With different definitions, genealogy books would describe them as family ties and kinship. In sociology, generation is a term used to try and understand the differences between groups of people. Generally speaking, these people are people born at a similar time. This means they will go through similar life stages that affect them in different ways, perhaps because they went through a recession in their 30’s or were too young to go to war but shared a similar experience with others of their generation.
Generations tend to last 25-30 years. The word generation is used rather loosely these days. Whether it is in pop culture or politics, it is generally referring to the age difference between people born and living at a similar time. These generations overlap at a certain point, but people born in the same decade will share experiences and memories different from those born in different decades.
