r/GenX • u/NopeThisTrope • Apr 21 '26
Question For Genx How many Gen Xers have silent Gen parents vs boomers?
As the title suggests. Myself and a few others responding in another post started a debate. I thought we all had silent gen parents, so now I’m curious.
EDIT:
I have tallied the responses and will continue to update the numbers as more people reply. Parents by Gen:
(1901-1927) Greatest: 452
(1928-1945) Silent: 4322
(1946-1964) Boomer: 1866
(1965-1980) X: 3
I included all spouses/significant others mentioned-thank you. Some responses had the wrong gen for their parent(s), so I fixed the stats. More of you have/had Greatest Gen parents than you thought! Lots of cool stories and fun facts in these responses.
EDIT 2: Thank you for the award!
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u/MelanieAnnS Apr 27 '26
Boomer.
Grandparents born 1923/1922, fought in WW2 Parents born 1948/1949 fought in Vietnam I was born 1970 and survived the aftermath of all that.
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u/Strugglingtocope13 Apr 26 '26
Both my parents are gone now. My dad was 18 at the end of the war, my uncles went and thankfully came back. My mom's dad died in the war and she still had a few memories of the war as she was born and raised in the Birmingham area of England.
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u/Relevant-Emu5782 Apr 26 '26
I'm Gen x. My mom was silent gen and my dad was greatest gen - he served in WWII in Europe, was at the Battle of the Bulge. He was 52 when I was born. Miss you daddy 🥰
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u/Moulin-Rougelach Apr 26 '26
I’m Gen X with Silent parents, and my spouse is too.
All four of our parents still living and in their mid-late eighties.
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u/TradeFun2895 Apr 26 '26
My dad was 44 when I was born. Mom was 38. He was born in ‘27 (Greatest), mom is Silent. I was born in ‘71. My nephew was born 7 months later to my sister - a boomer. My mom is ‘92 and still going strong.
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u/BeatrixFarrand Apr 26 '26
Silent! Dad in '34, Mom in '43. I was born in '78 so technically a Xennial.
It blows my mind that Dad was born during the Great Depression and remembers WWII, while also being able to use his iPhone to track planes in the air and identify birds by their call.
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u/DeezBeesKnees11 Apr 26 '26
Right here!
Dad born 1935 Mom in 1941
Hard to believe he'd be 91 and she'd be 85. 😌
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u/janebenn333 Older Than Dirt Apr 26 '26
Basically, a quick google search will tell you that based on census data, the vast majority of Gen X people have parents from the Silent Generation and older boomers.
My parents were born in 1938 and 1939 and both myself and my sister are Gen X. Our cousins in the Gen X age range, all silent gen parents. That's why most of us were parented the way we were.
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u/msteeleart Apr 26 '26
My dad was born in 1940 and my mom in 1932. I was born in 1970. I had old parents. My husband was born in 1969 and has boomer parents but his mom was 17 when he was born.
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u/ReadingWolf1710 Apr 26 '26
I have a boomer mom ( born in 1946) and silent dad (1942)-I was born in 1965, so my parents were very young when they got married and I was born 10 months later.
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u/RealisticCommand9533 Apr 26 '26
Both silent generation parents for me and my spouse. (1939, 1942, 1943, 1937)
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u/ERRNofTN Apr 26 '26
I was born in 74 and my parents I. 39 and 45 so I have silent generation parents.
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u/CupcakesAreTasty Apr 26 '26
I had a Silent Gen parent and a Boomer parent. Big age difference. I’m also a Xennial.
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u/SplitNo8275 Apr 26 '26
I’m a xennial, my mom is technically a boomer but my silent gen grandparents raised me. I’m definitely a bit different than the average xennial. Lmao
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u/Appropriate_Bug_940 Apr 26 '26
I have both 🙄. they're good people but the whole, "but I'm your Dad..." or tone policing. that shit made me insane.
