Generations · 9 of 11
The first generation that never knew life without the internet.
Who is Gen Z?
Gen Z were born from 1997 to about 2012, counting from Pew Research Center's line, or 1995 to 2009 in McCrindle's. Mostly too young to remember 9/11, they grew up with smartphones, largely raised by Gen X parents. Pew found them much like Millennials on social and political issues.
The years, by who you ask
Nobody owns these lines. Each researcher draws them for their own reasons, so the edges move.
| Pew Research Center | 1997 onward, end not yet fixed 1 |
|---|---|
| Common usage | 1997–2012 2 |
| McCrindle | 1995–2009 3 |
| Strauss & Howe | split: Millennial to 2004, Homeland from 2005 4 |
Pew's 2019 essay set the start at 1997 and left the end open; 2012 is the end most writers use. The name "Generation Z" was in print by 2010. 1,2
The world they were born into
What was going on while they were small, and while they were young enough for it to stick.
- Phones2007The iPhone launched in 2007, when the oldest Gen Zers were 10. Pew says constant connectivity is "largely assumed" for them. 1
- Childhood2007–2009The Great Recession hit while they were children, and their parents' jobs and homes with it. 5
- Smartphones everywhere2011–2025Smartphone ownership among American adults went from 35 percent in 2011 to 91 percent in 2025. 6
- The pandemic2020On 11 March 2020 WHO characterised COVID-19 as a pandemic. Many of Gen Z finished school or started work in lockdown. 7
Where the name came from
The next letter after X and Y. "Generation Z" was in print by 2010, and Pew adopted the name in 2019 after weighing others. 2,1
How they're usually described
The generalities: what researchers and writers say about the group as a whole. A group portrait, never a person.
Like Millennials, only more so. Pew's 2018 surveys found 70 percent of Gen Z wanted government to do more to solve problems, against 53 percent of Gen X, 49 percent of Boomers and 39 percent of the Silent Generation. 8
Comfortable with difference. 35 percent knew someone who uses gender-neutral pronouns, against 16 percent of Gen X and 12 percent of Boomers; 66 percent said Black Americans are treated less fairly than whites. 8
Sceptical, like their parents. Bloomberg found Gen Z high-school seniors as pessimistic as Gen X seniors were at the same age. 9
Next to the other generations
Who raised them, who they raised, and where the friction and the common ground show up in the data.
Gen X. Mostly their parents. Researchers describe Gen X raising them with looser reins, and Pew's surveys of young adults and their parents find mostly warm relationships: 59 percent of 18-to-34-year-olds rate theirs excellent or very good, and 61 percent text a parent at least a few times a week. 9,10
Millennials. Pew's finding is that the two look a lot alike on key social and political issues, with Gen Z slightly further in the same direction. 8
Boomers. Gen Z teenagers spread "OK boomer" in 2019. Its own popularisers described "boomer" as shorthand for the establishment more than for an age group. 11
Gen Alpha. Their younger siblings and, for older Gen Z, the first of their children are Gen Beta. 12
In the long cycle
A theory, not a finding: Strauss and Howe's idea that generations come round in a four-part pattern. How the theory works, and its critics.
Strauss and Howe split Gen Z's years: those born to 2004 are Millennials, those from 2005 the start of the Homeland Generation, the next Artists, matched with the Silent Generation born in the last Crisis. 4
The decades they were born in
Gen Z were born from 1997 to about 2012, so the late 1990s and the whole of the 2000s on this site.
Questions people ask
What years is Gen Z?
Pew Research Center starts Gen Z in 1997 and has not fixed an end; most writers use 2012. McCrindle uses 1995 to 2009.
Who are Gen Z's parents?
Mostly Gen X. Some younger Gen Z have Millennial parents. Gen Alpha, the next generation, is mostly the children of Millennials.
How is Gen Z different from Millennials?
Less than you might think. Pew found they look a lot like Millennials on key social and political issues. The clearest difference is technology: Gen Z never knew life before the smartphone.
Born online. Your card is the one thing that isn't on your feed.
Your generation is the crowd you were born into. Your card is worked out from your own birthday, minute and place: the sky that night, your numbers and your Chinese year. Sealed until you print it.
What your card covers
See all six pages, sealedFold the pages back
1 Who you are
2 The machine says
3 Your sky
4 Love & your people
5 Work & money
6 Your year ahead
Sources
- Defining generations: Where Millennials end and Generation Z begins, Pew Research Center, Michael Dimock, 17 January 2019. Read on .
- Generational Cohorts, Wordorigins.org, David Wilton, 20 October 2020. Read on .
- Generation Alpha defined, McCrindle Research, Mark McCrindle. Read on .
- Strauss-Howe Generational Theory, Critical Dictionary of Apocalyptic and Millenarian Movements, Amanda van Eck Duymaer van Twist and Suzanne Newcombe (Inform), 2017, updated 15 January 2021. Read on .
- The Great Recession, Federal Reserve History, Robert Rich. Read on .
- Mobile Fact Sheet, Pew Research Center, 20 November 2025. Read on .
- WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the media briefing on COVID-19, WHO, 11 March 2020. Read on .
- Generation Z Looks a Lot Like Millennials on Key Social and Political Issues, Pew Research Center, Kim Parker, Nikki Graf and Ruth Igielnik, 17 January 2019. Read on .
- How Gen X Parents Raised Gen Z Kids: Different Than Millennials, Financial Advisor magazine (Bloomberg reporting), Matthew Boyle, 29 July 2019. Read on .
- Young adults' relationship with their parents, Pew Research Center, 25 January 2024. Read on .
- "OK, boomer": How a viral catchphrase is reshaping generational relationships, CBS News, Natacha Larnaud, 8 November 2019. Read on .
- Generation Beta defined, McCrindle Research. Read on .