Generation Beta: The Next Technologically Immersed Generation Shaping 2025–2039

With the arrival of 2025, the world begins to welcome representatives of a completely new generation, which sociologists and demographers have dubbed Generation Beta. These children will succeed Generation Alpha and will shape society through 2039. Researchers are already trying to predict what these children will be like as they grow up and what challenges they will face.

Who Are the Representatives of Generation Beta

Generation Beta includes all children born between 2025 and 2039. Their parents are younger millennials and older zoomers—people who themselves grew up at the intersection of the analog and digital worlds. Australian demographer Mark McCrindle, who previously introduced the concept of Generation Alpha, explains the choice of the Greek alphabet for new generations as a way to emphasize radical change. According to him, Alpha and Beta will be the first generations fully shaped by a technologically integrated world. The forecasts are impressive: by 2035, representatives of Generation Beta will make up approximately sixteen percent of the world’s population. Many of them will live to see the twenty-second century and witness transformations that today seem like science fiction.

Unique Traits of the New Generation

The Complete Blurring of Boundaries Between the Real and the Virtual

If previous generations mastered technology gradually, for Beta the digital and physical worlds will become one from birth. Artificial intelligence, automation, and smart devices will be so deeply integrated into everyday life that children simply will not be able to imagine existence without them. Representatives of this generation will grow up surrounded by autonomous vehicles, smart homes that independently regulate all processes, and medical devices that constantly monitor health. Immersion in virtual reality will be as commonplace for them as watching television was for their baby boomer grandparents.

Unprecedented Personalization of Life Experience

Artificial intelligence algorithms will adapt literally all aspects of Beta’s lives to their individual needs. Educational programs will adjust to each child’s pace and learning style, purchases will be made based on deep analysis of preferences, and social interactions will take place through platforms that understand the unique characteristics of each user. Such a level of personalization, which previous generations could only dream of, will become an everyday norm for Beta. However, this will also create new challenges in forming personal identity and critical thinking.

Raising Generation Beta: Between Technology and Humanity

Parenting Approaches of Millennials and Zoomers

Parents of Generation Beta will raise their children based on their own experiences with technology. Millennials, who actively documented the lives of their Alpha children on social media, will by the time Beta is born have accumulated an understanding of both the positive and negative aspects of digital exposure. Zoomers, meanwhile, as the most technologically savvy parents in history, demonstrate a more cautious approach. According to studies, thirty-six percent of Gen Z parents consider limiting screen time for children a priority, compared to thirty percent among millennials. This balance between integrating technology into a child’s life and protecting them from its negative effects will become a key feature of raising Beta. Parents will strive to delay the moment when children gain fully independent access to digital platforms, recognizing the risks of the online environment.

Priority of Critical Thinking and Adaptability

In families raising Beta children, special attention will be paid to developing the ability to critically evaluate information and understand how the surrounding algorithms work. Experts emphasize that in a world where smart systems operate autonomously, children need to know who creates these algorithms and for what purposes. Russian expert Yury Krupnov, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Institute of Demography, Migration, and Regional Development, notes the existing risk of the degradation of the human component against the backdrop of technological progress. According to him, while smart systems are improving, people sometimes move in the opposite direction. Therefore, education for Generation Beta should emphasize the development of distinctly human qualities.

Global Challenges for the Youngest Generation

Environmental and Social Issues

Generation Beta will have to grow up amid escalating climate change, mass migration, and rapid urbanization. Sustainable development will cease to be an option and will become a mandatory social norm that must be upheld. Thanks to being raised by parents for whom environmental awareness and equality are important values, Beta will grow up globally minded and more cooperation-oriented than any previous generation. They will perceive innovation not merely as a means of personal comfort, but also as a tool for solving humanity’s most pressing problems.

The Labor Market and Automation

One of the most serious issues facing society will be defining the role of humans in a highly automated economy. Although concerns about the mass displacement of workers by machines have been voiced for decades, history shows that the emergence of new technologies creates demand for specialists in related fields—from development and production to management and maintenance. Nevertheless, countries need to revive industry and develop educational systems so that Generation Beta can not only adapt to change, but also actively participate in shaping the future. The success of these efforts will largely determine whether the new generation becomes a witness to overall progress or faces social and economic decline.

Digital Identity and Hyperconnectivity

Constant Availability and Personal Space

Beta children will be born into a world where gadgets and the internet never turn off. They will build relationships, receive education, and develop careers in an era where digital interaction is the default setting. The concept of hyperconnectivity—constant availability through multiple digital devices and platforms—will become a defining feature of their lives. At the same time, Generation Beta will face the challenge of learning to manage their digital identity wisely, adhering to cybersecurity measures. Issues of personal data protection, privacy, and digital hygiene will become critically important from a very early age.

Balance Between the Collective and the Individual

Paradoxically, despite all the hyperconnectivity, Beta representatives will be especially sensitive about preserving their individuality both online and offline. They will rethink the very concept of belonging to a global digital community, striving to find harmony between self-expression and collective interaction. This generation will likely learn to approach the formation of personal connections more consciously, distinguishing superficial digital contacts from deep interpersonal relationships. The ability to maintain authenticity in a world of total digitalization will become one of Beta’s key competencies.

Differences from Predecessors: Alpha and Zoomers

Generation Alpha: A Transitional Stage

Children born between 2010 and 2024 experienced a period of rapid digital development. They were the first to gain access to smartphones and tablets from infancy, learning to read and write earlier than previous generations thanks to educational apps. Alpha is characterized by clip thinking and a need for fast access to diverse content. They are able to find the necessary information within seconds, but experience difficulties maintaining prolonged concentration. Dependence on gadgets among Alpha is higher than among zoomers, since technology has been present in their lives from the very first days.

Zoomers: Children of the Internet

Generation Z, born approximately between 1997 and 2010, witnessed the mass spread of social networks and smartphones. They grew up mastering new technologies and platforms, learning to navigate the digital space through trial and error. Zoomers are characterized by concern for mental health, a desire for work-life balance, and professional ambition. They actively express themselves through social media, create their own content, and easily adapt to change—something that became especially evident during the pandemic with the shift to remote learning.

Beta: The Next Step of Evolution

If zoomers mastered technology and Alpha grew up with it, Beta will improve and create new technologies. Between zoomers and the first representatives of Beta there are only about twenty-five years, but the difference in growing-up conditions will be enormous. Beta will not know a world without artificial intelligence, autonomous transport, and ubiquitous automation. Their childhood will take place in an era when many processes that require human participation today will be fully robotized. At the same time, they will face unique challenges—from preserving humanity in a technologized world to solving global environmental problems.

Forecasts and Prospects

The theory of generations, developed by American consultants William Strauss and Neil Howe back in the 1990s, is based on the idea that every fifteen to twenty years a group of people is formed, united by a shared historical experience. Events experienced in the first twelve years of life shape values that a person retains throughout their lifetime. Applied to Generation Beta, this means that their worldview will be formed under conditions of total digitalization, climate challenges, and a rethinking of the role of humans in an automated society. Specialists emphasize that how society prepares for the upbringing and education of Beta will determine whether this generation becomes a driver of progress or faces a systemic crisis of adaptation. While most representatives of Beta have not yet been born, researchers continue to study trends and forecast possible development scenarios. However, one thing is clear: this generation will grow up in a world radically different from the one their parents knew, and it is they who will determine what humanity will be like in the middle of the twenty-first century.