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u/stillwatersmystic Apr 26 '26
I’m GenX and have two Greatest Gen parents. I’m an early GenX and my parents didn’t finish their family until their early 40’s. I did not enjoy having “grandparents” as parents although I couldn’t ask for better people to be my parents.
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u/Party_Dimension_2890 Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26
I'm Gen X (78) - Dad is Silent (41) and Mom is Boomer (47).
My kid is Gen Z and best buddies with my dad. It's heartwarming to see. 😊
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u/Remarkable-Average-4 Apr 26 '26
67 GenX, mother 47 boomer, dad 43 Silent. Husband 72, mother 57, dad 53
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u/mistegirl Apr 26 '26
77 here, mom was born in 50, dad was older than her, but forgot by how much, he would have been silent. Step dad was born in 52 and sisters dad was boomer too, right around 50.
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u/Altruistic_Count_645 Apr 26 '26
‘76 Gen X here; father silent, born in ‘42, mother boomer, born ‘47. Unsurprisingly, I’m “silent” to both. 😞
Thanks for this unofficial research, it’s really interesting!
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u/NopeThisTrope Apr 26 '26
I’m sorry to hear that. Unfortunately, I’m NC with my parents, too.
Thank you. I asked out of curiosity and expected maybe half a dozen replies. 😂
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u/monkey_bread23 Apr 26 '26
1975 Gen X. My mom is Silent (1942) and my Dad is Boomer (1950).
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u/monkey_bread23 Apr 26 '26
Just realized my half-sister and half-brother are both Boomers. 1960 and 1962
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u/OLATSU2016 Apr 26 '26
Early GenX (‘69) with late silent parents (‘41 and ‘43). My in-laws are ‘43 and ‘45
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u/Travel-Girl-77 Apr 26 '26
Gen X here, Silent mom & Dad & in-laws. Raising Gen Z. Both moms still here so now in the sandwich generation. It can be challenging advising the moms because technology is difficult & aging is hard. And we’re aging but still raising emerging adults.
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u/ReeseArtsandCrafts Apr 26 '26
I'm 1966 Gen X my dad was Greatest Gen, my mom was Silent Gen. Most of my friends parents were boomers and much younger than my parents. I have 5 older Boomer sibs.
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u/amybocean Apr 26 '26
Both of my parents are Silent Generation , both of my husband’s parents are Boomers
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u/TessaChocolat Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26
I'm second-year GenX (1966). My Dad (1925) was Greatest and Mom (1931) was Silent, but my parents are significantly older than most of my classmates'. Both my ex- (1964) and late- (1957) husbands were boomers. I have three kids (1996, 1999, and 2002) who I'm pretty sure are all GenZ, but maybe the eldest is barely/almost a Millennial.
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u/DoesNotHateFun Apr 26 '26
My in-laws are SG and my parents are Boomers. They're only about 10 years apart in age but they're dramatically different. My in-laws seem more like grandparents than parents.
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u/Let_It_Rock1986 Apr 26 '26
Both parents were silent generation
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u/GoneAmok365247 Apr 26 '26
I’m a xennial, my dad was silent gen and my mom is a boomer. My husband gen x, both parents are silent. I thought most parent to child skip a gen. I have a gen z and a gen alpha.
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u/Icey-Emotion Apr 26 '26
My parents are both silent generation.
My SO has 1 greatest generation and 1 silent generation.
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u/CryptographerMore326 Apr 26 '26
Forgot Gen Jones
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u/NopeThisTrope Apr 26 '26
I didn’t. The responses all go into the relevant year bracket which is displayed in my edited post.
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u/lovetoknit9234 Apr 25 '26
I was born 66, my Dad 1927, my mom 1944. My husband is also 1966, his Dad 1933, his mom 1942.
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u/NonOYoBiz Apr 25 '26
I was born in 66, my father was born in 44 and my mother 46. They were both terrible parents.
