What Is Generation Alpha?
Kids in Generation Alpha, ranging from infants to 12-year-olds as of 2025, are the first generation to be born entirely within the 21st century. They’ve been immersed in technology from day one and represent the most demographically diverse generation to date. Some in this generation were also the first to experience an early childhood defined by the coronavirus pandemic.
This post takes a closer look at what we know — for now — about America’s youngest citizens.
Frequently Asked Questions about Generation Alpha
What birth years define Generation Alpha?
While definitions vary, the term Generation Alpha typically refers to the group of individuals born from 2013 to present. This is the generation after Gen Z.
How large is Generation Alpha?
They represent nearly 39 million children in the United States, according to the latest data from 2023 in the KIDS COUNT Data Center. By far, California and Texas are home to the largest number of Gen Alpha kids, with more than 4 million living in each state.
Who came before Generation Alpha?
Generation Z, born between 1997 to 2012, came before them. And Gen Z follows Generation Y, more commonly known as millennials, who were born between 1981 and 1996.
One way to envision how these groups fit together: Members of Generation Alpha are often the children of millennials and the younger siblings of Generation Z.
How does Generation Alpha compare to Generation Z?
These young generations are still evolving, so it’s early to make firm conclusions. However, if current trends hold, Generation Alpha will be more racially and ethnically diverse than Generation Z. Members of Generation Alpha will also be more likely to live with adults who have high school or college degrees, grow up in single-parent households and experience financial hardship, but less likely to have teen parents. Researchers are also watching concerning infant health trends for Gen Alpha, described below.
While members of both age groups have grown up with technology at their fingertips, Gen Alpha kids have a key advantage: They are the most digitally proficient generation to date.
How diverse is Generation Alpha?
So far, Generation Alpha is the nation’s most racially and ethnically diverse generation yet, and the first in which the white population comprises a minority of the population, at 48%. This compares to 50% for Gen Z, 54% for millennials, 59% for Gen X and 71% for baby boomers, according to 2023 data. Children of color represent the majority of Gen Alpha, including:
- 27% Latino
- 16% Black
- 7% Asian American or Pacific Islander
- 6% Multiracial
- 2% American Indian or Alaska Native
What do we know about Generation Alpha and technology?
Generation Alpha kicked off right after Apple launched its iPad and Instagram made its debut. Surrounded by technology from the get-go, this group views digital tools as omnipresent — not just trendy accessories. The omnipresence of screens has blurred boundaries between entertainment, education and socializing for these young people. In fact, more than eight in 10 parents of Gen Alpha kids say their kids use mobile devices 7–8 hours a day, on average.
Growing up logged on and linked up — engrossed in videos, games and all things visual — can have its advantages, including greater digital literacy and adaptability. But a childhood defined by technology can also lead to challenges, such as impaired social development, reduced cognitive functioning, obesity and mental health problems, experts warn. High levels of social media use among children and teens are associated with a number of issues, including depression, anxiety, inadequate sleep (which can disrupt neurological development), low self-esteem, poor body image, disordered eating and more. Cyberbullying is also an increasingly common problem for today’s kids, with one in six parents reporting that their child has experienced such harassment, according to researchers.
Parents and other supportive adults may be able to mitigate the harmful effects of technology and social media, however. Adults in school and after-school settings, for example, can use creative approaches that incorporate technology while supporting Gen Alpha’s social-emotional health.
Read more about the Impact of Social Media and Technology on Gen Alpha
What do we know about Generation Alpha and education?
The KIDS COUNT Data Center tracks key education statistics for Gen Alpha on early childhood education, fourth grade reading proficiency, chronic absenteeism and educational attainment of the adults around these young people.
Early childhood education for Gen Alpha
Early education, such as high-quality preschool and child care, provides a foundation for learning and can improve school readiness and long-term academic and health outcomes. However, more than half (54%) of young Gen Alphas ages 3 to 4 are not enrolled in early education, according to 2019–2023 data, consistent with prior years. Among low-income kids, this figure jumps to 62% of young Alphas not attending early education. Access to preschool or other early learning opportunities varies by race and ethnicity, as well.
