Generation Alpha
| Part of a series on |
| Social generation s of the Western world |
|---|
 |
Generation Alpha (Gen Alpha for short) are the demographic group coming after Generation Z. According to researchers and popular media, Generation Alpha starts at 2013 and ends in around 2025.[1][2] This generation was named after the first letter in the Greek alphabet. Most members of Generation Alpha are children of Millennials.[3]
Creation of the name[change | change source]
The name Generation Alpha was created after a 2008 survey done by the Australian consulting agency McCrindle Research. Agency founder Mark McCrindle is generally credited with the term. McCrindle describes how his team arrived at the name in a 2015 interview:
When I was researching my book The ABC of XYZ: Understanding the Global Generations (published in 2009) it became apparent that a new generation was about to commence and there was no name for them. So I conducted a survey (we're researchers after all) to find out what people think the generation after Z should be called and while many names emerged, and Generation A was the most mentioned, Generation Alpha got some mentions too and so I settled on that for the title of the chapter Beyond Z: Meet Generation Alpha. It just made sense as it is in keeping with scientific nomenclature of using the Greek alphabet in lieu of the Latin and it didn't make sense to go back to A, after all they are the first generation wholly born in the 21st Century and so they are the start of something new not a return to the old.[4]
McCrindle Research was also inspired by the naming of hurricanes, especially the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. In that year, six Atlantic storms were given Greek letters.[5]
Some expect the Generation Alpha period will be mostly defined with the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people have suggested the name Gen C, short for Generation Covid, for people born during and growing up while the pandemic was happening.[6]
Demographics[change | change source]
Global trends[change | change source]
Generation Alpha was expected to come to just over two billion people by 2025.[7] Almost three-quarters of all people lived in Asia or Africa.[8] Nations across Europe, North and South America don't have enough children to replace themselves.[9]
When 2018 officially ended, the population of age sixty-five and older exceeded that of between ages zero through four. As of then, there were almost 705 million people age 65 and older. At that same time, those between ages zero and four were at almost 680 million.[10]
Some reports also stated there were too many middle aged and elderly people without enough babies with whom the adults can be replaced. When people in several places do have children, however, they tend having fewer of them and at far older ages.[10] These areas include Australia, South Korea and the United States. These said countries often have lower fertility rates.[11]
In 2019, it was reported that in almost three decades from then the number of people in Russia would go down from the 143 million to just below 132 million. That would equal just over 11 million less than that of 2018 and 2019.[10]
As of then (2019), quality of life for Japan was above average. In the country many people lived to or past age eighty-four. Its under age five population was just over 3.85% then.
Use of media technology[change | change source]
Most members of Generation Alpha are growing up using smartphones and tablet computers for their childhood entertainment. Many are exposed to such devices as soothing distractions or educational aids.[12] Screen time with babies, toddlers and preschoolers became far more popular in the 2010s.
Being born in environments where the use of electronic devices is everywhere, however, has its own challenges.[13] These problems include although are not limited to cyberbullying and inappropriate materials.
Parental Internet usage[change | change source]
Generation Alpha are also being surrounded with adult Internet use starting shortly after their lives begin. The parents of Generation Alpha, mostly Millennials or late Generation Xers, are very heavy social media users.
References[change | change source]
- ↑ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (27 April 2022). "A generational portrait of Canada's aging population from the 2021 Census". www12.statcan.gc.ca.
- ↑ Frey, William H. (30 July 2020). "Now, more than half of Americans are millennials or younger". Brookings.
- ↑ "Rise of the "Social Media Teacher"". Linkedin.com. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
- ↑ "Generation Alpha: Mark McCrindle Q & A with the New York Times". mccrindle.com.au. Archived from the original on 14 March 2019. Retrieved 21 February 2020. Quote is an outtake from the New York Times story.
- ↑ "Why We Named Them Gen Alpha". McCrindle Research. Archived from the original on February 26, 2020. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ↑ "Meet Gen C (the Covid Generation)". CNN News. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
- ↑ "Meet Generation Alpha, the Next 'Next' Generation". New York Times. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
- ↑ "Fertility Rate Drops Will See the European Union Population Shrink About 13% by Year 2100". Euro News. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
- ↑ "The Developing Nations Rising Birth Rates Fuel the Global Baby Boom". The Straits Times. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 "There are More Elderly People than Young Children in World". BBC News. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
- ↑ "The Remarkable Decline in Fertility Rates". The BBC News. Retrieved November 30, 2021.
- ↑ "Here's Who's Coming After Generation Z". Business Insider. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
- ↑ "After Gen Z, Meet Gen Alpha". American Broadcasting Company. Retrieved August 8, 2021.