Every generation’s "Life Motto" in a nutshell

I will continue to maintain that Gen Alpha did not end in 2024. Declaring hard cutoff at that point is completely arbitrary. Broad consensus on when the Millennials ended didn’t really emerge until around 2009 or later. Viewed through the Strauss-Howe generational framework, a “turning” is defined by cultural milestones and shifting archetypes, not arbitrary dates. In this model generations span roughly 15 to 21 years and are shaped by the dominant social mood of the era. Beyond the shared traumas of Covid and the disruptive rise of AI, it’s unclear what unique cultural markers will define Gen Alpha; let alone what major crisis or awakening will trigger the next Turning, Beta. Also consider the concept of echo generations: a new generation typically begins when one parental cohort takes over the majority of total births. Gen Alpha consists primarily of the children of Millennials. Around 2013, births shifted so that Millennials became the dominant parent generation; surpassing 75% of U.S. births that year and peaking near 88% in 2018. Even kids born in 2025 are still, for the most part, children of Millennials. Gen Z does not look set to overtake Millennials as the primary parent cohort until the early 2030s. On top of that, roughly half of Gen Z are currently between 15 and 25 years old and are not having children in large numbers yet. This makes it even less clear exactly when they will begin producing the next echo cohort; Gen Beta.