By: McCrindle
In our latest report on The Future Consumer, we aim to unpack the current traits, behaviours and mindsets of our current generations and understand where they might head in the future.
We believe that generational analysis isn’t a passing fad or a generalisation of a cohort of people, but an embedding of one’s psyche and worldview when people of various ages are living through the same political, technological or social shifts.
Who is Generation X?
Having grown up with a healthy dose of MTV and heroes of the counter-culture of authority (Bon Jovi, Freddy Mercury and Angus Young to name a few), the ‘slackers’ have now emerged as leaders and managers to many organisations globally.
The oldest of Generation X have had more than three decades in the workplace. In this time, they have worked to establish their careers, and as the Baby Boomers move into retirement many are stepping into C suite or Executive roles. The average age of people working as CEOs in Australia is 50 years .
As John Mayer the musician (and Gen Xer – born 1977) said, ‘One day our generation will rule the population’ and Australia now has a Gen X Prime Minister in The Hon Scott Morrison.
Gen X were the first to make dual income earners the norm, reinventing the concept of the working family. Currently, three quarters of mothers with children aged between six and 14 years are employed in the workforce at some capacity.
As a result, this generation are the most time-deprived, but in the wealthiest stage of their lives. Generation X will be caught in the middle of the family dynamic where they make choices to assist their parents as well as their children, whilst navigating the senior years of their careers.
As we look to the future, Generation X are poised to become ‘downagers’ – where age is just a number and they feel and act far younger than their age would expect. Having lived their formative years in the 20th Century and most of their adult years in the 21st, this generation are a unique hybrid of traditional, structural, and analogue approaches combined with the adaptive, collaborative and digital thinking of today.
Their experience as early adopters to technology in their formative years will resurface, armed with the spending power to match. Many will opt for a combination of luxury and innovation to ‘keep up with the Joneses’ but also fit with their busy lifestyles. Generation X will easily utilise services or products that will save them time and money so they can experience their own retirement painlessly.
Article supplied with thanks to McCrindle.
About the Author: McCrindle are a team of researchers and communications specialists who discover insights, and tell the story of Australians – what we do, and who we are.
Feature image: Photo by Maria Lupan on Unsplash
