Every generation has its common characteristics that distinguish it from those that came before it. The post-WWII generation in North America and Europe married young, were successful in work and had large families. Consequently, they were known as the Baby Boomers. What about the generation that came after the Baby Boomers? Those born in the 1960s and 1970s are a very different bunch. Their apparent apathy towards everything makes them harder to define than previous generations. There is a name, however, for 'the generation that has no name'; Generation X.
The actual dates for Generation X are debatable. Some say that everyone born between 1960 and 1980 are Generation Xers. Others put the date at 1965 to 1979. This Generation grew up in the West during a transition period between the fall of colonialism and the rise of globalisation. Their lives were shaped by events such as the oil crisis of 1973, the dramatic changes in gender roles of the 1970's, the increasing role of the US in global affairs and the ending of the Cold War.
Due to their tendency to marry late and have fewer children, this generation is sometimes referred to as the Baby Busters. The term 'Generation X' was coined by a study of teenagers in 1960's Britain and did not actually refer to the generation it is used to describe now. The study was originally intended for a woman's magazine but was found to be unsuitable and was printed in the form of a book called Generation X instead. It was then used to describe those born in the sixties and seventies after a book, titled Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, was published in 1991. The author of the book, Douglas Copeland, claims that he took the term from a study of American class strata. The study pinpointed a certain class of Americans who wanted to "hop off the merry-go-round of status, money and social climbing that so often frames modern existence". Copeland felt that this perfectly described Generation Xers.
