BEYOND THE STEREOTYPES
A checklist for analysing generations
GENERATION X
The quietly powerful generation we shouldn't ignore
GENERATION X
The quietly powerful generation we shouldn't ignore
GENERATION X
The quietly powerful generation we shouldn't ignore
Today’s 46–59-year-olds in Western economies are already a force to be reckoned with. With Boomers about to exit the power spotlight, it’s Gen X who will be calling the shots well into the 2030s. Shaped by the societal and cultural context of their youth in the 1980s and 1990s, they now hold significant power when it comes to leadership roles in politics, business and family life.
Right now, it’s Generation X who are the highest-earning generation in the US, surpassing both Boomers and Millennials. They are a lucrative market for categories and brands across just about every sector. But the reality is that, today, Gen X is just not very fashionable.
It’s rare that we at Ipsos receive briefs for research projects which seek to uncover the dynamics of Generation X. Books published in the last couple of decades feature five times as many mentions of Millennials as they do Generation X. And, when we look at what’s being said on social media right now, we see nearly four times as many references of Gen Z than we do for Gen Xi.
Are we missing a trick?
Right now, it’s Generation X who are the highest-earning generation in the US, surpassing both Boomers and Millennials."
Generation X: Who are you?
One of the mantras for generational analysis that we often come back to is: where you were born and when you were born really matters.
Here we describe the cultural context and lifestyles experienced by this generation in the US and in Western economies. But we need to be very clear: these foundational experiences do not apply across all countries.
For most American Gen Xers, the term does mean something: 62% of them are able to correctly identify that it’s the generation they are part of. But our international average, across 29 countries around the world, stands at just 33%.
Gen X mainly grew up in the 1980s, a decade whose defining moments (for those growing up in the West) included the then-UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and then-US President Ronald Reagan’s 'Conservative revolutions', famine in the Horn of Africa, the Star Wars trilogy, the HIV/AIDs pandemic, and the collapse of the Berlin Wall.
The experience for people in this same age group was rather different outside America and Western Europe. In Latin America, for example, their formative experiences in many countries were during a period of military coups and censorship (in Argentina, Brazil and Chile for example). And the 1980s are often given the term the 'lost decade' to reference the chaotic economic scenario of the time, characterised by unpayable external debts, huge fiscal deficits and hyperinflation.
Scroll forward a few years to the 1990s. Gen Xers further matured alongside the Friends TV series, the advent of the PlayStation, the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles and Brazilian and French football World Cup triumphs, with music playing in the background by Nirvana and Celine Dion, the latter being the largest-selling musician of the period.
One term that emerged while Gen Xers in the West were still in school in the 1970s and 1980s was 'latchkey children'. Their Boomer mothers chose to continue working part- or full-time in the labour market after having children, during a period when alternative pre- and post-school childcare arrangements were not as developed as they later were. In the US, the latchkey phenomenon peaked in the mid-1970sii. This means that while Gen X is portrayed as a generation that raised themselves to some extent, like other generational stereotypes, this seems overblown and simplified.
The 1980s are often given the term the 'lost decade' to reference the chaotic economic scenario of the time, characterised by unpayable external debts, huge fiscal deficits and hyperinflation."
The Soviet Union was over. Liberal capitalism was triumphing. Music changed completely. It became a cliché that every other advertising montage showed someone sledge-hammering the Berlin Wall – and there was this new group of younger people who obviously didn’t fit into any pre-existing category, so who were they?”
Douglas Coupland, author of Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture.
The power within
Gen X also tend to be well-educated, particularly if they grew up in one of the G20 countries. They are the first generation in the United States where more than 50% have a college education - with women outpacing men in their levels of education for the first time.
Today, they wield considerable power in the boardroom. The average age of a Fortune 500 CEO is a 59-year-old Gen Xer (note however that, out of these 500 CEOs, whether Gen Xers or not, only 52 were women in 2024). With executives now often working into their 60s and 70s (or longer), we can expect Gen X leaders to remain at the heart of business life for at least the next decade.
Soon this power will extend to the corridors of political power. But for the moment, it’s still the Boomers who hold the upper hand, leading 15 of the G20 countries; three are currently overseen by a Gen Xer.
The irony is that the generation once dismissed as slackers became the workaholics of the modern era. They had no choice. With fewer advantages than the Boomers and less collective support than Millennials, they learned to rely on themselves. They are the first generation that had to make peace with the idea that the middle-class dream had changed and that no one was going to hand them success.”
