By the end of World War II, America developed into the world's most powerful country. Around the same time, the economy recovered from the Great Depression. That is, until the 1960s, when a new generation came of age. The Silent Generation refers to people who were born between 1925 and 1945. flashcard set{{course.flashcardSetCoun > 1 ? [11][12] According to this definition, people of the Silent Generation are 76 to 93 years old in 2021. Cord-cutting in favor of streaming services is the popular choice. Similar to the Silent generation, Gen X is unfortunate to be sandwiched between two popular generations: Baby Boomers and Millennials. They prefer to maximize the property's lifespan, i.e. {{courseNav.course.mDynamicIntFields.lessonCount}}, World War II: The Start of the Second World War, The Attack on Pearl Harbor: The Beginning of American Involvement in World War II, The European Theater in WWII: The Eastern Front, Western Front & Fight for North Africa, The Holocaust: Anti-Semitism and Genocide in Nazi Germany, The Pacific Ocean Theater of WWII: Japan vs. This report looks at how Millennials are forming their own families – focusing on living arrangements, marriage rates and birth rates – and compares Millennials to previous generations at the same age. [2] Recent cohort sizes are greater than the number born due to immigration. Pew Research has created a tidy series of interactive graphics to describe the demographic characteristics of American generational cohorts from the the Silent Generation (born 1928 – 1945) through the Boomers (born 1946 – 1964), Generation X (1965 – 1980) [this is a disputed age range – a more recent report from Pew suggests that Gen Xers were born from 1965-1976), and the Millennial Generation (born 1981+ [n… This generation is Silent because they would not speak out against the government. They also fought in the Korean War. Silent Generation (1925-1945) This generation includes people born between 1925 and 1945. Picking a cutoff year … [1] By this definition and U.S. Census data, there were 23 million Silents in the United States as of 2019. When the Silent Generation began coming of age after World War II, they were faced with a devastated social order within which they would spend their early adulthood and a new enemy in Communism via the betrayal of post-war agreements and rise of the Soviet Union. According to research from Pew titled "Millennials in Adulthood," only 26 percent of 18-to-33-year-olds are married. Imagine you were born in 1925 on a farm in Oklahoma. By comparison with the Flaming Youth of their fathers & mothers, today's younger generation is a still, small flame. American Silents are noted as being the youngest of all American generations in marrying and raising families. And those young wives had lots of babies. Why is the Silent Generation considered to be patriotic and trusting of the government? Research collected between 2010 and 2013 found that the Silent Generation is the happiest generation in America, followed by the Boomers (born 1946 to 1964), Generation X (born 1965 to 1980), and Millennials (born 1980 to 2000). Their attitudes leaned toward not being risk-takers and playing it safe. How did you live and work? With some rare exceptions, youth is nowhere near the rostrum. The generation is generally defined as people born from 1928 to 1945. The Silent Generation: Also known as Builders or Maturists, born in between 1924 - 1945, coming of age during the postwar happiness. As a member, you'll also get unlimited access to over 83,000 It has been called the "Silent Generation. Generation Size: 72.1 million. The Dust Bowl, a period during the 1930s where several dust storms swept through the country and destroyed farmlands, complicated the problem of starvation. lessons in math, English, science, history, and more. In addition to being children of war, the Silent Generation also made up a majority of fighters in the Korean War, which was fought from 1950 until 1953 and led to the division of Korea into North and South Korea. The origins of generations following Generation X are much less clear. The Silent generation (ages 76 years and older) spend $162.9 billion annually. The Silent Generation: Definition, Characteristics & Facts, Traditionalist Generation: Definition & Characteristics, Generation X: Definition & Characteristics, What Are Baby Boomers? Your granddaughter is writing a report for school, and asks you to write down your remembered experiences from the 1930s through the Korean War. Generation of people born between the mid to late 1920s and mid 1940s, Timeline of major demographic cohorts since the late 19th century, Handbook to Life in America, Volume 8 Rodney P. Carlisle Infobase Publishing, 2009, p. 22, The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, "Is It Time to 'Pass the Torch?' Jeffrey Perry earned his Ph.D. in History from Purdue University and has taught History courses at private and state institutions of higher education since 2012. The Pew Research Center uses 1928 to 1945 as birth years for this cohort. You will have the ability to do the following after watching this video lesson: To unlock this lesson you must be a Study.com Member. This, in conjunction with Senator Joseph McCarthy's overzealous attempts to feed anti-communist sentiment in America, made it dangerous for people to speak freely about their opinions and beliefs. The Generational Dilemma of the 2020 Democratic Primary", "Millennials overtake Baby Boomers as America's largest generation", "The Silent Generation, 'The Lucky Few' (Part 3 of 7)", "Closing The Book on the Silent Generation", "The ABC of XYZ Understanding the Global Generations", "Generations defined: 50 years of change over 5 generations", "Cross Countries: International comparisons of intergenerational