Generation X in Saudi Arabia: The Silent Adapters

She visits me twice a year, always stunned by how much has changed. Over coffee, we traded updates—not just on reforms or new places, but on how people have changed, how we have changed. Then she looked at me and asked, half joking, half serious: “What about us? Who will ever compensate us for the dark ages we lived through?”

It stayed with me. Because if there’s one generation in Saudi Arabia that quietly carried the weight of both past and future, it’s ours—Generation X. Neither young enough to chase every new wave, nor old enough to be excused from the race. Just in between, adapting, absorbing, enduring. And no, we didn’t have it easy.

The Economist recently called Generation X. “the real loser generation,” in a piece that reflects how globally, this age group has been quietly sidelined—economically, culturally, even algorithmically. Read the article here. It’s a label that may sound harsh, but it captures a sentiment that resonates deeply in the Saudi context too—where this middle generation remains largely invisible in the narrative of national transformation.

To speak of a generation is not merely to point to an age group. It is to describe a collective shaped by shared cultural and economic ruptures. In Saudi Arabia, where multiple generations often live under the same roof, conversations rarely revolved around needs or mentalities.

Instead, rebukes were framed as comparisons. “In my time,” says a father. “Your generation,” complains a mother. And the accused is left wondering what, exactly, is wrong with their generation.

But this is changing. Media exposure, and the growing recognition that generational differences are more than clichés, has created space for deeper reckoning. Gaps in age in Saudi now clearly mark shifts in identity, thought, and values.

Much of this shift would have remained invisible were it not for the sweeping reforms ushered in by Vision 2030, which opened up both the economy and society. Combined with the rapid rise of social media—one of many forces reshaping daily life—intergenerational perspectives have come into sharper focus.

Generation Z—those born between 1997 and 2012—speak of a childhood overshadowed by screens. Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, lament the rising cost of living and the vanishing dream of home ownership. Baby boomers, born between 1946 and 1964, worry about the sustainability of retirement in a transforming welfare state.

Each group has endured seismic shifts. The 1980s in Saudi Arabia were marked by rigid conservatism, casting a long shadow over daily life. For baby boomers, this era followed a time of modest means but familial warmth, when oil wealth was still new and being gradually distributed. Gen Z has emerged into a more relaxed atmosphere, though one not without contradictions. Their world is not simply more open, but more exposed.

Caught in between is Saudi Arabia’s forgotten generation: Generation X—those born between 1965 and 1980. They are the country’s middle-aged citizens, too young to fully benefit from early oil wealth, and maybe too old to ride the wave of tech-enabled opportunity now reshaping the economy.

Abu Faisal, 52, an operations manager in Jeddah and father of three, puts it bluntly: “I raised three kids, helped my parents with their bills, and never once thought of starting my own business. Now I’m told I should reinvent myself for the new economy. It’s exhausting.”

Gen X, then, came of age when conformity was not optional but expected; marriage, social acceptance, and professional ambition defined by civil service rank, not entrepreneurial flair. Even online, they remain nearly invisible. Podcasts dissect Gen Z’s search for identity; influencers dramatize millennial burnout. Gen X, by contrast, has no trending hashtag, no policy campaign tailored to its challenges. In local media, they appear as background figures—parents, supervisors, neighborhood elders—not protagonists of transformation.

But unlike Seneca’s imagined suffering, their burdens are tangible. Many in this age group speak of real fatigue—from financial responsibilities that stretch across generations to the pressure of adapting to a fast-changing social landscape. While younger Saudis are often the focus of public discourse and older generations are looked to for wisdom, those in between carry expectations from both ends—without the same visibility or institutional support.

Generation X often serves as a bridge of sorts; adapting to rapid social change while managing responsibilities in both directions. In many Saudi homes, it is the Gen Xer who juggles a daughter’s university pickup with his mother’s clinic appointment. At work, they navigate a digital-first job market that barely resembles the one they entered in their twenties.

Economically, they have struggled to keep pace. While average salaries have improved, this group missed the startup boom and the surge in public–private investment. Many came of age during a stagnant job market, with limited private-sector roles and few opportunities for global education or entry into high-growth sectors like fintech, entertainment, or AI. For men in this cohort, finding work today can be daunting.

Many members of Generation X in Saudi Arabia have faced challenges in accumulating wealth, influenced by factors such as rising living costs, limited access to early investment opportunities, and economic shifts that favored younger generations.

Home ownership reflects the same generational divide. While younger Saudis have benefited from new mortgage programs and affordable housing schemes, many Gen Xers bought homes under stricter lending rules—often in less desirable areas that now lie outside the country’s urban renewal zones.

But the economic story is only one part. Socially, this generation has found itself navigating a new world with few instructions. Concerts, festivals, and art exhibitions—public events once unthinkable—are now part of everyday life. The shift is welcome, but it is not always easy to internalize.

“Taking a taxi, or even an Uber, was socially frowned upon in my time,” says Maha T., a former journalist who spoke to Saudi Times. “It took me a while to even try it once it became acceptable.”

Parenting poses new challenges, too. “My 17-year-old daughter wanted to go to a concert in Jeddah with her friends,” says one mother. “At first I said no. But then I realized all her friends were going. What felt inappropriate to me wasn’t seen that way at all by their generation, or their parents.”

Yet the pendulum has sometimes swung too far. Many women who once faced strict social restrictions are now asserting their freedom visibly, and sometimes excessively.

“I want compensation for the years the religious police stole my youth, and my hair,” read a tweet from 2018, recalling how short haircuts were enforced in schools. Social media is awash with reinvention: bold fashion, extravagant outings, and birthday celebrations ten times over.

“My friends are celebrating birthdays ten times, once for every group of friends,” jokes Salwa A., a 66-year-old grandmother and former administrative worker.

Culturally, Generation X bears another burden: invisibility. They are rarely hailed as changemakers, nor celebrated as elder statesmen. They do not feature in glossy entrepreneurship campaigns or national rebranding efforts. Instead, they are the silent adapters, absorbing new norms on gender, family, and work without guidance, applause, or representation.

And yet, this invisibility has, at times, been a quiet shield. Unlike the constant performance demanded of younger generations on social media or the high-stakes decision-making expected of elders, Gen X has moved through change with fewer eyes watching. Some found freedom in that—space to adapt privately, to support others quietly, to observe without always having to lead. They may have missed the tech boom, but many also experienced a stretch of stability in the 1990s and early 2000s—years marked by steady employment, routine responsibilities, and a form of social cohesion that felt predictable, if not thrilling.

It was not a golden age, but a manageable one. And yet, the ground beneath them shifted. Today’s expectations demand more agility, more reinvention, and more visibility—none of which came naturally to a generation raised on restraint.

And yet, perhaps that is where their strength lies. Not in being seen, but in enduring. Between the old and the new, the nostalgic and the futuristic, the personal and the political, Generation X may be Saudi Arabia’s least acknowledged, but most essential, generation. And perhaps, that is compensation enough.

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