Born in 1998
Generation Z
1997–2012 · Gen Z, Zoomers, Post-Millennials, Zillennials (cusp)
If you were born in 1998, you are Generation Z — the generation born between 1997 and 2012. In 2025, that makes you 27 years old.
Google was founded in a garage in Menlo Park on September 4, 1998. You were born the same year as the search engine that would define how your generation relates to information — that turned "I don't know" from a permanent state into a temporary one. The Lewinsky scandal dominated American politics. Saving Private Ryan and The Truman Show were in cinemas. The world was six months away from Y2K anxiety. And in a small workshop in Cupertino, Apple was preparing to ship the first iMac.
Your Cohort Within Gen X
What's different about being born in 1998 specifically
All Gen Xers share a broad generational identity, but birth year matters. The events you experienced at particular ages shaped you differently from someone born five years earlier or later in the same generation.
- Google founded their birth year — they have only ever looked things up on the internet
- Were 3 on September 11 — no memory of the event or the pre-9/11 world
- Zillennial label (1993–1998) sometimes applies — at the older end of Gen Z
- Grew up entirely in the smartphone era — social media from early adolescence
- Graduated college around 2020 — directly into the COVID-19 pandemic
Generation Profile
Generation X — The Full Picture
Gen Z is the most racially and ethnically diverse generation in American history — a demographic fact that shapes their politics, culture, and expectations in ways that are not always visible from the outside. They grew up in a more diverse America than any previous generation and normalised that diversity in their peer groups, media consumption, and political values.
The mental health story of Gen Z is one of the generation's defining characteristics, and it requires careful framing. Gen Z reports higher rates of anxiety, depression, and psychological distress than previous generations at the same age. The debate about why — social media, economic precarity, climate anxiety, declining community, or some combination — continues. What's clear is that Gen Z is also the generation most likely to seek help, to talk openly about mental health, and to demand that institutions (schools, employers, healthcare systems) take it seriously.
Gen Z's relationship with work differs from Millennials' in a specific way: where Millennials asked for purposeful work (and were told this was entitled), Gen Z asks for boundaries. They're less interested in the company mission and more interested in whether the job respects their time and wellbeing. The generational shift from purpose to boundaries reflects what it looks like when the previous generation's demands are partially met — and the remaining problems become clearer.
Historical Context
Six things that happened the year you were born
The world you entered in 1998.
Google Founded — September 4
Larry Page and Sergey Brin incorporated Google Inc. in a Menlo Park garage. Their mission: "to organise the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." People born in 1998 have never lived in a world where finding information required going to a library. The idea of not being able to look something up immediately is, for them, genuinely difficult to imagine.
First iMac Ships — August 15
Apple's translucent blue iMac G3 — the first product of Steve Jobs' return to Apple — went on sale and sold 800,000 units in 139 days. It wasn't just a computer; it was a statement about design. The iMac established Apple's visual language and began the 15-year run of product launches that would culminate in the iPhone.
Clinton Impeachment Proceedings
President Clinton was impeached by the House of Representatives in December over the Monica Lewinsky scandal — only the second president in US history to be impeached. He was acquitted by the Senate in February 1999. The proceedings consumed American political attention for most of the year and shaped Gen Z's earliest political environment.
Saving Private Ryan — July 24
Spielberg's World War II film opened with a 27-minute recreation of the D-Day landing that veterans described as the most accurate depiction of combat they had seen. It won five Oscars. Its unflinching depiction of war's cost was a counter-narrative to the decade's general optimism.
US Embassy Bombings — August 7
Al-Qaeda bombed US embassies in Nairobi, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania simultaneously, killing 224 people. The bombings were the most significant al-Qaeda attack before 9/11 and should have been a clearer warning of what was coming. They largely weren't treated as one.
Good Friday Agreement — April 10
The Good Friday Agreement brought an end to most of the violence of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, after nearly 30 years and 3,500 deaths. It was the product of years of secret and public negotiation. It remains one of the most successful peace agreements of the modern era and one of Tony Blair's genuine achievements.
Culture in 1998
What people were watching, listening to, and talking about
The music, films, television, and sport of the year you were born.
Lauryn Hill released The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill — one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the decade and winner of five Grammys. Jay-Z released Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life. Massive Attack released Mezzanine. The Beastie Boys released Hello Nasty. It was a remarkable year for hip-hop and alternative music.
Saving Private Ryan and The Truman Show (both released in 1998) bookend the year's cinematic ambitions. Shakespeare in Love won Best Picture over Saving Private Ryan — another Oscar decision that has aged controversially. There's Something About Mary brought Farrelly Brothers comedy to a mainstream audience.
Sex and the City premiered on HBO in June. Dawson's Creek and Felicity both debuted, targeting the generation that was, at that point, teenagers. The practice of skewing television toward young adult audiences was accelerating.
Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa's home run chase — both pursuing Roger Maris's single-season record of 61 — captivated baseball fans and casual sports followers alike. McGwire finished with 70. Both men were later confirmed to have used steroids. The records were tainted; the cultural moment was genuine.
Your Generational Story
What it actually meant to be born in 1998
Google was founded the year you were born, which means you have literally never experienced a world where information was difficult to access. The idea that finding out something required physical travel to a library, or waiting for someone with expertise to become available, is historically real but experientially foreign. That's a profound shift in what it means to be curious.
You have no memory of September 11. You were 3. The wars, the security culture, the political divisions that followed are things you've always known — but as facts about the world rather than as ruptures in a previously different one. The before is something you've read about.
You graduated college around 2020, which means your introduction to the workforce was during a global pandemic. Remote work wasn't a perk your employer offered — it was how you started working. Video calls weren't an adaptation from in-person norms — they were the norm from day one. Your baseline understanding of what work looks like is different from every generation before you.
At 27 in 2025, you are in the middle of the most formative professional years of your life. What you learn and build in your late 20s tends to define the following decade in ways that aren't obvious until slightly later. That's worth knowing.
Common Questions
Questions about being born in 1998
What generation is someone born in 1998?
Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012. Someone born in 1998 is 27 years old in 2025.
Is 1998 Gen Z or Millennial?
Gen Z. By the Pew Research definition, Gen Z begins in 1997. 1998 is solidly Gen Z. Some people born in 1998 also identify as Zillennials — on the Millennial/Gen Z cusp.
How old is someone born in 1998 in 2025?
27 years old in 2025.
What was it like graduating college in 2020 as a 1998-born Gen Zer?
Graduating in 2020 meant entering the workforce during a global pandemic. Internships were cancelled, entry-level jobs disappeared, and remote work became the default before most people had established professional norms or networks. It was one of the most disruptive possible moments to begin a career, and it shaped 1998-born Gen Zers' relationship with work and institutions in lasting ways.
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