Gen-Xers as Parents

07/15/2004

"I dreamed a thousand new paths . . . I woke and walked my old one." - Chinese Proverb

Gen-Xers as Parents

The Gen-X generation (individuals born between 1965 and 1979) initially was known for its disillusioned pragmatism and underachieving fatalism. However, now that Gen-Xers are entering the realm of parenthood, they seem to be moving in some unexpected directions. Ann Hulbert, writing in the July 4, 2004 New York Times Magazine, ("Look Who's Parenting: Will the slacker generation improve child-rearing?"), made the following observations about Gen-Xers as parents:

* "Reach Advisors' 2003 survey of 3,020 parents found that twice as many Gen-X mothers as boomer mothers spent more than 12 hours a day 'attending to child-rearing and household responsibilities.' Roughly half of Gen-X fathers devoted three to six hours a day to domesticity; only 39% of baby-boomer dads could say the same.

* "Unlike their elders, they value family time over money and status. More Gen-X moms with part-time jobs and Gen-X dads with pitch-in attitudes are balking at the baby boomers' Palm Pilot approach to raising resume enhanced children. The general manager of First Fun, a division of Hasbro toys, recently told The Washington Post that young parents, 'want smart children, but they think its more important for them to be emotionally and socially ready' for school than to be on the Harvard-bound fast track."

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