trends", "Common Workplace Characteristics of the Silent Generation", "The Silent Generation Characteristics and Facts You Need To Know", "Closing The Book On The Silent Generation", "catapult magazine Generation X, the Cold War and faith", "This is How the Greatest Generation Ruined the Baby Boomers", "Definition of generation gap | Dictionary.com", TIME Magazine, The Younger Generation, 1951, TIME Magazine, The Silent Generation Revisited, 1970, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Silent_Generation&oldid=1010232890, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 4 March 2021, at 13:14. Gen X children grew up in the 1970s and 1980s with the threat of nuclear war hanging over them and a resultant bleak view of the future, contributing to their generational disaffection, in contrast to the optimistic outlook of their Silent Generation parents. Also called Baby Buster or Gen X, the cohort reversed the baby boom trend by registering low birth rates! This generation was born during the Great Depression. Date and age range definitions. 179. Generation M, Net Generation, Internet Generation •Grown up with world, wide, web. The children who grew up … Being single or divorced was the exception. | {{course.flashcardSetCount}} {{courseNav.course.topics.length}} chapters | The children who grew up during this time worked very hard and kept quiet. [18] Because "following the rules" had proven to be successful for Silents and had led to incredible and stable wealth creation, it was common that their Boomer and Gen X children would become estranged from them due to their diametrically opposite rebellious nature, vocal social concerns, and economic hardship unknown to the Silents,[citation needed] creating a different generational consciousness. For example, many define Millennials as being in the 18-34 age group, or in the 21-37 range. The name Silent Generation was coined in the November 5, 1951 cover story of Time to refer to the generation within the United States coming of age at the time. There were about 50 million live births during the Silent Generation, making it the smallest generation in the last 100 years. [3] It includes most of those who fought during the Korean War. Already registered? [21] These conflicting views, seen as overly permissive by the Silents, further estranged those Boomers from their parents and, amongst other things, gave rise in the mid 1960s to the term generation gap to describe initially the conflict of cultural values between the Silents and their Boomer (and later Gen X) children.[22][23]. Earn Transferable Credit & Get your Degree. Time magazine used the name 'Silent Generation' to refer to these individuals. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. In 1939, the rain finally fell and the Dust Bowl came to an end. The Silent Generation is made of about 50 million children born between 1925 and 1945. What was your life like? There is no official start or end date to each generation. For example, the Boomer children were instrumental in bringing about the counterculture of the 1960s, and the rise of left wing, liberal views considered anti-establishment, those of which went directly against the "work within the system" methodology that the Silents worshipped. Log in here for access. Traditionalists Baby Boomers Generation X Millennials Birth Years 1900-1945 1946-19641965-1980 (1977-1994) 1981-2000 Current Age 63-86 44-6228-438-27 Famous People Bob Dole, Elizabeth Taylor Bill Clinton, Meryl Streep Barak Obama, Jennifer Lopez Ashton Kutcher, Serena Williams # 80 Million 51 Million 75 Million Other Names How did mobilization for World War II affect the United States's economy? It does not issue manifestoes, make speeches or carry posters. Alternative Snowflake Generation names include: Gen Z / Z Gen. Generation Alpha (2011-2025) New Silent Generation. They saw the fall of Nazism and the catastrophic devastation made capable by the nuclear bomb. Not only were people out of work and money, but there was also the food shortage caused by the Dust Bowl. Enrolling in a course lets you earn progress by passing quizzes and exams. The snowflake generation is the latest generation label applied to some of today’s young adults. The median year is 1936 and the median age of the Silent Generation in 2010 is 74. Whereas divorce in the eyes of the previous generation was considered an ultimate sin, the Silents were the generation that reformed marriage laws to allow for divorce and lessen the stigma. The Silent Generation has been described as being highly ambitious and having a need for achievement, power, and status. [4], Time magazine first used the term "Silent Generation" in a November 5, 1951 article titled "The Younger Generation", although the term appears to precede the publication:[5], The most startling fact about the younger generation is its silence. Along with the range of dates, current age of anyone in that generation, other names the generation is commonly referred to, a summary and description of the events that helped shape each generation into what they are today. Try refreshing the page, or contact customer support. The Silent Generation children grew up in conditions complicated by war and economic downturn. In comparison, 36 percent of Generation X, 48 percent of Baby Boomers and 65 percent of the members of the Silent Generation were married during that same age range. Carlson. 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[2] The Silent Generation is the generation that includes those who were too young to join the service during World War … The starting birth years for those who fall into generation X have a very large span, with the birth years understood to range from the early-to-mid 1960s to the early 1980s. 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