Gen X Are The Real Winners. A recent article in The Economist… | by Daniel Thomas | Sep, 2025
A recent article in The Economist titled “Why Gen X are the real loser generation” had me reeling. The hook worked. It left me wondering why I was so fired up. I’m more creatively inclined, so don’t read the publication, but it fuelled my determination to stand up for us Gen X’ers. In this post, I’ll offer a few counter punches, hopefully, without putting my back out.
The article argues that Gen X is overlooked, compared to Boomers, Millennials and Gen Z. That we receive far less attention in mainstream culture and are ignored by books, memes and podcasts. It claims we experience significant unhappiness, pulling from a 30-country poll which recorded 31% of Gen X’ers are “not very happy” or “not happy at all”.
This is aligned with the mid-life “U-bend” theory, where our health, career and caregiving responsibilities for both our parents and children, cause a ‘dip’. It argues that the global financial crisis, in our prime working years, limited our careers and ability to accumulate wealth, that we couldn’t buy homes, and our future is uncertain due to strained pension systems. Essentially, it frames us as the unlucky, overlooked and forgotten generation. I beg to differ.
For starters, we Gen Xers hardly even care what generation we are because we were born before this generational ‘branding’ came into existence. I had to double-check that I am one. I was born in 1979, so I’m right on the edge. The 70s were great, by the way, all four months of them.
Flying under the radar is a blessing, not a curse.
It’s liberating not to be stereotyped as a greedy landlord (Boomer), victim of avocado on toast (Millennial) or fragile snowflake (Gen Z). We have had the freedom to adapt. Personally, being adaptable has allowed me to live in three countries, Australia, the UK and now Germany. I’m also okay if there’s no Wi-fi in the cafe.
In high school, we sat at buzzing old monitors. When the teacher drew eight computers in a circle on the whiteboard, connected them with lines and said, “This is called the Internet, it’s going to change the world”, it blew our minds. I realise how prehistoric this sounds, but I am truly grateful for having lived in the pre-Internet and social media age.
A shy teenager, I can’t imagine how damaging a perfectly curated comparison culture might have been for my already low self-esteem. At the same time, I had to stand up for myself. When thrown into a cage fight with the school bully, there was no texting my parents a ‘punched in the face’ emoji.
Gen Xers bridged the analogue and the digital, no small feat.
Tapes and records weren’t retro. They were a Sunday session.
The U-bend curve, or existential mid-life crisis, is not limited to one generation. It is a universal experience. As someone who has grappled with mental health, I also know that some of my own brain fog comes from the fact that I went too hard at raves in the 90s.
Our resistance to the rat race also played a part in paving the way for a better work-life balance and the idea that we are not defined by our careers. Like many Gen Xers, I’ve had more career and life pivots than a caffeinated squirrel. This primes us to focus on more aligned and fulfilling work in the decades to come, particularly as the robots take over.
The claim that Gen Xers have no current cultural influence undermines how we have shaped current art, music, and culture. Nirvana, a band of Gen X members, are now on mass-produced t-shirts, which is the most un-Nirvana thing ever, but proof of how deep Gen X culture or ‘influence’ still runs.
The Economist article is naturally based in economics, but the biggest thing it fails to recognise is resilience. Resilience is our greatest asset. In my twenties, when my Ford Laser, packed full of drums, blew up on the way to a gig in a country town, while the band were already on stage, somehow I still made it. There was no Uber or DoorDash, just sweat, gasoline and an unbridled determination that the show must go on.
If we are the so-called losers, then losing has never looked so good. We are quietly winning. We just don’t brag about it.
Watch a video version of the article here: https://youtu.be/hxtSJHagrto
