I consider myself part of Generation Jones. The Jonesers are a small subset of the baby boom - our dates run from 1954-1965, which puts our dates overlapping the official end of the Baby Boom and the start of Gen X. The term was coined by American cultural commentator Jonathan Pontell, who argues that the term refers to a full distinct generation born from 1954 to 1965.
Read these qualifications from a Wikipedia article and see what you think, if you’re born in that time span:
Read these qualifications from a Wikipedia article and see what you think, if you’re born in that time span:
Members of Generation Jones were children and teens during Watergate, the oil crisis, and stagflation. Unlike "Leading-Edge Boomers", most of Generation Jones did not grow up with World War II veterans as parents, and, as they reached adulthood, there was no compulsory military service and no defining political cause, as opposition to United States involvement in the Vietnam War was for the older boomers. Much of their parents' generation was sandwiched between the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boomers. Also, by 1955, a majority of U.S. households had at least one television set, and so unlike Leading-Edge Boomers born from 1946 to 1953, many members of Generation Jones (trailing-edge boomers) have never lived in a world without television. Generation Jones were children during the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 1970s and were young adults when HIV/AIDS became a worldwide threat in the 1980s.
The name "Generation Jones" has several connotations, including a large anonymous generation, a "keeping up with the Joneses" competitiveness and the slang word "jones" or "jonesing", meaning a yearning or craving. Pontell suggests that Jonesers inherited an optimistic outlook as children in the 1960s but were then confronted with a different reality as they entered the workforce during Reaganomics and the shift from a manufacturing economy to a service economy, which ushered in a long period of mass unemployment. Mortgage interest rates increased to above 12 percent in the mid-eighties, making it virtually impossible to buy a house on a single income. De-industrialization arrived in full force in the mid-late 1970s and 1980s; wages would be stagnant for decades, and 401(k)s replaced pensions, leaving them with a certain abiding "jonesing" quality for the more prosperous days of the past.
Generation Jones is noted for coming of age after a huge swath of their older siblings in the earlier portion of the Baby Boomer population; thus, many note that there was a paucity of resources and privileges available to them that were seemingly abundant to older Boomers. Therefore, there is a certain level of bitterness and "jonesing" for the level of doting and affluence granted to older Boomers but denied to them.
Boom.
I found my place.
I have never felt like a baby boomer, nor was I a “latch-key” Gen Xer. For me, this definition sums it all up. We watched our older brothers and sisters get it all – sex, drugs and rock and roll with all the fun, and my generation had all the consequences – AIDS, illegalization of LSD, arrests for having small amounts of pot, and then, disco. Yes, we were bitter.
On television we were constantly bombarded with perfect families and with toys we all should own. We acquired because we were told to, day in day out, by the shining light on the wall that everyone watched together at the same time. Imagine that.
Our parents worked hard to feed this myth. They bought us what they could. The Vietnam war and, later, Watergate were our dinner companions. All in the Family grew to define many of our homes far better than the Brady Bunch ever did.
In high school, I remember feeling bitter, angry and confused when the officials made it much harder for us to enjoy what our older brothers and sisters had generous access to. After graduating college and grad school with my high-rate student loans (albeit nothing to today’s young people) I was both angry and terrified that I couldn’t get a job or find a place to live that I could afford. Back then it was practically a crime to move in with your parents after graduation. I was thrilled to find a low-paying job in a private school – at least I was working.
The desire for things, for acquiring, was baked into us as children. As parents, we did no differently. No wonder our homes are chock full. No wonder our children have become minimalists.
Learning about Generation Jones was what kicked off this whole desire to pare down my belongings. Watching my child and her generation furnish their homes sparsely, but with beautiful high-quality furniture choices from our parent’s mid-century homes has really influenced me to not want to screw that up.
My things leave with me or before me. I get to choose.
I found my place.
I have never felt like a baby boomer, nor was I a “latch-key” Gen Xer. For me, this definition sums it all up. We watched our older brothers and sisters get it all – sex, drugs and rock and roll with all the fun, and my generation had all the consequences – AIDS, illegalization of LSD, arrests for having small amounts of pot, and then, disco. Yes, we were bitter.
On television we were constantly bombarded with perfect families and with toys we all should own. We acquired because we were told to, day in day out, by the shining light on the wall that everyone watched together at the same time. Imagine that.
Our parents worked hard to feed this myth. They bought us what they could. The Vietnam war and, later, Watergate were our dinner companions. All in the Family grew to define many of our homes far better than the Brady Bunch ever did.
In high school, I remember feeling bitter, angry and confused when the officials made it much harder for us to enjoy what our older brothers and sisters had generous access to. After graduating college and grad school with my high-rate student loans (albeit nothing to today’s young people) I was both angry and terrified that I couldn’t get a job or find a place to live that I could afford. Back then it was practically a crime to move in with your parents after graduation. I was thrilled to find a low-paying job in a private school – at least I was working.
The desire for things, for acquiring, was baked into us as children. As parents, we did no differently. No wonder our homes are chock full. No wonder our children have become minimalists.
Learning about Generation Jones was what kicked off this whole desire to pare down my belongings. Watching my child and her generation furnish their homes sparsely, but with beautiful high-quality furniture choices from our parent’s mid-century homes has really influenced me to not want to screw that up.
My things leave with me or before me. I get to choose.
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