Talkin

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Talkin bout my generation Individual
perceptions of the significance of being part of
the 1958 cohort
Sub-brand to go here

• Jane Elliott
• Centre for Longitudinal Studies

CLS is an ESRC Resource Centre based at the
Institute of Education
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Aims of the presentation

• Introduction to the Social Participation project
  qualitative sub-study of the 1958 British Birth
  Cohort Study (BCS)
• Analysis of generational location of cohort
  members from the 1958 British BCS (quantitative
  analysis)
• Exploration of generational identity of cohort
  members born in 1958 (qualitative analysis)

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Generation a sociological concept

• Generation location is based on the existence of
  biological rhythm in human existence the
  factors of life and death, a limited span of
  life, and ageing. Individuals who belong to the
  same generation, who share the same year of
  birth, are endowed to that extent with a common
  location in the historical dimension of the
  social process. (p290)
• the sociological phenomenon of generations is
  ultimately based on the biological rhythm of
  birth and death ... The sociological problem of
  generations therefore begins at that point where
  the sociological relevance of these biological
  factors is discovered...we must first of all try
  to understand the generation as a particular type
  of social location (p291)
• Karl Mannheim (1929)

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Generation a sociological concept

• As a concept, social generation straddles the
  disciplines of sociology, history and social
  psychology and viewed in this light, it
  epitomizes Mills dictum on the components of the
  sociological imagination (Mills 1970). As such,
  the sociology of generations deserves a greater
  profile within British sociology than it has had
  to date. Pilcher, 1994 p494)
• 'It is the interaction between historical
  resources, contingent circumstances, and social
  formation that makes "generation" an interesting
  sociological category. (Turner, 2002 p16)
• generation organizes the social world as
  profoundly as gender, class or race (McDaniel,
  2002, p99)

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Generation a sociological concept

• Recent popular books on generation
• The Pinch How the baby boomers took their
  childrens future and why they should give it
  back David Willetts (2009)
• What did the Baby Boomers ever do for us
  Francis Becket (2010)
• Jilted Generation how Britain has bankrupted
  its youth Ed Howker Shiv Malik (2010)
• "There will come a point when the younger
  generation, who will be the workers, who will be
  the taxpayers, will in some way or other refuse
  to transfer the annual GDP to the older
  generation....through some mechanism or other
  there will come a point when the power will be
  with the younger generation and as we are unfair
  to them now, they may not be fair to us in
  future." said Willetts - interview 2 August 2010
  http//uk.reuters.com/article/idUKLNE671015201008
  02

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Generation family relationships or historical
context?

• To equate generation with birth cohort, while
  popularly engaging, is analytically imprecise, as
  well as misleading and socially divisive...birth
  date or cohort are, in fact, unchanging although
  their social interpretation and the meaning they
  have, vary...Generation, on the other hand is a
  relative, relational, and highly
  change-susceptible construct. (McDaniel, 2002,
  p92)
• In modern times, however, the concept of
  generation increasingly makes sense only against
  the background of standardized time. We speak, in
  other words, of the generation of the 1960s and
  so forth (Giddens 1991, p146)

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Social participation project Qualitative
Sub-study of NCDS 2008

• ESRC funded a qualitative component of the 2008
  sweep of the 1958 cohort study
• Initial aim to interview 180 cohort members in 3
  separate areas of Britain
• Aim to produce data to address substantive
  research interests
• Aim to provide archived qualitative data for
  secondary analysis, together with the existing
  quantitative datasets
• Joint project with CRESC at Manchester Jane
  Elliott Andy Miles Sam Parsons Mike Savage
• Funded by the ESRC Research Resources Board

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Structure of the interview and topic guide

• Interview in six sections
• Neighbourhood and belonging
• Social participation and leisure activities
• Friendships
• Life story and trajectories
• Identities
• Experience of the NCDS
• Aim for an average of ninety minute interviews
• Interviews digitally recorded and transcribed
  verbatim
• Interviews to be deposited at the UK data archive

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Sampling strategy

• Initial aim 60 cohort members in 3 areas of
  Britain SE England, NW England, Southern
  Scotland additional interviews funded in Wales
  by the Welsh Assembly Government
• Stratified in terms of social mobility (using
  fathers socio-economic group when cohort member
  was 16 cohort members own socio-economic group
  at age 46), to produce
• 60 interviews with stable working class
• 30 with stable service class
• 60 upwardly mobile
• 30 downwardly mobile in each region
• 238 cohort members invited to take part in the
  sub-study (71 response rate)
• 170 successful interviews
• 40 refusals/cancellations
• 28 not contactable

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Generational location and identity

• The term generation is used to mean both
  historical location e.g. The 60s generation
  and also to refer to location within the extended
  family
• By focussing on a cohort all born in 1958,
  historical location is arguably fixed (although
  still open to individual interpretation)
• Analysis of the quantitative data reveals that
  the cohort is heterogeneous in terms of
  generational location within the family
• Analysis of the qualitative interview material
  enables us to understand more about subjective
  generational identity and location

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Generational location
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Implicit and explicit questions about
generational identity

• Do you feel you belong to a particular
  generation? asked cohort members explicitly
  about their generational identity
• Asking cohort members to tell their life story
  may be understood as an implicit way of
  uncovering generational identity, providing
• Historical context
• Familial positioning

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Key results Generational identity

• Do you think of yourself as belonging to a
  particular generation?
• 78 (46) cohort members felt they belonged to a
  generation
• 67 (39) cohort members stated they didnt have a
  generational identity
• 24 (15) cohort members gave a mixed response
• (Total sample 170)

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Main strategies for responding...

