TV Ontario’s (TVO.org) The Agenda, hosted by Steve Paikin, brings about one of the most fascinating questions that keeps popping up in these times of the recession: Youth’s chances.
Since I’m 13, I’ve always been told that there were very little jobs out there. The 1992 recession had done much damage and this meant a bleek outlook for my generation: Generation X. The Agenda draws us into a fascinating discussion about those who are now entering the job market: Generation Y.
Even though one might criticise the use of these labels, it’s clear that whatever you want to call them, Generation X and Y’s job outlook is not even close to what Baby Boomers have experienced. What’s even more interesting is that The Agenda’s guests discuss the interplay between Generation X and Y. I personally think that no generations are lost, as such. There are always ways, especially here in Canada, to make things happen. Even if younger generations are up against many obstacles and the odds, the stories told in the GDP project are just one example of how youth can turn things to its advantage. In this line of though, I recommend this photo essay from Hamilton: Hamilton, mon amour.
If you’re interested in learning more about Canadian youth today – those whose umemployment rate is the highest among all age groups – I can only recommend that you carve 39 minutes and 14 seconds out of your busy schedule. Watch the following.
Frédéric Dubois, web coordinator
©2009 Le blogue PIB / The GDP blog
3 responses so far ↓
1 GTF800 // Feb 2, 2010 at 10:02 pm
Interesting post and video, but your birth year ranges are off and you’re missing an important part of the equation: Generation Jones (between the Boomers and Generation X).
The historical events which create generational personalities don’t fit into your neat 30-45,45-65 packages.
It is important to distinguish between the post-WWII demographic boom in births vs. the cultural generations born during that era. Generations are a function of the common formative experiences of its members, not the fertility rates of its parents. And most analysts now see generations as increasingly shorter (usually 10-15 years), partly because of the acceleration of culture. Many experts now believe it breaks down more or less this way:
DEMOGRAPHIC boom in babies: 1946-1964
Baby Boom GENERATION: 1942-1953
Generation Jones: 1954-1965
Generation X: 1966-1978
Generation Y: 1979-1993
Google Generation Jones, and you’ll see it’s gotten a ton of media attention in the U.S., and many top commentators from many top publications and networks (Washington Post, Time magazine, NBC, Newsweek, ABC, etc.) now specifically use this term. In fact, the Associated Press’ annual Trend Report chose the Rise of Generation Jones as the #1 trend of 2009. Here’s a page with a good overview of recent media interest in GenJones: http://generationjones.com/2009latest.html
2 fdubois // Feb 3, 2010 at 2:19 pm
Thanks for this contribution GTF800!
Have you heard much talk about the impact of Generation Jones in Canada? I’m particularly interested in knowing whether Canadian Joneses have been put more or less under pressure than those that followed…
Frédéric
Frédéric Dubois
Web coordinator, GDP
3 lgc // Feb 3, 2010 at 10:08 pm
what about the people seventy five , a lot of us are still here and still capable of thinking and feeling. plus we have real life experiences to draw from
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