New Silent Generation

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New Silent Generation
1977–1986
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2000–2020

The New Silent Generation is a proposed holding name used by Neil Howe and William Strauss in their demographic history of America, Generations, to describe the generation whose birth years begin somewhere in the early or mid 2000s and continue to a yet unknown year in the future, most likely the year 2017. The term is a reflection of Howe's and Strauss's theory that the characteristics of American generations are cyclical, and the generation currently being born will share characteristics with the Silent Generation, born in the span of years between 1925 and 1945.

Due to the popular use of the terms Generation X and Generation Y, especially among the market research community, the New Silent Generation is sometimes referred to as Generation Z. Other terms sometimes used are Generation Alpha and Millenniums. Although the generation is often said to start somewhere in the early or mid 2000s, the events of 9/11 and the Digital Revolution may make it so that Generation Z is eventually considered to also include those born in the latter 1990s, depending on how much these people will share with the earlier Gen Yers as they grow older. The earliest date commonly cited as the beginning of Generation Z is 1995, however some claim that it begins as soon as 1994 or even 1993.


Preceded by
Generation Y
(1976-1982) – (1995-2001)
New Silent Generation
(2001-TBD)
Succeeded by
N/A
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