Generation Alpha is the youngest identified generation in the United States. With Alpha being the first letter of the Greek Alphabet, this generation was the first to be born entirely in the 21st century and will likely be the first to see the 22nd century. 

Considered digital natives, the children in Generation Alpha will never know what it was like to live without technology. From iPads to smartphones, the children in Generation Alpha learned to work a touchscreen before they learned to hold a fork. They have been immersed in electronics since they were little. Because of this, Generation Alpha will be the most tech-savvy generation and the generation with the most material possessions.

The Millennial Generation was the first to surpass the Baby Boomer Generation in size, yet the fertility rates have continued to decline, especially in developed countries. Despite this drop in birth rates, 9,000 babies belonging to Generation Alpha were born each day in the United States alone. As of 2014, there were almost 21 million children under the age of four in the United States.

Who is Generation Alpha?

Generation Alpha, or Gen Alpha, is the generation after Gen Z. Generation Alpha extends from the 2010s to the mid-2020s or 30s. Typically, the previous generation, Generation Z, is said to end in the year 2012, which would mark 2013 as the starting point for Generation Alpha. The end year of Generation Alpha has not been defined as of 2022. Sources say the end of Generation Alpha will be the mid-2020s, specifically 2025. Globally, Generation Alpha is expected to reach two billion people by 2025.

Many believe that the Covid-19 Pandemic will be this generation's defining event. Due to this event having such a significant impact on this generation, some have suggested the name Generation C. Other Pandemic-related names were suggested, such as Coronials, Quaranteens, or Baby Zoomers. Some have suggested the Pandemic could cause a baby boom due to the people confined to their homes during quarantines and lockdowns. Experts say it's unlikely, but not impossible, if people cannot obtain contraceptives.

2018 was the first time the number of people above age 65 exceeded the number between ages zero and four. Yet, fertility rates continue to decline. The declining rates are caused by broader access to contraception, higher cost of living, and more women in education. The trend of young adults waiting longer to get married and have children was noticeable several generations prior. Even though the Baby Boomer Generation started less than a hundred years before Generation Alpha, the drastic change in these values is shocking.

Education has a significant impact on fertility rates. The more educated a woman is, the more likely she will wait to have children. Many families have delayed starting a family due to women being in college longer, staying in school after they received their Bachelor's degree to further their education. This delay contributed to declining fertility rates since women are less likely to conceive the older they get.

Where did they get their name?

Alpha is the first letter in the Greek Alphabet. Although Generation X and Millennials are often referred to as 21st-century generations, Generation Alpha is the first generation born entirely in the 21st century. It's a common practice in Western culture to use the Greek Alphabet after the letters of the Latin Alphabet have been exhausted. For example, this has been used as a classification when naming hurricanes in America.

Australian sociologist Mark McCrindle is credited with suggesting the name Alpha for the generation. In 2005, McCrindle's research group ran a survey asking people what they thought the next generation after Generation Z would be called. Even though there's no exact science to naming or defining a generation, speculation often occurs with members of other generations.

Many suggestions reflected the technological advancements of the 21st century and the fact that this generation would never remember what the world was like without electronic devices. These names include Digital Natives, Gen Tech, and Net Gen. But Alpha was also one of the suggestions. McCrindle decided on Alpha for the name because the generation was the start of something new. Instead of just mirroring the previous generations, this name gave Generation Alpha a chance to start fresh.

McCrindle acknowledges that generational labeling has mainly taken place in the Western World, using Baby Boomers as an example. They were named for the baby boom in the United States after World War II. A boom in the economy meant citizens were in good financial standing, and couples chose to start a family at record-high rates. Another example is the Silent Generation, born between 1928 and 1945. Known for keeping their head down and attempting to work within the system, the Silent Generation got their name because of their unwillingness to vocalize their political beliefs.

Even though some critics have claimed names like Generation Z or Generation Alpha are too generic, it gives the generation a chance to define who they are instead of being represented by a singular event. If the trend continues, the generation after Alpha will be named Generation Beta, followed by Generation Gamma. However, not even sociologists can predict how the world will define the next generation after Alpha.

Characteristics of Generation Alpha

As of 2022, it was still early to begin identifying the traits and characteristics that members of Generation Alpha have in common. However, based on the researchers' information, some specific patterns and trends have already begun to define this generation.

Inundated with technology from a young age, the children from Generation Alpha have never known a time without television, video games, and smartphones. Pew Research Center surveyed to find out how many children of Generation Alpha already have access to electronic devices. More than any other generation, parents of children from this generation have given their children electronic devices before they could walk or talk.

