Boomer, Millennial and Gen Z Stereotypes – Truth or Myth?

(A scene from The Mitchells vs the Machines (2021) – The ’boomer’ dad upset at his family using their phones) 

Boomer, Millennial and Gen Z Stereotypes – Truth or Myth?

by Stefan

In recent times, there has been a large social divide between older and younger people, and it is often dominated by stereotypes. To old people, Gen Z, those born after 1996, are all technology addicts who spend their entire day on social media and post every detail of their life, while never reading a book or going outside. To younger people, Boomers are often perceived as idiots who don’t understand a single thing about modern technology and have to consistently ask their kids and grandkids for help because they think they deleted the internet.

This is an area where I think both sides need to try and understand the other side more. Boomers need to see the usefulness of modern technology and get rid of their misconception that everything was better when they were young. But at the same time, a lot of young people might benefit from spending less time online and more time with friends and family.

Another big point of division between the old and the young is the perception of Boomers as the main reason behind the high number of electoral votes cast for conservative and right-leaning parties. While part of this is true, there are some misconceptions as well. Let’s take Germany’s elections in 2021 as an example. The conservative CDU, which is generally hated by young people for their lack of effort in combating climate change and progressing the digitalization of the country, scored their highest results in older age groups, whereas the Green party secured their highest numbers of votes from younger generations. However, the far-right AfD party actually received its highest voting share in the 35-44 age group, and had lower results for people above 60 than for people under 30, so Boomers clearly aren’t the only source of right-wing votes.

So can we reconcile our differences? The divide between old and young people is pretty large today but I personally think this is natural, as the world has changed significantly over the last 50 years. However, this difference just highlights the need for both generations to try to better understand the other’s point of view, instead of letting discussions deteriorate into insults and lazy stereotypes.