Given this, it may not be surprising that only about two-thirds (66%) of Gen Alphas ages 3 to 5 are considered ready for school, according to the 2023 National Survey of Children’s Health. School readiness is determined by criteria related to age-appropriate early learning, social emotional development, self-regulation, motor development and health.
Gen Alpha’s school performance
When the oldest members of Gen Alpha began reaching fourth grade in 2022, only 32% scored proficient in reading. Fourth grade reading proficiency is a key predictor of future academic achievement and even economic stability in adulthood. This measure has worsened since then, unfortunately, with just 30% of Gen Alpha fourth graders reading proficiently in 2024. Experts indicate that children are still struggling to recover from pandemic disruptions to education.
Further, large disparities in reading proficiency by socioeconomic and demographic factors — e.g., race and ethnicity, income level, English learner status and disability status — predate the pandemic and persist with Generation Alpha. In 2024, for instance, fourth graders scoring below proficient in reading by race and ethnicity were as follows:
- American Indian or Alaska Native: 85%
- Black: 84%
- Latino: 80%
- Multiracial: 65%
- White: 61%
- Asian and Pacific Islander: 50%
Chronic absenteeism
In 2022, 36% of U.S. fourth graders were considered chronically absent from school — the highest rate recorded on the KIDS COUNT Data Center. Defined as being absent three or more days in the past month, this figure improved to 31% for Gen Alpha fourth graders in 2024 but remains much higher than levels in the previous decade. When students have chronic absences for any reason (excused or unexcused), it places them at risk of poor school outcomes in the short- and long-term. Excused absences are most common and may be due to health issues, transportation, safety or other barriers. Kids with disabilities and those living in poverty are especially likely to have chronic absences.
Here, too, disparate absenteeism rates endure by race and ethnicity: In 2024, nearly two in five American Indian or Alaska Native (38%), Black and Latino (both 36%) fourth graders were chronically absent from school, compared to 30% for multiracial, 27% for white and 22% for Asian and Pacific Islander students.
Educational attainment of mothers and other adults around Gen Alpha
Since Generation Alpha began, the share of births to moms with less than a high school degree has dropped — from 16% in 2013 to 11% in 2023. This is a promising sign for young Alphas, as higher levels of maternal education are strongly linked to better child and family outcomes, such as economic stability and improved child development, health and academic achievement.
Kids also tend to benefit when other adults in their households (beyond moms) have high school or college degrees. In the first 10 years of Generation Alpha, the percentage of U.S. kids under age 18 with household heads who had bachelor’s degrees increased from 19% to 22%, with a parallel increase occurring for graduate degrees. Meanwhile, shares decreased for kids with householders who did not complete high school.
In addition, the share of high school students who didn’t graduate on time fell during Gen Alpha’s first decade, from 18% in 2013–14 to 13% in 2021–22.
If these trends hold, Generation Alpha kids will be more likely to complete high school on time and grow up with adults who have secondary and postsecondary degrees, compared to prior generations.
What do we know about Generation Alpha and family demographics?
The majority of Gen Alphas are children of millennials. In Generation Alpha’s first year, the share of kids growing up in a single-parent family was 35%. Thirteen years prior — in 2000 — this same statistic was only 31%. Since 2013, this statistic has held steady at 34% or 35%. If this pattern holds, Generation Alpha kids will be more likely to live in single-parent households than any generation before them.
Historically, kids in single-parent households have been more likely to struggle compared to their peers in two-parent families. For instance, children raised by just one parent are more likely to live in poverty and experience the consequences of growing up poor. Such effects can be profound and wide-ranging, including limited access to quality education and health care, physical and behavioral health problems, lower educational attainment, increased risk of contact with the justice system and other challenges. Underlying factors about families — such as strong and stable relationships, parental mental health, socioeconomic status and access to resources — have a greater impact on child success than does family structure alone, research indicates.
Other family demographic trends for Generation Alpha? In their first decade, the rate of births to teenagers fell by half, from 26 to 13 in every 1,000 females ages 15 to 19. Meanwhile, the share of births to women born outside of the United States rose slightly, from 22% in 2013 to 24% 2023.
How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact Generation Alpha?
