Generation Jones

Members of Generation Jones
Bill Gates, born 1955
Madonna, born 1958
Neil deGrasse Tyson, born 1958
Barack Obama, born 1961
Princess Diana, born 1961
Tom Cruise, born 1962
Diego Maradona, born 1960

Generation Jones is the generation or social cohort between the Baby Boom generation and Generation X. The term was coined by American cultural commentator Jonathan Pontell, who argues that the term refers to a full distinct generation born from 1954 to 1965.[1] Media coverage of Generation Jones typically has described it as a distinct generation, using Pontell's dates.[2][3] Others see this as a subset of the Baby Boom Generation, primarily its second half.[4][5] A third view is that Generation Jones is a cusp or micro-generation between the Boomers and Xers.[6]

Members of Generation Jones were children and teens during Watergate, the oil crisis, and stagflation.[7][8] Unlike "Leading-Edge Boomers", most of Generation Jones did not grow up with World War II veterans as fathers, and, as they reached adulthood, there was no compulsory military service and no defining political cause, as opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War was for the older boomers. Their parents' generation was sandwiched between the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boomers.[9] Also, by 1955, a majority of U.S. households had at least one television set,[10] and so unlike Leading-Edge Boomers born from 1946 to 1953, many members of Generation Jones (trailing-edge boomers) have never lived in a world without television—similar to how many members of Generation Z (1997—2012)[11][12] have never lived in a world without personal computers or the internet,[13] or mobile phones.[14] Generation Jones were children during the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s and were young adults when HIV/AIDS became a worldwide threat in the 1980s. The majority of Joneses reached maturity from 1972 to 1979, while younger members came of age from 1980 to 1983, just as the older Baby Boomers had come of age from 1964 to 1971.

The name "Generation Jones" has several connotations, including a large anonymous generation, a "keeping up with the Joneses" competitiveness and the slang word "jones" or "jonesing", meaning a yearning or craving.[15][16][17] Pontell suggests that Jonesers inherited an optimistic outlook as children in the 1960s, but were then confronted with a different reality as they entered the workforce during Reaganomics and the shift from a manufacturing economy to a service economy, which ushered in a long period of mass unemployment. Mortgage interest rates increased to above 12 percent in the mid-eighties,[18] making it virtually impossible to buy a house on a single income. De-industrialization arrived in full force in the mid-late 1970s and 1980s; wages would be stagnant for decades, and 401(k)s replaced pensions, leaving them with a certain abiding "jonesing" quality for the more prosperous days of the past.

Generation Jones is noted for coming of age after a huge swath of their older siblings in the earlier portion of the Baby Boomer population; thus, many note that there was a paucity of resources and privileges available to them that were seemingly abundant to older Boomers. Therefore, there is a certain level of bitterness and "jonesing" for the level of doting and affluence granted to older Boomers but denied to them.[19]

The term has enjoyed some currency in political and cultural commentary, including during the 2008 United States presidential election, where Barack Obama (born 1961) and Sarah Palin (born 1964) were on the presidential tickets. As of 2024, the current and preceding vice presidents, Kamala Harris (born 1964) and Mike Pence (born 1959) respectively, are members of Generation Jones.[20]

  1. ^ Williams, Jeffrey J. (March 31, 2014). "Not My Generation". The Chronicle of Higher Education. Archived from the original on October 9, 2017. Retrieved January 27, 2019.
  2. ^ Boylan, Jennifer Finney (June 23, 2020). "Opinion | Mr. Jones and Me: Younger Baby Boomers Swing Left". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  3. ^ "Not My Generation". Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  4. ^ Astor, Bart. "Baby Boomers Are Different Than Generation Jones - We're Proud Of Being Old". Forbes. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  5. ^ Lubrano, Alfred (February 23, 2023). "Generation Jones folks can't relate to their Baby Boomer brethren". Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  6. ^ Carter, Wayne (July 2, 2017). "Carter: What's an xennial? Me, apparently". Baltimore Sun. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  7. ^ "Jump up". The Frederick News-Post. December 19, 2008. Archived from the original on February 21, 2010. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
  8. ^ "In Obama, many see an end to the baby boomer era". Chicago Sun-Times. January 11, 2009. Archived from the original on January 25, 2009. Retrieved September 19, 2015.
  9. ^ Buck, Stephanie (November 3, 2017). "This niche generation within the Baby Boom is a highly coveted—and persuadable—voting bloc".
  10. ^ Stevens, Mitchell. "History of Television". New York University.
  11. ^ Burclaff, Natalie. "Research Guides: Doing Consumer Research: A Resource Guide: Generations". guides.loc.gov. Retrieved April 21, 2022.
  12. ^ Bureau, US Census. "2019 Data Show Baby Boomers Nearly 9 Times Wealthier Than Millennials". Census.gov. Retrieved February 18, 2023. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  13. ^ A majority of U.S. households had PCs by 2000 and the internet by 2001; see: File, Thom (May 2013). Computer and Internet Use in the United States (PDF) (Report). Current Population Survey Reports. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  14. ^ A majority of all U.S. adult survey respondents reported having mobile phones by 2002; see: Tuckel, Peter; O'Neill, Harry (2005). Ownership and Usage Patterns of Cell Phones: 2000-2005 (PDF) (Report). JSM Proceedings, Survey Research Methods Section. Alexandria, VA: American Statistical Association. p. 4002. Retrieved September 25, 2020.
  15. ^ Anne, Braly (January 18, 2009). "'Generation Jones' soon to have its man in Washington". Chattanooga Times Free Press. Archived from the original on February 19, 2012. Retrieved June 13, 2009.
  16. ^ Button, Eileen (April 5, 2009). "Generation Jones has a few good reasons to be suspicious of technology". The Community Newspapers.
  17. ^ Stuart Wells, Amy (March 4, 2009). "Commentary - From Obama's Generation The Audacious Hope of More Racially Diverse Public Schools". Education Week.
  18. ^ "FreddieMac - 30-Year Fixed-Rate Mortgages Since 1971". November 7, 2021.
  19. ^ Pontell, Jonathan (2007). "Generation Jones". The Jonathan Pontell Group. Archived from the original on July 13, 2011. Retrieved October 30, 2012.
  20. ^ Wiltz, Teresa (October 7, 2020). "What Prince Tells Us About Kamala Harris". Politico. Retrieved December 14, 2023.