• Do you think of yourself as belonging to a
  particular generation?
• Historical context (87, 51) mainly mentioning
  decades
• Age ageing (49, 29)
• Comparisons with children and parents (46, 27)
• Social Change (37, 22)
• (Total sample 170)

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Cohort members who felt they belonged to a
generation (46)

• Key themes emerging
• Identification with specific decades
  particularly the 1970s
• Identification with music particularly the
  music of the 1970s
• Social Change
• Computers and technology
• Manners and mores

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The 1970s generation and music
Do you consider yourself as belonging to a
particular generation? I suppose just the
generation from the 70s I suppose, growing up.
To us its the 70s, thats the era, you know,
that was my years, 70s when you--, youre a
teenager and then you find your own way or
whatever. So I think the 70s, you know,
generation I am. (P372) Seventies. That was my
era, the 70s, but thats about it really. Just
ABBA, 10cc, just relate it all into that, so you
know when you were just in your teens and the
music and that side of things. (P302)
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Computers and technology
Im useless, you know, Im the one finger type
thing and I see my daughter and my son on the
computer and I feel--, (P046) We didn't have
videos and we didn't have--, like we had a brown
telly with a wee tiny screen like that. And I
said this would have been totally amazing. Like
you would have thought we were the richest people
in the world, to walk in here. (P238)
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Manners and mores
I think were--, Im from the last generation
that we seemed to be brought up to do as you were
told and had to do it, whereas it seems to have
all got very laxChildren seem to have far more
input into what they do and say, manners dont
matter the same. (P1094)
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Cohort members who dont feel they belong to a
generation (39)

• Key themes emerging
• Brief, unelaborated answers
• Not being part of the 1960s generation
• Socialising with all ages

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Not being part of the 1960s generation
The 60s generation if you like was happening
perhaps a bit too early for me. (P606) I'm not
a child of the 60s...I kind of was too young for
all that. (P010) Well the 60s was too early
for me cause I'd only have been two. (p266)
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Socialising with all ages
Those who stated they are not part of a
particular generation often talked about
socialising with different age groups
I don't socialise with my own age group, I
socialise with every age group. (P075) In a
group of people I can--, I can talk to people
that are much older and people who are much
younger without any difficulty whatsoever. (P178)
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Cohort members who gave a mixed response

• Key themes emerging
• Talking about decades particularly the 1970s
• Recognising the ageing process

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Not a strong generational identity but talks
about the 1970s
I dont think Im from a particular generation,
obviously you are from a certain generation
because, of course, that--, I suppose if I was to
see myself as any particular generation it would
be the generation where--, in the 70s really,
when youre reaching those teenage years so to
speak, thats the generation I would see myself
from cause they--, I suppose really they tend to
be the years of the--, that leave a lasting
impression on you cause you start to make
decisions for yourself. As you move into
adulthood from a, obviously, childhood, so. (P741)
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No strong generational identity but recognises
ageing process
By generation, if you mean like youre getting
older but I wouldnt associate myself with one
particular group, its just basically gradually
getting older. But I mean a lot of friends are
about, you know, ten years younger, friends the
same age and Ive got friends ten years older, so
its not a restrictive age thing, its just as
youre getting older you realise youre getting
older. (P052)
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Patterning of responses by gender and life stage
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Ive got children myself who--, young adults that
defines you as not that age cause you see them
going out into the world, getting married or
choosing jobs and you realise thats all past for
you, so I feel definitely--, I dont feel--, I
feel quite young at heart but I dont feel--, and
I can talk to them, like I could have this
discussion with them about IT stuff and I
wouldnt close my mind to it--, well, a bit, not
entirely but I dont feel its our generation,
no. (P504)
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Life stories and historical context

• The life stories provided by cohort members were
• Very heterogeneous
• Some much more reflexive than others
• Often focused on transition from school to work,
  and transition to adulthood more generally
• Historical context within life stories most often
  relates to
• Education
• The housing market
• The job market/redundancy
• Employment practices

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Life stories and historical context
I was trained to do book work, double entry books
so I could use this, I could do something with my
brain. And I quite enjoyed that and unfortunately
their business folded, it wasnt down to me but
laughs a lot of businesses went out at that
period, I think it was one of the worst
timesWere talking about the 1980s, so I left
there in 1986 and I got myself a job at the
airport. (P115) And my manager was very good
because when I had the children she said, just
tell me a month in advance what your husband is
working and well work your shifts round him and,
you know, she was one of the early thinkers of
flexible time really because its going back 20
years and she was very, very good. (P306)
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Conclusions

• Very limited evidence of a strong generational
  identity
• Four main strategies used to respond to the
  explicit question historical context ageing
  comparisons with parents and children social
  change
• Recognition of distinctive generations such as
  the war generation or the 1960s generation
• Very little evidence of competition between
  generations or of feelings of injustice and
  inequality

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