While some experts call COVID-19 a “defining moment” for Generation Alpha, it’s too early to know the long-term effects of the pandemic on these children. Here’s what we do know: In 2020, the pandemic caused widespread economic hardship and isolated kids and families in unprecedented ways. Millions of parents experienced job loss, financial and health care instability, illness and loss of loved ones — all while juggling their children’s care and education.
After the pandemic initially caused child care and school closures, many schools reopened using virtual learning and most employers transitioned to remote work. Families holed up in their homes, play dates stopped and extracurricular activities were suspended. This withdrawal increased social isolation, decreased physical activity and added to mental health challenges for kids and parents.
Technology came to the rescue for many — but not all — children and families. For many kids, including the oldest members of Generation Alpha who were 7 years old in 2020, screen time soared, with the screens themselves doubling as classrooms and emergency babysitters. However, some kids did not have access to technology to support their education. According to Census data, 12% of children ages 3 to 18 lacked internet with a computer at home in 2019, right before the pandemic, although this improved to 7% by 2021. Among low-income kids in 2021, 15% still lacked such digital access at home; and among those with parents who did not finish high school, the share was even higher, at 22% that year. Other studies consistently find that youth in low-income households are less likely to have access to computers.
In the years following the pandemic, declines in student test scores — and widening disparities[1] for disadvantaged students — have been well documented.
What do we know about Generation Alpha and family economics?
The start of Generation Alpha was sandwiched between two global economic crises — the Great Recession of 2007—08 and the pandemic-induced economic downturn in 2020. When the first Gen Alpha kids were born, families were still recovering from the Great Recession and it wasn’t long before they were hit with the next major crisis. It may be unsurprising, then, that the youngest and most vulnerable age group, Gen Alpha, has experienced higher poverty rates than older generations in nearly every year of their young lives to date, according to the KIDS COUNT Data Center.
In 2023, about one in six (16%) Generation Alpha kids lived below the federal poverty level, which was $30,900 in annual earnings for a family of two adults and two children. Families can earn well over this amount and still not make ends meet, especially in high-cost areas. In fact, “low-income” is typically defined as earning twice the federal poverty level. Nearly two in five (37%) Gen Alpha kids lived in low-income families in 2023. While Alphas living in poverty and in low-income families remain too high, both measures declined over the past 10 years.
Racial inequities are stark for Generation Alpha, mirroring that of older generations. More than half of American Indian or Alaska Native, Black and Latino Gen Alpha kids live in low-income families, compared to about 40% of multiracial and roughly a quarter of white and Asian and Pacific Islander Alphas, the latest data reveals. Similar patterns exist for poverty rates by race and ethnicity among Gen Alpha and other generations across all years available on the KIDS COUNT Data Center.
The official federal poverty level used above is based on pre-tax cash income only, whereas a different measure, the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), considers a broader set of resources, such as in-kind and safety net benefits. The SPM also factors in regional variation in cost of living. In 2023, SPM child poverty rate was 14% — almost triple its record low of 5% in 2021. This means that millions of kids, including Alphas who were under age 11 in 2023, were living in families without enough resources to meet basic needs, such as food and housing.
Check the SPM child poverty rate in your state
Also disheartening: U.S. income inequities by race and ethnicity have widened since the first Generation Alphas were born. From 2013 to 2023, the median family income for Black, Latino and American Indian or Alaska Native households with kids sat below all other groups on record and far below than the national average. For Black households, specifically, the 2023 median family income fell a staggering $40,400 short of the average household.
Additional statistics related to family economics for Generation Alpha:
- In 2023, nearly one in four (23%) kids under age 13 lived in low-income working families, meaning at least one parent worked. This captures all Gen Alphas who were up to age 10 that year and a slice of young Gen Zers ages 11 and 12.
- That same year, housing instability affected 15% of young Alphas under age 6, and 18% of kids ages 6 to 11, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health. Housing instability was defined as ever experiencing homelessness or living in shelters, living in at least three places in the past year, or families missing mortgage payments in the past year
- In 2022–23, nearly a third (31%) of children from birth to age 11 lived in food insufficient households, i.e., they could not afford sufficient, nutritious meals.