For this survey, the research center asked parents if their child has access to a television, tablet, smartphone, or gaming device. The most common electronic for children to have access to was a television, with 88% of children under age 11 having access. The percentage of children who have a computer or gaming device was 44%. When divided by age group, the percentages got higher the older a child was. However, 16% of parents with children younger than five said their child has access to a computer. Similarly, 9% said their child under two had access to a gaming device.

Researchers paid close attention to see the effects this level of screen time has on children. Even when it was too early to conclude, it became evident that children were affected by it somehow. So in 2019, LEGO and The Harris Poll surveyed 3,000 children from three different countries to find out what they wanted to be when they grew up. For children in the United States, a video blogger (or YouTuber) was the most popular choice.

Three generations prior, children under ten spent their free time playing, but with Generation Alpha, even young children spent time indoors watching television or playing on a phone instead. So how has the prevalence of electronics affected playtime?

Playtime versus screen time

In the 1980s and 90s, the number of time children spent on unstructured activities and playtime dropped significantly. Instead, children were either spending more time on structured activities or on electronic devices. Suddenly, parents considered playtime a pointless activity, and in an attempt to help their children get ahead academically, they started structuring their children's time more rigidly.

That is until this proved to have adverse effects. In 2018, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a statement emphasizing the importance of playtime and its impact on social and cognitive development. In a report titled "The Power of Play," the American Academy of Pediatrics explained that play was not a pointless activity. Instead, play actually benefits children's physical and emotional health by improving their brain and executive function.

The studies of how free play periods positively impact children were so significant that doctors started prescribing playtime to stressed children exhibiting symptoms and depression. When there is a lack of play and positive relationships in a child's life, stress can hinder development.

Generation Alpha has been impacted by lack of play more than any other generation. For those in this generation, their Millennial parents have filled their days with productive and enriching activities to help them succeed academically. But the lack of play actually has the opposite effect. In countries where children have large amounts of free playtime, children have higher rates of academic success overall.

But contrary to popular belief, play doesn't have to involve fancy or expensive toys. The American Academy of Pediatrics even expressed the benefits of reading to children, which also counts as playtime. Reading is beneficial to children in many ways, but the number of children who read for fun continues to drop with each new generation.

Numerous studies have shown how reading is linked to academic success later in life. But one of the most significant factors contributing to whether children become avid readers or not is their parent's attitude toward reading. Of course, simply forcing children to read does not make them love reading since it feels like an obligation. But there is a connection between children growing up surrounded by books and parents who read to their children and around them.

Fertility rates

As of 2021, 2.5 million new members of Generation Alpha are born every week worldwide. They are expected to become the largest generation ever by 2025. However, the size of Generation Alpha was impacted by declining fertility rates. As of 2018, there were more older adults in the world than young children between the ages of 0 and 4. In addition, fertility rates worldwide have been dropping due to easy access to contraceptives, greater education opportunities, and a higher cost of living. As a result, about half of all countries have fertility rates so low that the next generation will be smaller than the current one.

Even though some predicted a baby boom might occur during the COVID-19 Pandemic, fertility rates dropped even lower in most developed countries. Much like declining rates before the Baby Boomer Generation, many adults hesitate to bring children into the world during a time of economic uncertainty. Moreover, as the number of people hospitalized or dying from COVID-19 continued to rise, many feared for their children's physical health and the financial health of their families.

However, the Pandemic isn't the only reason adults are reluctant to have children. In 2021, 44% of childless adults ages 18-49 said it is unlikely they will ever have children. Only 26% of adults in the same survey said they were very likely to have children. More than half of the adults who said it was unlikely stated not wanting children as their reason. For those who noted another reason, the most common was a medical complication.

Fertility rates are also greatly affected by education. The more educated a woman is, the fewer children she tends to have and the longer she waits to have them. With this pattern, it’s likely the fertility rates will decline further with Generation Alpha.

Education

As of 2021, 94% of Americans in their mid to late twenties have a high school diploma. In addition, 39% have a Bachelor's degree, and 9% have a master's degree or above. This level of education means that Generation Alpha is likely to grow up in a household with parents who are far more educated than the previous generation's parents.

Living with educated parents impacts a child's likelihood of finishing school and obtaining a college degree themselves. Based on predictions and trends of past generations, Generation Alpha will eventually be the most educated generation to exist. With each generation, the number of students who choose to pursue a Bachelor’s degree or Master’s degree continues to increase.

Aside from family influence, technology has impacted the state of education as well. With many schools using more technology in the classroom, children of this generation have become more visual as they use technology to aid their learning. As a result, virtual reality has started to play a role in the classroom as well. Implementing virtual reality in the classroom has been a discussion for a long time. However, the cost of this kind of learning was the main obstacle. The expansion of technology in the 2020s, virtual reality has become a real possibility in the classroom.

