Generation Z

Fifteen-year-old Greta Thunberg might be the living definition of what is meant by the term ‘youthquake’. In 2018, she protested outside the Swedish parliament building to raise awareness about the climate crisis facing our planet.

Before long she was sailing across the Atlantic in a solar powered boat to address the UN climate change conference, and bravely holding governments to account for their inaction against the imminent threat to our global community. ‘You’re never too small to make a difference,’ she said later that year, inspiring young people all over the world to follow her lead.

The term ‘youthquake’ was actually coined in the swinging sixties to describe significant cultural, social, or political change enacted by young people, but rose to prominence in 2017 when it surrounded the Labour party's better than expected performance in the general election. As a result, it became the Oxford dictionary's word of the year.