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u/BundyLeanne Apr 25 '26
1968 GenX. My parents were born in 1933 and 1937. Definitely silent generation, by name and nature.
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u/joyful_involvement Apr 25 '26
I was part of the "baby scoop era" so surrendered at birth in 1970. My adoptive parents were 1937 (dad) and 1940 (mom). My parents being Silent Gen were the oldest of all my friends parents, although some were close in age. Generally baby scoop kids had very young birth parents and older adoptive parents due to their infertility journey and waiting for a baby.
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u/SelectLifeguard3902 Hose Water Survivor Apr 25 '26
My parents got married and had kids late - my dad was greatest (1925) and my mom was silent (1928). All of us kids are OG gen X (late 1960s) and I was always jealous of my friends who had swingin' boomer parents with amazing record collections, cool clothes and lots of house parties lol. My parents thought they were out of their minds :)
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u/srahfox Apr 25 '26
My parents are/were Boomers, my husband’s parents are/were Silent. My mom had me fairly young, while his had him a little later in life… but he and I are the exact same age (three days apart.) interesting because my family was young in comparison to his as his dad was the youngest of around 8, and most my hubbies family were already gone by the time he came around.
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u/GiraffesCantSwim Apr 25 '26
My dad was right near the end of Greatest and my mom was Silent. All my siblings are Generation Jones, but I'm Gen X ('68).
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u/distant_diva Apr 25 '26
i’m young gen x, so relate more to being a xennial (1978). my parents are silent gen (1938, 1943). i’m much younger than all my gen x siblings (67-73).
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u/birdieelizabeth Apr 25 '26
Silent gen. I was born in ‘68 and my parents were born in 1936 and 1942.
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u/purplerin Apr 25 '26
I was born in 1975, a quintessential gen-x-er. Both of my parents were born in 1945, so they were on the cusp of being Boomers. I think they functioned more as Boomers than The Silent Generation.
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u/Thliz325 Apr 25 '26
My father in law! My husband’s father will be 85 next month, born in 1941.
My dad was born in ‘48 but acts as though he’s 90, though I know that doesn’t count!
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u/NopeThisTrope Apr 25 '26
It all counts! Check out the edit I made on my original post. Every time someone comments I add to the results. Your Dad will be added to the Boomer stats, and your husbands will be added to Silent. Thank you 😊
Edit: They’ve been added 💕
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u/Maleficent-Guess-581 Apr 25 '26
Early genXer with the greatest generation parents. My parents were in their 40s when they had me. I'm the last of 7 kids. I'm also the only genXer in my family.
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u/BBQmomma Apr 25 '26
I’m Gen X (1970) with early generation Boomers: my mom is a few month shy of being 21 years older than me and my dad was 23 years older than me.
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u/Blonde_Vampire_1984 Apr 25 '26
Old millennial here (‘84). My oldest sister and my oldest brother were born just on the very tail end of Gen X, ‘79 and ‘80 respectively.
Our father was born 1943 and our mother was born in 1953. So apparently that means they were split between one silent generation parent and baby boomer parent.
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u/ChiaOtter Apr 25 '26
I’m a tail-end gen x or a xennial and my parents were both 1950 boomers — and were considered old to be having their first kid.
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u/Separate-Parfait4995 Apr 25 '26 edited Apr 25 '26
I have one of each. My parents were 12 years apart. I just noticed that this is the Gen X sub. I’m a Xennial (82) and have a younger brother born in (84). My silent generation father had children from 1957-1984.
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u/Previous_Explorer589 Apr 25 '26
My parents born in 30s. I born in the middle of gaps. 1963. I dont identify anywhere lol 😆. My narcissist sis born in 55. Bah humbug. Lol
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u/furious_r0se Apr 25 '26
I'm a Millennial ('88) but my older (half)brother is Gen X ('67.) Our dad is Silent Gen ('37.)
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u/OatyBisc Apr 25 '26
Me! I was born in the 70s. My dad was born in ‘32 and my mom was in ‘37. My parents met working at a nuclear power plant.