Virtual reality is a way to use technology to stimulate an artificial environment. This artificial reality is displayed so that it feels real to the user. For many teachers and decision-makers in education, this removed many of the classroom barriers and presented itself as a transformative tool that teachers could use to expand students' learning.

Family life

The first group of Generation Alpha will become adults in the 2030s. It is predicted that, much like the previous generation, Generation Alpha will also delay certain rites of passage, such as getting married and having children. It is estimated that Generation Alpha will make up 11% of the workforce by 2030. However, due to the number of high school graduates in Generation Alpha who will attend college, it is predicted that they will be in school longer, therefore delaying their entrance into the workforce and delaying the start of a family. Millennials were called the "Peter Pan Generation" because of the number of adults who lived with their parents. However, for Generation Alpha, the college attendance rates will lead to this generation living with their parents even longer than Millennials or Gen Zers.

As far as family dynamics, the number of single-parent households has continued to increase. In 2013, the number of children growing up in a single-parent household was 34%. This percentage was a 3% increase from a study done in 2000. This trend shows that single-parent households will continue to rise throughout the remainder of Generation Alpha. Even though it has become more of a norm for parents to be divorced, the negative impacts of single-parent households remain.

The research has been consistent in showing that children who grow up with only one parent are at risk for poor behaviors in school, lower academic performance, lower graduation rates, and lower college attendance rates. The risk for these harmful behaviors is exceptionally high when a biological father is missing from the household. The risk is greatest in this case for boys who are missing a father figure. Single parents are also at a greater risk of being financially insecure, which negatively impacts a child's mental and physical health.

According to data from the CDC, or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, divorce rates have decreased from 2000 to 2020, and the number of marriages significantly decreased as well. As of 2022, the divorce rate in America was 2.9 per 1000 people. There is a drastic difference in the rates between different demographics. For married couples who were 25-39, there were 24 divorces per 1000 people. This number dropped to 10 per 1000 for couples aged 50 or older.

However, the drop in divorce rates doesn’t necessarily mean most children in Generation Alpha live with two married parents. In fact, this generation is far more likely to have divorced parents. They are also more likely to have a family dynamic that is considered non-traditional such as single parents, step-parents, unmarried parents, or same-sex parents. By the time Millennials started having children, the nuclear family was no longer then only type of family represented.

Technology

Like the generation before them, members of Generation Alpha are considered to be digital natives. Digital natives are a group of people born in the information age, which means they grew up with electronic devices. Even from a young age, this generation was exposed to technology, whether they had access to television, a tablet, or a smartphone. Generation Alpha is not only familiar with technology- they have never known a world without it and, in many cases, are dependent on it.

This generation began right around the time the iPad made its first appearance in the Apple store in 2010. Due to the impact technology has on this generation, they have been called Generation Glass. This name refers to the glass of the screens they are constantly attached to. It’s also a commentary on how much time they spend on screen time. Researcher Mark McCrindle is the one who first called them Generation Glass.

Smartphones have become popular devices, especially for children and teens. It's a known fact that most adults own a smartphone, and even most teens. But what may be surprising is one third of the parents in a Pew Research Center survey said their child had a smartphone before the age of five. When children that young are using smartphones, it's usually for the apps on the device. For young kids, the possibilities are endless and often addicting, from games to social media platforms.

The impact technology will have on Generation Alpha has yet to be determined. This generation has so much access to screen time from such a young age that they are often called "screenagers." Additionally, the majority of Generation Alpha has had access to a screen since before they could even talk. In the United States, those from ages 8-to 12 use screens for an average of five hours a day. From ages 13-to 18, they consume an average of 7 hours and 22 minutes per day.

Although there may be positive effects on the digital literacy of Generation Alpha, there also may be many negative effects that have yet to be seen. One of the positive effects of the widespread use of technology is access to other cultures. Generation Alpha and the two previous generations grew up with access to the internet and smartphones. The rise of social media has allowed these generations to become familiar with people and traditions from other countries and cultures, even if they've never visited. They also are more connected digitally to friends and family members through social media. Grandparents can now video chat with their grandkids by clicking a button. Friends can stay connected with each from across the country.

Social media has many negative effects that have been displayed in other generations. Studies have shown that social media has numerous negative effects on children and adolescents. Unfortunately, social media usage can lead to anxiety, loneliness, and fragility. In addition, sleep deprivation is another negative effect of social media usage and excessive screen time.

When it comes to the harmful effects of social media, girls are impacted more than boys. One of the reasons for this is most social media platforms, such as Instagram or TikTok, have more female users than male users.

