A guide to the youngest generations

Every generation carries a label that simplifies it: boomers as the privileged ones, Gen X as fleeting, millennials as slow, and Gen Z as sensitive. The theory that boomers bought their homes for next to nothing clashes with Spain's ownership data.

Handing out labels to generations works like school nicknames: they stick, they're hard to shake off, and they almost never tell the whole story. Those born between the mid-forties and mid-sixties have been branded as privileged, with a theory that spreads like a rumor: that they bought their homes for next to nothing. The statistics don't back it up. If that had been the case, there would be far more homeowners than there are.

## Housing debunks the boomer myth

In Spain, the proportion of the population living in owner-occupied housing is around **75%**, according to Eurostat data for **2022**. It's a high figure, but not what you'd expect if an entire generation had bought homes at bargain prices. The effort required to buy a house in the seventies and eighties was no small thing: mortgage interest rates exceeded **15%** in the early nineties.

The label of the favored ones also ignores the fact that within that cohort there are landlords, renters, and people who never managed to buy. The uniform portrait doesn't survive even the slightest comparison with the numbers.

## Gen X, the one that left without making a fuss

Gen X was cast in the role of sidekick. Born between the mid-sixties and early eighties, their moment in the spotlight faded in a sigh, and their legacy was allowed to die far too quickly. It's the paradox of a group that lived through the transition from the analog to the digital world without asking for a medal.

## Millennials and Z: pause, sensitivity, and screens

Millennials, born between the early eighties and mid-nineties, are described as deliberate and thoughtful. They break cycles with ease and navigate casual settings comfortably. Gen Z, their younger siblings, carry the label of sensitive and shy, though they don't hesitate when it comes to filming challenges and dances for **TikTok**.

## Gen Alpha, the generation that hasn't proven anything yet

So-called Gen Alpha are the children of Gen X and millennials. They are credited with exceptional abilities, though they're still too young to have proven anything. According to this reading, they inherited the best of both worlds. Plenty of potential and zero rush to show it.