My Generation II

Parts of the My Generation II project are sponsored by CentERdata, Intermediair magazine, and SIG, Stichting Instituut GAK. The authors collaborate with USE, Utrecht School of Economics. My Generation II contributes to the USE-project on life course and social security trends, also sponsored by SIG

Parts of the My Generation II project are sponsored by CentERdata, Intermediair magazine, and SIG, Stichting Instituut GAK. The authors collaborate with USE, Utrecht School of Economics. My Generation II contributes to the USE-project on life course and social security trends, also sponsored by SIG
My Generation II
2006-Rerun of the reputed 1996-study My Generation on generational consciousness, life chances, and mutual stereotypes, now also including future perspectives and future choices. The study was organized by Henk Vinken, Peter Ester and Isabelle Diepstraten, authors of 'Mijn Generatie' (My Generation), a book on self images, youth experiences and vicissitudes of generations in the 20th century. The data for this book were gathered in October 1996. Late 1996 a full report was delivered to the sponsor of this project, the GPD, Geassocieerde Persdiensten (Associated Press), which published the results in special Christmas issue sections of all its regional newspapers nationwide. The book 'Mijn Generatie' is the first and only full sociological and empirical assessment of generational consciousness and the much talked about generational cleavages in the Netherlands. It was published in Spring 1998 (second edition 1999) by Syntax Publishers, Tilburg. Copies are no longer available in the book stores. The authors have extra copies available to serious parties only and can be obtained on request.		One striking result, presented here in the Figure below, deals with generational consciousness. This issue is crucial. Not just the mere fact of being born in a similar period of history (in the same cultural context) makes people members of a generation. What makes people members is much more related to a feeling of belonging, more precisely the feeling of sharing the same history with other members and consequently sharing the same destiny. A history and future, that is, that make them permanently different compared to other generations, even when the members of this generation grow older. The basis for this sense of belonging might be a serious crisis, such as World War II, or a so-called cultural revolution (as those young in the 1960s like to commemorate) or a real structural labour market problem that in the 1980s coincided with serious tensions in East-West relations, in environmental issues, in the housing supply. Or maybe even more gradual yet pervasive changes, for instance the proliferation of ICTs, may candidate to boost generational consciousness. If this generational reasoning is correct, generational consciousness should be rather stable for those grown adult in times of upheaval. The Figure shows it partly is. In all years of investigation, older generations cultivate a strong sense of generational belonging. The lost and pragmatic generations (born respectively after 1995 and 1970) have modest levels of generational consciousness. Yet, one can also note an aging effect: when generations age, generational consciousness rises, especially among the protest generation (born between 1940 and 1955) and even slightly so among the lowest scoring lost generation. This, however, does not go for the youngest, pragmatic generations whose members report a decling level of generational consciousness.

In April 2006 with the CentERdata CentERpanel around 1,800 Dutch people were interviewed in My Generation II. My Generation II deals with generational consciousness, generational reasoning, the experience of life chances of generations (comparing one's own with older and younger generations), taking care of one's future, future orientations, and dealing with future choices. Part of the survey of My Generation II is not only comparable with the 1996-My Generation-study (My Generation I) but also with another survey sponsored by the GPD, the so-called Millennium Survey of 1999.		In conclusion: generational consciousness in the Netherlands is strong, in 1996 and also ten years later in 2006. Majorities among each generation feel they belong to a generation. Between 1996 and 2006 it gains strength especially among older generations (born before 1955) and has declined among the youngest generation (born after 1970).
Late June 2006, these and more comparative results of the My Generation II study were reported to Intermediair magazine, the most popular public opinion magazine among higher educated in the Netherlands, which intends to write a special report on My Generation II. In the course of 2006-2007 the three authors of My Generation I have worked on publishing a new book on My Generation II.