Silent Generation

Majorities of Americans support an array of measures to address climate change but stop short of a full break with fossil fuels.

Even as younger generations gain representation in Congress, older generations still make up the majority of senators and representatives.

Millennials have often led older Americans in their adoption and use of technology. But there has also been significant growth in tech adoption in recent years among older generations.

Our interactive graphic compares the generations today and in the years that each generation was young (ages 18 to 33) to demonstrate this sea change in the activities and experiences of young adults that has occurred over the past 50 years.

Our analysis finds that Millennials stand apart from the young adults of the Silent generation when it comes to education, employment and home life.

Four-in-ten Millennial workers ages 25 to 29 had completed at least a bachelor’s degree in 2016, compared with 32% of Generation X workers and smaller shares of the Baby Boom and Silent generations when they were in the same age range.

The generation gap in American politics is dividing two younger age groups, Millennials and Generation X, from the two older groups, Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation.

The Pew Research Center survey, conducted in association with A+E Networks' HISTORY, asked everyone from Millennials to members of the Greatest Generation to list the events that most profoundly affected America.

About six-in-ten (62%) Millennials approve of the job Obama is doing. By comparison, half of Gen Xers, 43% of Boomers and just 37% of Silents offer positive ratings of the president’s job performance.

The 35% of Millennials who do not identify with a religion is double the share of unaffiliated Baby Boomers (17%) and more than three times the share of members of the Silent generation (11%).