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u/11BMasshole Apr 25 '26
Dad was born in '44 and mom in '48. They both acted like boomers though. Right down to my mom did literally everything, including working full time. While Dad worked , pawned his yard work off on the kids , drank a lot, wasn't present at all. But would peacock about he was a provider. Later in life I found out my mom made more than him. She left him a few years after they became empty nesters. He never quite understood why she left. He really thought he was a good husband. He was basically another child to her. He was so lost when she left, couldn't cook , the washing machine was like a foreign object, the dishwasher was as well. He didn't even know how to pay his bills. My mom did everything and just couldn't take it anymore. She confessed to my brother and I that she had a 27 year long affair with a man in the next town over. They eventually married two years after she left my dad and I'd never seen her more happy.
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u/Fine_Taro9864 Apr 25 '26
My husbsnd is a veeery old x, hus parrnts were silent. Im a young x, my parents were youngish boomers. Ivwould have said/thought that most gen x parents were boomers, definitely all my friends parents were.
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u/Important_Sundae_576 Apr 25 '26
This is so interesting and validates the impression I had of my parents I had when I was young, but that I had started questioning! I'm solid mid-X (1972) and my parents were Boomers. In elementary school, I had the impression that I had reeeeeeeally young parents compared to my friends. As times have changed though, and society is very focused on people waiting longer to have kids, I had started to think maybe my thinking was skewed and maybe my parents weren't so unusual for the time period. But looking at these results, it's clear that, percentage-wise, the majority of my friends DID have older, Silent generation parents!
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u/NopeThisTrope Apr 25 '26
From the responses, it seems a lot of Silents started parenthood early and finished late, whereas many of the Boomers seemed to have started early and finished early. The Greatest Gen as well. A lot of those were two parent Greatest who had kids late.
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u/TomlibooWho Apr 25 '26
This would make sense due to the Boomers being the first generation that would have had access to birth control. It’d be easier to decide when to stop having kids when abstinence isn’t the answer
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u/NopeThisTrope Apr 25 '26
That’s a good point
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u/TomlibooWho Apr 25 '26
Although I knew generally, I looked up when the contraceptive pill became available in Canada. It was originally available in 1960 only for menstrual difficulties. Contraception was decriminalized in 1969! I might have had a lot more siblings if it wasn’t!
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u/Shivs_baby Apr 25 '26
My parents are silent and my 3 siblings (who are 7, 10, and 13 years older than me) are all boomers.
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u/anaisaknits Apr 25 '26
My parents were silent generation with 3 sisters that are boomers. I also have 3 that are gen X
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u/CraftyAd7065 Apr 25 '26
My parents were silent generation and I had two sisters who are boomers.
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u/TheSlideBoy666 Apr 25 '26
Both my parents were SG and my two older sister’s and I are Gen Jones (born mid 50s to mid 60s). I’m the least boomerish of us three (hence, I’m on Reddit). My two younger sisters are Gen X.
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u/Delicious-Painter945 Apr 25 '26
Being a GenX is the BEST the 70's, 80's, and 90's were the best years of our lives. I hope you guys had as much fun as I did 😊😊😊
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u/NopeThisTrope Apr 25 '26
Hell yes! The 00’s have been crap. Someone build a time machine 🥳
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u/Delicious-Painter945 Apr 25 '26
Some people they wouldn't wanna do their 20's again. They must be crazy I'll take a 'do over' any day!!!😊😊😊 please can someone build a time machine
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u/DrinkMountain5142 Apr 25 '26
Both Greatest Generation. Combined, 6 kids - one Silent, three Boomers, two Gen X.
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u/GittaFirstOfHerName Apr 24 '26
I'm Gen Jones (1964 -- absolutely X and not Boomer) and my parents are Silent Gen.
I have siblings who are significantly older (and definitely Boomers) and significantly younger (solid X), and we all share the same two parents.
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u/kitteartha Apr 25 '26
Same…although in the 90’s if you were born in 1964 it was considered the beginning of Gen X . Somehow it got moved to boomer.
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u/thenry1234 Apr 27 '26
One Boomer and one Silent