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First there were baby boomers. Then there was Generation X, followed by Y, Z and Alpha. Now, a new cohort has emerged.
Generation Beta, expected to span those born from 2025 to 2040, is already being discussed by demographers and sociologists, and the term is fast gaining traction in English-language media. But just how meaningful are these generational labels and what do they really tell us about the people they supposedly define?
“They are more of a popular science category,” says generational researcher and author Ruediger Maas.
Sociologist and youth researcher Klaus Hurrelmann says: “The classifications have become very common [not only] in marketing and advertising but also in science.”
A new generation emerges on the scene roughly every 15 years: baby boomers – those born after World War II up until 1964 – were followed by Generation X, born from 1965 to 1979.
Gen Y, also known as millennials, were born between 1980 and 1994. Sometimes, that range extends until the end of the 1990s.

Those born between 1995 and 2010 belong to Generation Z, a group often disparaged as being lazy and unwilling to work.
Perceptions of their laziness may, however, be rooted in generational misunderstandings rather than reality. It has been reported that Gen Z’s approach to work is shaped by their values, priorities and desire for work-life balance.
Of course, the classifications are somewhat arbitrary. Children born at the beginning of this year are no different from those born at the end of 2024.
“It’s like zodiac signs,” says Maas. In other words, some people put stock in this sort of thing, while others do not.
Generational differences, however, are real and do exist – this can be seen in everyday things, like how older people might ring the doorbell or make an actual phone call instead of sending a WhatsApp message to tell a person that they are outside their home.
“The core idea of age cohorts is plausible,” says Hurrelmann. “Wars, upheavals [and] technical innovations leave traces in people’s personalities, and this is especially true in adolescence, when people are shaped for their entire lives. Of course, everyone is unique, but there are also many similarities.”
AI will not make the reality of life easier and more convenient for today’s babies, but much more complex and challenging
Ruediger Maas, generational researcher and author
Those who started going through puberty in 2020 and the few years either side of it were very strongly influenced by the coronavirus pandemic, for example.
“Studies show that this has led to considerable uncertainty. You could almost speak of a ‘coronavirus generation’,” says Hurrelmann.
It is important to note that not everyone has the same experiences.
“It makes a huge difference whether you experienced the coronavirus pandemic in a stable family home – [if] your parents earned well and were able to switch to working from home – or whether you had parents who had economic problems and were really thrown off course as a result. These differences are easily obscured by a clichéd division into generations.”
“You can speak of a new generation when there is a noticeable change in circumstances,” Maas adds.
Gen Z, for example, is the first generation to have grown up with social media and cyberspace as a matter of course. The consequences of this can hardly be overestimated.
“Members of Generation Z touch their smartphones about 4,000 to 5,000 times a day and unlock them several hundred times,” says Maas. “It’s fair to say that never before in human history has an object been touched and used so often.”

Maas expects that Generation Beta will be even more digitalised and, above all, influenced by artificial intelligence (AI).
“The majority of them will work in jobs that don’t even exist yet. They will encounter a labour market for which they provide all the experience and no one to train them, because they are the first.”
It is also a world in which it will become increasingly difficult to know what data can be trusted. What is really true, what is AI-generated and what is not?
Maas is convinced that “AI will not make the reality of life easier and more convenient for today’s babies, but much more complex and challenging”.
Hurrelmann believes that it is not yet possible to say much about Generation Beta with any certainty, save for one thing: it will in all likelihood be a smaller generation, as many birth rates are falling.


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From Gen Z to millennials to Gen Beta, what do these labels tell us? Experts weigh in

Generation Beta is expected to span from 2025 to 2040. Photo: Shutterstock

Generation Beta - expected to span those born from 2025 to 2040 - is already being discussed by demographers and sociologists. Photo: Shutterstock

A new generation emerges on the scene roughly every 15 years. Photo: Shutterstock

Although classifications like Gen X and Gen Alpha are somewhat arbitrary, generational differences do exist between them all. Photo: Shutterstock

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Boys are more likely to show problematic digital media use, with 6 per cent of them meeting the criteria for pathological media use, a new study says. Photo: Shutterstock

Rainer Thomasius is medical director of the German Centre for Addiction Research in Childhood and Adolescence at the University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf. Photo: UKE

A loss of control over one’s media behaviour can have serious consequences for young people. Photo: Shutterstock

It is very important for parents to show an interest in their children’s online activities, Thomasius says. Photo: Shutterstock

Dementia risk for obese, physically inactive teens of Gen Z, Gen Alpha suggested by study

High body mass index and blood pressure, and low levels of physical activity, in childhood affect brain health in adulthood and could trigger dementia, new research suggests. Photo: Shutterstock

A boy on a climbing wall. A new study explores the idea that an unhealthy lifestyle during childhood could lead to dementia later in life. Photo: Shutterstock

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Feral, illiterate, doomed: Generation Alpha are a quarter of the world’s population, and people are worried about them

Generation Alpha kids, born to millennial parents, make up more than quarter of the world’s population – and there are already concerns that these kids are not “all right”. Photo: Shutterstock

In recent months, the alphas have emerged as TikTok’s newest supervillain. Photo: Shutterstock

When the last of Generation Alpha arrive this December, they will close the largest cohort of children ever to exist on Earth. Photo: Shutterstock

Illiteracy is among the most frequent and damning critiques levelled against Gen Alpha online. Photo: Shutterstock 

Roblox is a multiplayer online game and video game creation system popular with Gen Alpha kids. Photo: Getty Images

Teachers cite lack of reading skills as one of the reasons they are leaving the profession. Photo: Shutterstock

Digital loans of popular series such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid remain strong at US libraries. Photo: Shutterstock

Alphas “are some of the hardest-hit kids when it comes to reading”. Photo: Shutterstock

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Family & Relationships

Are Gen Z truly lazy? Will Gen Beta really suffer at the hands of AI? Experts talk about how generation labels do and don’t define us


Are Gen Z truly lazy? Will Gen Beta really suffer at the hands of AI? Experts talk about how generation labels do and don’t define us.


Coronavirus pandemic

Parenting: teens