THE POST-PANDEMIC GENERATION

The Post Pandemic Generation

compiled by Manelisi Manellie 

Historical events has consistently had an indelible effect on society in every era, the most recent experience was the COVID-19 pandemic that had brought about various unpredictable elements that inescapably challenged our politics, economic standing, mental wellbeing and most importantly our health and mortality. The last pandemic of this magnitude was over 100 years ago when the outbreak of the Spanish Flu erupted, and it is between this period and now that monumental historic events prompted various generational groups. The Post-Pandemic Generation is a self-coined term intended to refer to a group of young adults emerging out of an era during the COVID-19 pandemic. The following is an exploration of the component cultural elements that precede this group and the effects on their current and future subsistence. The observations will be established through brief descriptions of previous generational groups by way of determining common factors of prominent generational periods from the Baby Boomer era to the Gen Z era. Although the generational groups mentioned will be Americana references, it is however critically important to avoid underestimating the power and effect that the United States has on a large number of global societies in twentieth and twenty-first century culture.

Generations by Sd Smart (Fine Art America)

Generations, a photograph by Sd Smart that was uploaded on the Fine Art America website (https://fineartamerica.com/featured/1-generations-sd-smart.html) on 9 March 2023. The gripping black and white piece effortlessly depicts the hand of a toddler inside that of an adult, rendering parenthood and a generational dichotomy at the same time. The term ‘generation’ is succinctly defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “all the people who were born at about the same time” also meaning “to generate”, “produce or create something especially power, money or ideas”. The latter describes the primary influential factors of each epoch that is most identifiable in the advent of the Baby Boomer generation.

According to The Khan Academy’s US History article: “following World War II, the United States experienced a greatly elevated birth rate, adding on average 4.24 million new babies to the population every year between 1946 and 1964”. This boom in births inspired the name, Baby Boomer Generation, as a result of a strong post-war economy that made Americans more confident of their ability to support a large number of children. This had further led to the creation of a marketing demographic for various products tied to their age group from toys to music records. Furthermore, upon reaching the age of maturity in the 1960s and 70s, Baby Boomers were at the helm of social changes from the Civil Rights Movement, protests against Vietnam War and the feminist movement that proved effective due to the large size of the baby-boomer generation (https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/postwarera/postwar-era/a/the-baby-boom). Consequently the baby-boomers can be lauded for setting off the youth movement by demonstrating power by numbers that actualised social and civil changes such as the dawn of women in the workforce.

Generation X followed the baby-boomer era and was alternatively acknowledged by change agent, the WJ Schroer Company as ‘the latchkey generation’ or ‘the lost generation’ in which the childhood of this cohort (born between 1965 to 1980) was exposed to day-care, a growing divorce rate and mounting political distrust. During the time when Generation X came of age between the late 1980s and 1990s, political scepticism and a ‘what’s in it for me’ attitude developed that resulted in a lack of participation in social causes and an eventual lean toward capitalist ideologies (http://socialmarketing.org/archives/generations-xy-z-and-the-others/).

Following Generation X was Generation Y (Gen Y) or Millennials, a group born between 1981 and 1996 that matured around the 2000s. Robert Tanner wrote a piece on the 15 Influential Events that Shaped Generation Y in the Management Is A Journey website (https://managementisajourney.com/15-influential-events-that-shaped-generation-y-infographic/). Tanner stated that “many Gen X’ers lived the latch key experience as their parents focused on establishing their careers, [therefore] many Gen Y members had a different parental experience”, adding that Gen Y had “uncritical and protective parents who focused more on maintaining a work/life balance so they could be involved with their Gen Y kids”. Tanner emphasizes how access to information due to an established digital world created a vast difference between the Gen Y cohort to the Baby-boomer, where the rise of this internet generation provides exposure to various cultures across the world, making this group more adept at dealing with cultural diversity.

The most recent generational era is Generation Z, who debatably are born between 1997 and 2019 and in another write-up by Robert Tanner called Generation Z: Who Are They And What Events Influenced Them? (https://managementisajourney.com/generation-z-who-are-they-and-what-events-influenced-them/), Tanner identifies this cohort as “independent and able to figure things out for themselves”. He states that they are “not a go along to get along generation” and have no problem doing things as they desire. In contrast however, Tanner does interestingly list interactive engagement activities such as social networking, text messaging and corporate social responsibility among the influential events that shaped the Gen Z era. This suggests that amid Gen Z’s desire to naturally assert their independence, self-efficacy and individualistic drive, there is still an innate desire for human interaction and social involvement albeit through virtual contact.

One of the common themes identified across each era is the consistent and notable marketability of the youth demographic. This is justifiable due to many corporations’ general inclination to reach the largest, most accessible audience. Such activity is largely evidenced by the previously mentioned toys and music records targeted to childhood Baby Boomers and mobile devices to digital era Gen Y and Gen Z cohorts. Another definitive and noteworthy trend is the evolution towards a seemingly child-centred parenting style that aids in navigating parenthood in a changing world. There is a possibility that this may be amplified by the introduction of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where increased automation is projected to significantly improve the work life balance of many employees (https://www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg/interviews/commentary-ai-work-life-balance/).

There is also the prospect that automation in the Fourth Industrial Revolution may continue on the path of the Digital Revolution where social engagement further encourages cultural diversity. It can for that reason be argued that the next step may be the improvement of interpersonal relationships or better yet the enhancement of the intrapersonal relationship which stems from a ostensible trend of emergent generational independence. The possibilities of political involvement from the Post-Pandemic Generation are likely to be vast yet expectantly unanimous.  This notion is based on the extreme political interest observed during the Baby Boomer era that led to advocacy for social change and extreme disinterest during the Gen X era that led to capitalist principles.

Certainly, there is a much more gratifying term to refer to this particular group than “The Post-Pandemic Generation”, as it is surely predestined that a much more affirmative and victorious historic moment will better characterize this cohort. It is undoubtedly apparent that the history of American culture is the framework used to demonstrate this topic and that these observations can be applied when exploring the South African context of generational trends. Since the post-war era, youth movements have become a mainstay and a vital influence in modern society. It also goes without saying that the collective experience among contemporaries during one’s youth greatly informs the way in which politics and professions are approached as well as the manner in which the subsequent generation is parented. The generations before us have produced independent thinkers with an individualistic outlook, however their need and yet simultaneous aversion for human engagement is hopefully remedied in the next movement.