Finance and Economics. Demography. Reality Bites.
Don't cry for Millennials or Gen Z, save your pity for Generation X. We suffer,
said Seneca, more often in imagination than in reality.
The Stoic philosopher could have been talking about the generations.
Members of Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012, say that social media ruined their childhood.
Millennials between 1981 and 1996 complained that they cannot buy a house.
Baby boomers between 1946 and 1964 groused that they face an uncertain retirement.
Many forget about Generation X, which is made up of those born between 1965 and 1980.
Proxied by Google searches,
the world is less than half as interested in Gen X as it is in Millennials,
Gen Zers or Baby Boomers.
There are few podcasts or memes about Gen X. Aside from Douglas Copeland's Generation X,
Tales for an Accelerated Culture,
a novel published in 1991 which popularised the moniker, there are few books discussing the cohort.
In Britain,
Gen Xers are less likely than members of any other age group to know the generation to which they belong.
Gen Xers may have no place in the popular imagination but,
contrary to Seneca, they really do suffer.
This is true both because Gen Xers are at a tricky age and also because the cohort itself is cursed.
A recent 30-country poll by Ipsos finds that 31% of Gen Xers say they are not very happy or not happy at all –