Age & Generations

Today's 21-year-olds are less likely than their predecessors in 1980 to have reached five key milestones, including having a full-time job.

When we have the data to study groups of similarly aged people over time, we won’t always default to using the standard generational definitions and labels, like Gen Z, Millennials or Baby Boomers.

It can be useful to talk about generations, but generational categories are not scientifically defined and labels can lead to stereotypes and oversimplification.

One-in-three U.S. adults ages 18 to 34 live in their parents’ home, according to U.S. Census Bureau data from 2021.

More than half of U.S. teens say it would be difficult for them to give up social media. 36% say they spend too much time on social media.

In 2021, there were 2,590 gun deaths among U.S. children and teens under the age of 18, up from 1,732 in 2019.

Though Biden is 80 years old, most global leaders are in their 50s and 60s, and the median age of current national leaders is 62.

Focus groups with young adults in France, Germany and the United Kingdom revealed that these young people see the U.S. as the “world’s policeman” with a self-interested history of interventionism, while China is labeled the “world’s factory,” respected for its economic dominance but criticized for its expansionism and human rights violations.

Though younger people tend to be more internationally oriented than older adults, they differ from one another over how they want their country to engage with the world.

Here’s a look at what surveys by Pew Research Center and other organizations have found about Americans’ mental health during the pandemic.