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They’ve been stereotyped as a bunch of insecure, angst-ridden, underachievers. But most members of Generation X are leading active, balanced and happy lives, according to a long-term U-M survey.
“They are not bowling alone,” says political scientist Jon Miller, author of The Generation X Report. “They are active in their communities, mainly satisfied with their jobs, and able to balance work, family and leisure.”
Miller directs the Longitudinal Study of American Youth at the Institute for Social Research. The study, funded by the National Science Foundation since 1986, now includes responses from approximately 4,000 Gen Xers — those born between 1961 and 1981.
“The 84 million Americans in this generation between the ages of 30 and 50 are the parents of today’s school-aged children,” Miller says. “And over the next two or three decades, members of Generation X will lead the nation in the White House and Congress. So it’s important to understand their values, history, current challenges and future goals.”
The first in a new quarterly series of Generation X Reports describes how Gen Xers are faring in terms of employment and education; marriage and families; parenting; community involvement and religion; social relationships; recreation and leisure; digital life; and happiness and life satisfaction.
Among the many findings:
• Compared to a national sample of all adults, Gen Xers are more likely to be employed and are working and commuting significantly more hours a week than the typical U.S. adult, with 70 percent spending 40 or more hours working and commuting each week.
• Two-thirds of Generation X adults are married and 71 percent have minor children at home.
• Three-quarters of the parents of elementary school children say they help their children with homework, with 43 percent providing five or more hours of homework help each week.
• Thirty percent of Generation X adults are active members of professional, business or union organizations, and one in three is an active member of a church or religious organization.
“In sociologist Robert Putnam’s influential book, ‘Bowling Alone,’ he argued that Americans were increasingly isolated socially,” Miller says. “But this data indicates that Generation X members are not bowling alone.
“Although they may be less likely to join community-based luncheon clubs, they have extensive social, occupational and community networks. They are active participants in parent-teacher organizations, local youth sports clubs, book clubs and other community organizations.”
In addition, Miller points out, nearly 90 percent of Generation X adults participated in at least one outdoor activity, such as hiking, swimming, boating or fishing, and 40 percent engaged in two or more recreation and leisure activities per month.
On the cultural side, 45 percent of the Generation X adults surveyed reported attending at least one play, symphony, opera or ballet performance during the preceding year, and 13 percent said they had attended three or more cultural events during the last year.
