UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
Babies born from Jan. 1, 2025 to around 2039 are said to belong to Gen Beta, following Gen Alpha (2011-2024). If Gen Alpha are digital natives, Gen Beta will be living in a time when “digital and physical worlds are seamless,” according to McCrindle Research.
This new generation will be the first to live when autonomous (driverless) transportation, automation (robotics) and artificial intelligence (AI) will be widespread and taken for granted.
It may sound wonderful but let’s step back and look at what Gen Z had to go through. There is the de-personalization and alienation experienced by Gen Z (parents of Gen Beta) and Gen Alpha due to the effects of digital technology. Social media may have connected us with others digitally but at the expense of real personal interactions. It has led to a rise in depressive disorders and an increase in suicides and self-harm. Will an increasingly connected digital world compound the problem for Gen Beta?
The new generation will likewise be born in an era of climate change, overpopulation and increasing degradation of the environment. A look at Our World in Data world population shows a vertical rise in the human population since the year 2000 and now we have 8.2 billion humans in the world.
That is a lot of people and more and more natural resources will be needed just to feed and clothe them all. More people mean more waste, ergo, more environmental damage. It will be difficult to sustain life as we know it. As it is, majority of humans are living marginally, barely able to scrape together three meals a day for themselves and their families. All the connectivity, automation and AI won’t mean a thing when you’re hungry and living hand-to-mouth with no roof over your head.
Certainly, the Philippines is no exception. Unless we pay attention to the health and education of our youth, they will not be participants in the rosy future that technology promises. Yet, our “leaders” seem to have other priorities in mind.
The stakes cannot be any higher than this. Our Gen Beta will not have the proper knowledge and skills to traverse the digital universe if we don’t raise and educate them the right way.
We will have two sets of Gen Beta with the rich and small middle class giving their children all the opportunities for learning and how to navigate the digital world while the poor, which comprise over 15.5 percent of the population or roughly 17.54 million Filipinos in 2023, (which is an underestimate as the Philippine Statistics Authority) has set the bar too low for poverty at ₱12,638 per capita income.
How can our youth be able to afford gadgets for AI etc. when they can’t be gainfully employed because their brains and bodies are stunted due to poor nutrition in childhood and the subsequent poor educational opportunities? Even the menial jobs, which is what they are only fit for, will be gone soon, taken over by robots powered by AI.
The rapid technological advances that Gen Beta will encounter will increase the gap between the rich and poor, with the middle class barely clinging to their status since a catastrophic illness in the family can result in bankruptcy. The high income inequality and poverty persists mainly due to bad governance, corruption, a political system dominated by political dynasties, vulnerability to environmental disasters and lack of available jobs.
What will exacerbate the situation is the current attitude of Gen Z’ers who don’t want the burdens of parenthood. Many who can afford to raise a child or two have decided raising children is too much of a burden and would rather have a fur baby, which has a lifespan of 15 years or less. If that persists, the proportion of Gen Beta who fall into the poor or low-income group will increase even more, along with it low digital literacy and inability to compete in job markets dominated by digital technology.
If we are to cash in on the digital future, we must invest in our children, if it’s not too late for Gen Alpha. If it is, then, let’s make sure our Gen Beta will be able to handle the challenges of tomorrow’s whole new world.
Poverty reduction is a must. But first, we must address the host of reasons that cause poverty: Corruption, political dynasties and bad governance. We seem to be losing the fight. What will it take for people to wake up to the urgency of the situation?