During the 1990s, the family values of an ideal traditional household were changing. According to the census of 2000, Foner concludes “half of all marriages ended in divorce, and a third of all births were to unmarried women. Two-thirds of all married women worked outside their home, and less than one-fourth of all households consisted of a traditional family – a wife, husband, and children.”  Not only were women claiming rights to their own body, but they were also striving for an education. “At the turn of the century, women received over 60 percent of all college degrees and over 40 percent of advanced law, medical, and business degrees.”

These changes, also cause the beginning of a new generation. Aside from the traditional families, the new generation are raised under single-parent families, or families with step-parents.  According to Wilkerson, “This new generation struggles with trust and has a tendency to disbelieve authority. These offspring are being raised by the most bona fide group of hypocrites in American history. Because authority is so hypocritical, it is viewed by these young people as threatening.” Yet because of advanced technologies, according to many youth experts, it is also this generation who have the greatest potential to attain greatness.

The image below, is the covered of an issue from Newsweek in the 1990s, where they attempt to explore and understand who exactly is this new generation; by asking questions such as, “What makes them different?, Who are their heroes? and What problems do they face?”