“Gen Z” has possibly become the biggest buzzword in India over the last few months. According to Beresford research, “Gen Z” (with Z being pronounced Zee as the Americans do) are those born between 1997 to 2012 with their current age being 14 to 29. I belong to the Boomers 1 generation – now aged between 72 to 80 having been born between 1946 to 1954. The world in which the current Gen Z live in, is far different from the times when I was their age which translates to 1965 to 1980.
As kids growing up in India, to put it mildly- times were hard. In 1965, India’s population was 490 million. The poverty rate was 45-50 % which peaked to 62 % in 1966-67. India’s nominal GDP was $59.37 billion with a per capital income was about $121. The average life span was 44-45 years . Overall there was scarcity and apprehensions about the future. Food rationing was very common and luxury goods were beyond the reach of most people. Those were the days when having a car or a telephone was a major luxury! There was a premium on “imported goods” and everything ” foreign ” was considered to be great! Television and social media were no where in sight!
The 1980s- the end of my Gen Z days- saw war in many parts of the world like Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq etc. Thankfully the long drawn out Viet Nam war ended in 1975. We in India were much better than in the 1960’s but still way behind much of the developed world. The nominal GDP was $186.33 billion with a per capita income of $267. About half the population of 692 million still remained under the national poverty line. Scarcity continued to haunt us. Our generation was used to a hand to mouth existence which engrained frugality and the need to save so deeply in our psyches!! As a result, today when we can afford to live a far better llife, many of us still fear about “saving for a rainy day”!!
Today’s India’s nominal GDP is $4.15 trillion with a nominal per capita income of about $2800. The average lifespan is around 72 years. The population of over 1.40 billion continues to grow and the extreme poverty rate has fallen sharply to about 2.3 %. More than anything else, the quality of life across the board has improved very significantly. Food supply and health care have changed beyond recognition. Today, there is nothing which is unavailable in India- for a price of course! The days when we as kids were happy to get a few candies from relatives coming from abroad are long, long over!
In this context, since standards of living have gone up considerably what we used to consider a luxury are now part of everyday life. The highways have improved beyond belief. The airlines and railways are far better than they were back in the day. However, like we expected better decades ago, today’s Gen Z too expects better. They are impatient and scornful of elders- as once we were- and want everything now! E Commerce had created new standards of instant gratification. You can get most things delivered to your doorstep in less than 20 minutes these days!
Today we have in India the largest population of the young in the world! The percentage of Gen Z is reckoned to be about 25-28 % of India’s population. This translates to about 368 to 427 million individuals! To put things in perspective for readers in the US, the population of that large country is about 350 million!
Naturally, our Gen Z has aspirations higher than previous generations. This is the biggest challenge the leaders of our country face as we move towards the closing years of an eventful decade.
Prem Rao : Stories from a Story Teller 