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center - age adults predict Gen Xers are traditionally determine as insecure , angst - ridden , underachievers , but a new study signal they ’ve mature into a group of glad adults , who are fighting in their communities .
They also seem tobalance work and family obligationswell , the investigator said .
No angst here: The adults who are part of Generation X grew up during the Internet Era, though their digital lives don’t mean they are socially isolated, a new survey finds.
" The 84 million Americans in this generation between the ages of 30 and 50 are the parent of today ’s school - of age small fry , " said study research worker Jon Miller , a political scientist at the University of Michigan . " And over the next two or three decades , member of Generation Xwill lead the nation in the White House and Congress . So it ’s important to interpret their value , history , current challenges and future goal . "
Miller polled 4,000 adult born between 1961 and 1981 ( regard Generation X ) yearly from 1987 to 2010 through the Longitudinal Study of American Youth at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research .
As a whole , the phallus of Generation X led active , balanced and well-chosen life . Miller explains that these results are very different from those theorise by Harvard University prof Robert Putnam in the Holy Scripture " Bowling Alone " ( measure playscript by Simon & Schuster , 2001 ) . In the book , Putnam argues that Americans are increasinglysocially isolatedand that their links to people outside their family are decline .
Some of the study ’s principal findings let in :
Generation Xers are proletarian . About 86 percent of these adult work full- or part - time , and 40 percent spend 50 or more hours working and commuting every calendar week . They are more probable to be employed , and work farseeing hours , than a general sample of U.S. adults surveyed in 2008 . Two - third gear of the workers in Generation X are happy with their jobs .
They are also quenched with their animation . For example , they were require in 2009 and 2010 , " Thinking about all aspect of your life , how happy are you ? If zero means that you are very distressed and 10 mean that you are very happy , please grade your felicity . " The median score was 7.5 , with only 4 per centum indicating a great slew of sadness ( a score of 3 or low-spirited ) , and 29 percent indicating they were very happy ( a score of 9 or 10 ) . [ 5 affair That Will Make You Happier ]
Much of life as a member of Generation X revolves around family . Two - third of the chemical group is married , and 71 percent of them havechildren living at abode . They are very knotty with these kids , and have high outlook for them , with 80 percent of Gen - X parents gestate their shaver to finish a four - year college .
When they are n’t raising their kids or workings , the survey indicates that 44 percent of Generation X penis expend their fourth dimension participating in at least one community - based organization including parent - instructor organisation , religious organizations and local play golf club .
Generation X , living up to its verbal description as the first generation of the Internet age drop lots of sentence online , as well . Ninety - seven percentage " regularly " used the Internet , while 75 percent used on-line banking , and 62 percent read they have a Facebook page . They are n’t all digital , though , as 80 percentage report buying and interpret a Koran in the last class .
The study was print by the University and is the first of a four - part , quarterly series detailing the report ’s interrogation of the experiences , challenges , attitudes , behaviors and aspiration of theAmerican Generation X. The next report in January 2012 will analyze how Generation X responded to influenza outbreak , and future theme will cover food for thought and cooking , climate , space geographic expedition , citizenship and voting .