Darrell Bricker, Global CEO of Ipsos Public Affairs and author of Next: Where to Live, What to Buy and Who Will Lead Canada’s Future
A consumer powerhouse
There are a lot of people aged 46-59.
In the European Union, according to United Nations’ World Population Prospects 2024 (UNWPP), there are nearly 88 million of them, making up 20% of the adult population. Right now, they outnumber the 81 million Gen Zers by some distance.
Source: United Nations’ World Population Prospects 2024
What’s more, they outstrip Gen Z by a greater distance with their consumer power. At age 50, the median income of college-educated US Gen Xers is above both Boomers’ and Silents’ at the same ages. In 2023, 35% of Gen X individuals in the US had a household income of $150,000 or more, placing them ahead of other generations.
What’s more, they are about to inherit a lot of money. While overall Gen X's share of American wealth rose from 15% in 2013 to 26% in 2023iii, in the wealthiest families, Gen Xers are next-in-line to inherit from wealthy Silents and Boomers in the next few decades.
Harder to measure, but important to consider, is their decision-making power. Gen X occupy a key role in the family — and in those purchase decisions they make on the family’s behalf. In the US, 58% are looking after children; 28% have responsibilities for older people. Many are simultaneously looking after both, which led to the rise of the term 'sandwich generation'. It’s often Gen Xers who will be making the big decisions around major household purchases or financial planning, on behalf of both themselves, but also of their children and parents.
A key takeaway for marketers is that they are 'middle of the road' when it comes to media consumption. This is not a group of technophobes. They listen to the radio, but tend not to pay for newspapers as they have massively shifted to reading online. This group witnessed the rise of the internet first-hand, and they are only half-afraid of artificial intelligence: 27% feel very nervous about AI, vs. 21% of Millennials and 32% of Boomers.
Deciding to target this underserved demographic is only the start. Understanding Gen X is more of a challenge.
Gen X occupy a key role in the family — and in those purchase decisions they make on the family’s behalf. In the US, 58% are looking after children; 28% have responsibilities for older people.”
How well do you know Gen X?
Here we need go in search of two things. We want to identify both where they stand out from others and the similarities – it’s just as important to know where their aspirations and behaviours are in line with those important universal needs that run across our target audiences.
We need to stay mindful of some of the guiding principles for generational analysis. Whatever we may establish about Gen X, their cultural backdrop and current orientations, it may be more relevant for your category or business just to see them as 'the group aged 46-59', or indeed some other age categorisation that works better for you. Many of their purchase decisions, such as going on a cruise, will be more about life stage — such as nearing retirement — calling for approaches which go beyond a simplistic generational category. In some cases, it may be necessary to break free from a generational lens.
On the other hand, perhaps there is a cohort effect that we can tap into. For that cruise, the pull of nostalgia may be an excellent lever — with the on-board offer or excursion programme tailored to their formative years in the 1970s and 1980s. Find out more about identifying cohort effects in our chapter on generational analysis.
Key takeaways
Family life: it’s changed since the Boomers’ heyday
While Gen Xers may have had fewer children, there are still other adult family members to think about. Between adult children still living at home and ageing parents, Gen Xers find themselves 'sandwiched' with duties towards both older and younger family members.
Multiple factors shape their major purchases
The average age of a new car buyer in Europe is 53. Their purchase of an SUV may not be just about transporting children or grandchildren around but older adults as well; easy entry and exit can be a key benefit. And when they’re cooking and doing laundry, Gen Xers may often do it for more than just two adults: 70% of US householders aged 50-54 had at least one of their children (any age) present in their home in 2024.
Gen X are becoming key decision-makers
Gen X occupy significant leadership positions in politics, business and family life. The untapped potential of Gen X is huge. Whether it’s food, fashion or free time, they are a core group. Are you paying enough attention to this quietly powerful generation?
For more analysis on Generation X, or to discuss these findings further, please contact IKC@ipsos.com
Footnotes
[i]: Signals by Ipsos Synthesio
[ii]: https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/02/06/Seven-percent-of-children-are-latch-key-kids/5275539586000/. The proportion of latchkey children of mothers who work full time dropped over the 1974-1984 decade from 16% to 12%. But it dropped more dramatically in the following decades (https://www.bangordailynews.com/2013/06/12/news/fewer-children-now-home-alone-as-number-of-latchkey-kids-drops-40/).
[iii]: Federal Reserve Data as of May 2024
