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Generation X: Making a virtue of necessity

It wasn't supposed to be like this. Young people born from the early 1960s to late 1970s believed that the future was theirs. As baby boomers aged, employment and prosperity would be passed along. Instead, "Generation Xers" complained that they were propelled into a changing, recession-driven workplace that offered little but "McJobs." They became the first post-war generation to be worse off than their parents, left with reduced expectations and downsized hope for the future.

Generation Xers are not all slackers. Many see the brave new post-boomer world as a chance to start again, introducing new values and priorities. In conversation with Peter Gzowski, four Xers from across the country describe how perceived hopelessness misses the mark. They're going to school to better themselves, not to get a job; they're starting relationships despite divorce statistics; identifying themselves with producing, not consuming. They know full well that "Angst is a privilege. We have good lives compared to so many."
. Panellists Linda McNutt and David Eddie went on to become authors. Linda McNutt received her PhD from the University of New Brunswick and went on to teach on the faculty of St. Thomas University in Fredericton, N.B. Her novel Summer Point was published by Cormorant Books in 1997. David Eddie is the author of Chump Change (Random House of Canada, 1996) and Housebroken: Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Dad (Vintage Canada, 1999).

. In their book Chips and Pop: Decoding the Nexus Generation (Malcolm Lester Books, 1998), Robert Barnard, Dave Cosgrave and Jennifer Welsh of Toronto consulting group d-Code argue strenuously that Xers are not the aimless slackers Douglas Coupland portrayed. Calling the group the "Nexus Generation" (because they are a bridge between boomers and their children, as well as between the industrial and information ages), they say Xers are optimistic and responsible.

. Generation X holds particular appeal to marketers seeking a target audience. Barnard, Cosgrave and Welsh claim this demographic lives in an "extended freedom zone", free of family and financial obligations, and as a group has $104 billion in disposable income. Because they expect they will need to be financially self-sufficient (only eight per cent of Xers expect the Canada Pension Plan to exist when they retire) they are key consumers of financial products like RRSPs.

. Today, many critics argue that "in our diversity-embracing post-modern world nothing can be gained from grouping together tens of millions of teenagers" (BBC e-cylopedia).
. David Baxter of Vancouver's Urban Futures Institute agrees. "Canada is a diversity of individuals, not groups," Baxter says. "We now live with parallel cultures and universes that are not described by who are parents are." Instead, he believes culture is now based on lifestyles, values and ethical choices.

From Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture:
. Brazilification: The widening gulf between the rich and the poor and the accompanying disappearance of the middle classes.
. Rebellion Postponement: The tendency in one's youth to avoid traditionally youthful activities and artistic experiences in order to obtain serious career goals. Sometimes results in the mourning for lost youth at about age thirty, followed by silly haircuts and joke-inducing wardrobes.
Medium: Radio
Program: Morningside in the Summer
Broadcast Date: Aug. 23, 1993
Guest(s): David Eddie, Candace Gregoris, Linda McNutt, Chris Trowbridge
Host: Peter Gzowski
Duration: 10:31

Last updated: October 1, 2012

Page consulted on November 28, 2012

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