Which U.S. Generation has the Most Power and Influence?
We’re on the cusp of one of the most impactful generational shifts in history.
As it stands, the Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964) are America’s most wealthy and influential generation. But even the youngest Boomers are close to retirement, with millions leaving the workforce every year. As Baby Boomers pass the torch, which generation will take their place as America’s most powerful?
In our inaugural Generational Power Index (GPI) for 2021, we’ve attempted to quantify how much power and influence each generation holds in American society, and what that means for the near future.
Generation and Power, Defined
Before diving into the results of the first GPI, it’s important to explain how we’ve chosen to define both generations and power.
Here’s the breakdown of how we categorized each generation, along with their age ranges and birth years.
| Generation | Age range (years) | Birth year range |
|---|---|---|
| The Silent Generation | 76 and over | 1928-1945 |
| Baby Boomers | 57-75 | 1946-1964 |
| Gen X | 41-56 | 1965-1980 |
| Millennials | 25-40 | 1981-1996 |
| Gen Z | 9-24 | 1997-2012 |
| Gen Alpha | 8 and below | 2013-present |
The above age brackets for each generation aren’t universally accepted. However, since our report largely focuses on U.S. data, we went with the most widely cited definitions, used by establishments such as Pew Research Center and the U.S. Federal Reserve.
To measure power, we considered a variety of factors that fell under three main categories:
- Economic Power
- Political Power
- Cultural Power
We’ll dive deeper into each category, and which generations dominated each one, below.
