Born in the 2010s

The world they were born into

South Africa hosted the FIFA World Cup in 2010, the first held in Africa. The Paris climate agreement was adopted in 2015, and the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in 2016. Smartphones went from new to near universal in much of the world over the decade.

Growing up

Video streaming replaced much broadcast television over the decade. Mark McCrindle, who named Generation Alpha, starts it in 2010 because that was the year the iPad went on sale, Instagram was created and “app” was the word of the year.

Which generation

Births from 2010 to 2012 belong to Generation Z on Pew Research Center's definition and to Generation Alpha on Mark McCrindle's, and from 2013 to 2019 to Generation Alpha. The boundaries are conventions rather than facts, and the generations page names the source for each one.

The marked line is 2010, where the decade begins.

Year by year

The Chinese year begins not on 1 January but at a new moon, usually the second after the December solstice, and from 1900 to 2100 always between 21 January and 20 February. In the 2010s it began as early as 23 January, in 2012, and as late as 19 February, in 2015, so a birthday in January or early February belongs to the animal of the year before. The table gives the day each year began.

New year dates are worked out from the new moons and the solar terms, and checked against published tables. Born before the new year →

Read on

• Generation Z
• Generation Alpha
• How generations are defined
• The 2000s
• The 2020s
• Every year