Overall, Instagram has over a billion users worldwide. But even though users often stay connected with friends and family through the app, there's more to it than connection. As a visual platform, experts have linked Instagram to effects such as low self-esteem, body image issues, and anxiety. Even for adults, Instagram and other social media can impact users, but young children and teens are especially vulnerable.

Internet safety is another concern for generations like Generation Alpha. With the number of young children visiting social media sites and posting pictures or videos, privacy is a concern for many parents. And in some cases, the parents are the ones to blame. With the rise of social media, Millennial parents, in particular, became notorious for posting pictures and videos of their children online. But some have started to question whether or not this is a violation of their privacy.

COVID-19 Pandemic

Many experts believe the COVID-19 Pandemic will be the defining moment of Generation Alpha. Even though many members of this cohort will be too young to remember the Pandemic, it still greatly impacted their lives and the lives of their families.

The oldest members of Generation Alpha would have been seven years old when the virus hit the United States. The youngest members of the generation would not have been born yet when the Pandemic started.

The coronavirus, also known as covid, was first identified in the United States in 2020. The virus was first discovered in Wuhan, China, before making its way to other countries. The COVID-19 virus has a variety of symptoms, including fever, cough, and fatigue. The Covid virus had the most significant effect on those who were elderly or immune-compromised, rarely causing complications for healthy children and youth.

The first person confirmed with the virus became ill in December of 2019. When the virus came to the United States, schools and businesses were shut down in March 2020. Even the oldest members of Generation Alpha, in elementary school at the time, were significantly impacted by this sudden change. Schools switched to virtual learning mid-year, and in some states, children didn't go back for months.

Covid vaccines became available in December 2020, but many states were still encouraging social distancing, quarantines, and mask-wearing. Many businesses closed, and many Americans lost their jobs during the Pandemic. The Pandemic sent the world into the greatest recession since the Great Depression. Supply shortages and food shortages became widespread and political tension increased.

The youngest members who were around during the start of the Pandemic were affected socially by the Pandemic. With so many schools and daycares being closed, young children suffered while unable to return to school and experience in-person learning.

Children born during the start of the Pandemic or shortly after went for long periods without being able to socialize with other children or even meet family members. During the Pandemic, experts raised concerns about the long-term effects for children of missing school in person. Even though studies of the effects have been limited, there has been evidence that the Pandemic negatively impacted children's physical and mental health. One impact on the mental health of youth and adolescents was increased anxiety.

There were also physical health concerns for children who contracted Covid during the Pandemic. The risk of death or hospitalization was significantly lower for healthy children than for the elderly or immune-compromised. However, Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children was a rare complication that could occur 2 to 4 weeks after a child was infected with Covid. Children who contracted this rare complication were hospitalized, and in extremely rare cases, children with this syndrome died.

Overview

Whether you refer to them as "screenagers" or Generation Alpha, this generation was the first to be entirely born in the 21st century. Many of them attached to a screen from the time they were learning to crawl, which is one way the prevalence of technology has impacted this generation.

Considered the most tech-savvy generation yet, Generation Alpha is only on track to be the most well-educated generation. Every generation has at least one historical moment that defines it- for Generation Alpha, this is the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The COVID-19 virus made its way to the United States in March of 2020, leading to massive lockdowns, quarantines, and the closing of many schools and businesses. Although some members of Generation Alpha were not born yet during this event, the Pandemic greatly impacted the oldest members at this troubling time. In addition, children and adolescents' physical and mental health was affected during the Pandemic, which was still ongoing as of 2022.

As they reach young adulthood, this generation will deal with the realities of an aging population. With fertility rates decreasing, the number of people over 60 became higher than the number of children under 4.

Even in 2022, Generation Alpha is already influencing marketing decisions because of the power they hold. Since they are so connected to technology, they are heavily influenced by ads they see on a tablet or smartphone app.

From the time they were born, the world was paying attention to Generation Alpha. There are many predictions about who they will become, but it is still up to the members of this generation to create their own identities.

As of now, Generation Alpha (those born starting in 2010) is still very young, with the oldest members being around 14 years old as of 2024. Therefore, they are just beginning to emerge into the public sphere, and there aren't yet notable figures in the sense of accomplished professionals or public personalities.

However, many children from Generation Alpha are already making waves in various fields:

• Young Influencers: Some members of Generation Alpha have gained attention on social media platforms through their parents' accounts or family-run YouTube channels, showcasing talents, daily life, or unique experiences.

• Child Prodigies: There are always child prodigies in areas like music, art, mathematics, and science who gain some level of fame for their exceptional talents at a young age.

• Activism: Like Greta Thunberg from Generation Z, it's possible that Generation Alpha will also produce young activists who begin their work in their early teens.