Young Americans get a bad rap: they’re often considered entitled, selfish, and behind the curve academically. But apparently, one thing they have in their favor compared to other generations is they’re working. The Pew Research Center, in a report released this morning, noted that workers born after 1980 are now the largest part of the US labor force. Generation X, which Pew pegged at aged 35-50, only had a few years on top before handing over the spot they had just snatched from the Baby Boomers in 2012.
Here’s a close-up of the switch. Pew said the gap between Gen X and millennials might narrow somewhat as the labor market improves, bringing more Generation X workers back into the labor force. But the overall trend is pretty clear: The tide has turned.