Who are baby boomers, Gen X, millennials and Gen Z?

Boomers

Born: 1946-1964 Fun fact: Women had an average of 3.7 kids during the baby boom period Watched: The moon landing What’s for dinner? Meatloaf Brag about: Electing Pierre Trudeau; getting a great deal on their cable TV package Worst fear: Change Voice of the generation: John Lennon

Gen X

Born: 1965-1980 Fun fact: In debt in Canada to the tune of $767 billion; the most, collectively, of any generation Watched: The fall of the Berlin Wall What’s for dinner? Microwave pizza Brag about: Making the perfect mixtape Worst fear: Being conflated with baby boomers Voice of the generation: Kurt Cobain

Millennials (or Gen Y)

Born: 1981-1996 Fun fact: The most highly educated generation in Canada’s history Watched: 9/11 What’s for dinner? Anything artisan or farm-to-table Brag about: Not using a filter on Instagram (#nofilter) Worst fear: Never being able to afford a home Voice of the generation: Lena Dunham

Gen Z

Born: 1997-2012 Fun fact: On track to reach 32 per cent of the global population by 2020—2.5 billion of them—surpassing the number of millennials Watched: Donald Trump elected president of the United States What’s for dinner? Plant-based burgers Brag about: Perfecting that dance move from Fortnite in real life Worst fear: The world burning or flooding (or both) Voice of the generation: Greta Thunberg

What comes next?

Futurists are now talking about Generation Alpha: an entire generation of people who have never lived without a tablet or smartphone to distract them. Here’s more on that.

Sources: Bloomberg, Statistics Canada, TransUnion Canada. all dates sourced from Pew Research Center.

This article is from the February 2020 issue of Maclean’s magazine, which has two different covers. Here’s why.