For Generation Alpha kids growing up in America’s poorest households, the effects of their family economic hardship are wide-ranging and long-lasting. Poverty elevates a child’s risk of experiencing behavioral, social-emotional and health challenges, as noted. Child poverty also reduces access to skill-building opportunities, high-quality education and other supportive resources, undercutting a young student’s capacity to learn, graduate from high school and more.
What do we know about the health of Gen Alpha?
On the positive side for the youngest members of this generation, nearly all (95%) of those from birth to age 5 had health insurance in 2023, similar to the rate for older kids and previous years available in the KIDS COUNT Data Center. Additionally, since Gen Alpha began in 2013, the share of births to mothers who smoked during pregnancy has dropped from 8% to 3% in 2023.
However, several infant health indicators have recently moved in a negative direction for Generation Alpha:
- The percentage of births to moms receiving late or no prenatal care increased slightly to 7% in 2022 and 2023, after holding at 6% for over a decade. Access to timely, high-quality prenatal is critical for promoting healthy births and reducing infant mortality.
- The infant mortality rate followed a similar pattern and rose slightly in 2022 and 2023 — to 5.6 deaths per 1,000 live births — after declining since 2013.
- The share of Gen Alpha babies with a low birth weight — a leading cause of infant death — has steadily increased from 8.0% in 2013 to 8.6% in 2023, with Black infants experiencing the highest rates each year (14.3% in 2023).
Like low birth-weight rates, large racial and ethnic disparities have persisted for years in rates of insurance coverage, access to prenatal care and infant mortality.
The 2023 National Survey of Children’s Child Health provides more statistics capturing older Gen Alphas in the 6 to 11 age group, including:
- More than three in four (77%) kids in this age group have a usual source of sick care.
- Almost three-quarters (72%) received both preventive medical and dental care in the past year.
- Over a third (35%) are considered overweight or obese.
- About one in four (26%) are physically active for at least 60 minutes every day.
How is Gen Alpha’s mental health?
Mental health has been a growing concern for both Generation Alpha and Generation Z, particularly in the context of social media use. While high levels of social media use are linked to poor mental health, other factors can play a role, too, such as young people’s need for connection with others, family and parental stress, financial hardship, achievement pressure, exposure to violence and more.
In the last seven years of Generation Alpha, the prevalence of childhood anxiety or depression has grown in the United States, from 9% of kids ages 3 to 17 experiencing these conditions in 2016–17 to 13% in 2022–23.
The 2023 National Survey of Children’s Health sheds additional light on mental and behavioral challenges for Gen Alpha:
- Approximately one in six (16%) young Alphas ages 3 to 5 and one in four (26%) ages 6 to 11 have a mental, emotional, developmental, or behavioral problem.
- Nearly half (45%) of children ages 6 to 11 were bullied, picked on or excluded by other children in the past year.
- Among kids ages 6 to 11 who needed or received mental health care, about 60% had difficulty getting the care they needed, according to parents.
- Most (78%) young Alphas 6 months to 5 years old were considered “flourishing” based on measures of curiosity, learning, resilience, attachment with parents and contentment. Among the 6 to 11 age group, the figure was lower, with just 62% flourishing based on age-appropriate measures related to curiosity, learning, resilience and self-regulation.
How can I learn more about Generation Alpha?
Gen Alphas are still arriving — and so are the data for this age group. See hundreds of statistics on the health and well-being for children of all ages in the KIDS COUNT Data Center.
A few additional resources to explore now include
- Gen Alpha resources from the Casey Foundation
- The Impact of Social Media and Technology on Gen Alpha
- What the Statistics Say about Generation Z
- Social Media’s Concerning Effect on Teen Mental Health
- Gen Z Characteristics: Who They Are & What Defines Gen Z
KIDS COUNT Data Center Indicators on Gen Alpha and other generations:
- Population size of Gen Alpha, Gen Z, millennials, Gen X and baby boomers, by race and ethnicity
- People living in poverty by generation
- People living in poverty by generation and race and ethnicity
- People living in low-income households by generation
- People living in low-income households by generation and race and ethnicity
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