American Silents are noted as being the youngest of all American generations in marrying and raising families. You know us. They saw the fall of Nazism and the catastrophic devastation made capable by the nuclear bomb. Up next, we shall know about the Silent Generation. The generation’s “silent” behavior has been attributed to the difficult times in which they were born, as well as their coming of age during McCarthyism. Members of this generation are not only loyal to their careers but also to their religious beliefs, their relationships, and their families. The Silent Generation This is the first defined generational group. Traditionalists are known as the \"silent generation\" because children of this era were expected to be seen and not heard. [6], The cohort has been named the "Lucky Few" in the 2008 book The Lucky Few: Between the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boom,[7][8] by Elwood D. Carlson PhD, the Charles B. Nam Professor in Sociology of Population at Florida State University. The oldest members of this generation were born at or near the beginning of the Great Depression. •Men typically worked while women stayed home to raise children. [3] It includes most of those who fought during the Korean War. An often-used range, however, is 1928–1945. The Birth Years of the Silent Generation. They often worked in the same job or company for the majority of their careers. They grew up expecting a hard life. [9] © 2020 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. These years span from the … [13][14] According to this definition, the oldest member of the Silent Generation is 92 years old and the youngest turns 75 years old in 2020. Those of the Silent Generation were born during the Great Depression. Their parents were mostly of the Lost Generation. As young parents, this generation gave birth primarily to the Baby Boomers[citation needed] while younger members of the generation and older members who held off raising a family until later in life gave birth to Generation X. They were unaffected by immigration because of the Great Depression and World War II. [20] 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. Read part one here.. There were 46,582,000 Silent Generation children born. By comparison with the Flaming Youth of their fathers & mothers, today's younger generation is a still, small flame. The Silent Generation followed meekly in the shadow of the GI Generation. Silent Generation (1925-1945) This generation includes people born between 1925 and 1945. Nearly all the great leaders of the civil rights movement were a part of the Silent Generation. Members of this generation typically have a deep respect for authority. They were children during World War II and came of age during the 1950s and 60s. With Lois Johnson. Fortune magazine's story on the “College Class of ‘49” was subtitled “Taking No Chances. The Silent Generation is thrifty. The Silent Generation was born from 1925 to 1944, with a total of 52.5 million live births. The term “Silent Generation” mainly refers to people living in the United States, but in some other parts of the world, war and economic trouble led to similar characteristics and behaviors in people born during this time. The Silent Generation, as well as the Greatest Generation, were the parents of the Baby Boomers. Those Americans also came of age amidst war and economic depression. The members of this generation also often have the characteristics described below. About 46% of millennials ages 25-37 were married in 2018, a lower percentage than Generation X (57%), baby boomers (67%) and the Silent Generation (83%). Their attitudes leaned toward not being risk-takers and playing it safe. As with all generations, the birth years given for the Silent Generation vary depending on who creates the evaluation or defines the term. Later, Paul Steinhacker was in the advertising agency business in New York and California for 16 years and worked on Robert Kennedy’s political advertising in 1964 and 1968. They value stability and likewise are stable and dependable. While the generation may be called silent, many of the most influential voices in the civil rights movement were a part of this generation. Gen Z shares generational DNA with their grandparents and great-grands, the Silent generation that came of age in the wake of World War II. 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. •Either fought in WWII or were children. The Silent Generation is the demographic cohort following the Greatest Generation and preceding the baby boomers. [2], In the United States, the generation was comparatively small because the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II in the early-mid 1940s caused people to have fewer children. The Silent Generation is that group of people born between the years of approximately 1925 - 1942. Due to this social turmoil in their early adulthood, those of the Silent Generation would try keep their heads down. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window). ", From their childhood experiences during the Depression and the insistence from their parents to be frugal, they tend to be thrifty and even miserly. Population Characteristics At Work Historic Events. 1928 to 1945: the Silent Generation Center for Generational Kinetics The Center for Generational Kinetics lists the following five generations who are currently active in … Generation and the Boomer Generation. We are about 74 to 92 years old. They are noted as forming the leadership of the civil rights movement as well as comprising the "silent majority". The Silent Generation includes everyone born after Dec. 31, 1927, and before Jan. 1, 1946. [23] 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.[24][25]. 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: Resolution Foundation, in a report titled Cross Countries: International comparisons of international trends, uses 1926 to 1945 as birth dates for the Silent Generation. The McCarthy era was one of fear and enforced conformity. The generation is generally defined as people born from 1928 to 1945. [2] Some cohort sizes are greater than the number born due to immigration. The exact years that comprise Gen X … Your email address will not be published. This led to a wave of divorces among Silent Generation couples thereafter in the United States. As with all generations, the birth years given for the Silent Generation vary depending on who creates the evaluation or defines the term. Many lost their fathers or older siblings who were killed in the war. Those born in the 1920’s served in WWII and the nest born in the 1930’s formed the bulk of the SILENT GENERATION. Many brave soldiers lost their lives. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This was the era when a Christmas present might be a orange or a full meal. Many scholars believe that the Silent Generation’s low birth rate was due to the uncertainty and difficult conditions of the time, which meant that fewer people felt secure in starting families and raising children. What were their experiences during their lives? Australia's McCrindle Research uses the name Builders to describe the Australian members of this generation, born between 1925 and 1945, and coming of age to become the generation "who literally and metaphorically built [the] nation after the austerity years post-Depression and World War II".[10][11][12]. [15], Authors William Strauss and Neil Howe use 1925–1942 as birth years. "people within a prescribed population who experience the same significant events within a given period of time". Why do I see different birth years in different places? The Silent Generation, born between roughly 1925 and 1945, now range in age from 75 to 95 years old. The TIME magazine was the one to come up with the name of ‘Silent Generation.’ Henceforth, the name has always been in use. However, most of the members were born during the period of the Great Depression. Because of this fear, some government officials began screenings and trials to determine loyalty. Required fields are marked *. [1] By this definition and U.S. Census data, there were 23 million Silents in the United States as of 2019. … Among Millennials, around four-in-ten (39%) of those ages 25 to 37 have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with just 15% of the Silent Generation, roughly a quarter of Baby Boomers and about three-in-ten Gen Xers (29%) when they were the same age. 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