XYZ

von Michael Grose

The rules for living in families and raising children have changed dramatically in the last decade. Families are shrinking, parents are having children later in life and adolescence now stretches for twenty years and young people just don't leave home. In fact, such are the generational changes that some parents now leave home before their kids. The world is increasingly crowded as an alphabet soup of generations exists side by side in workplaces, within the community and within families. With the traditional three score and ten years stretching to four score and more there are currently five generations coexisting: the silent generation, babyboomers, Generations, X, Y and Z. So how do Gen Xer's raise their children? Are Gen Y's just Babyboomers recycled or are they defined by the times they live in? Will outsourcing and grandparenting be replaced by surrogate parenting? To understand children and parents today it essential to look at the context in which we live. Michael...