economist has described Generation Z as a more educated, well-behaved, stressed and depressed generation in comparison to previous ones. Also despite the pressure emmanating in the generation.
