<P> The United Kingdom's Economic and Social Research Council described Generation X as "Thatcher's children" because the cohort grew up while Margaret Thatcher was Prime Minister from 1979 to 1990, "a time of social flux and transformation". In South Africa, Gen Xers spent their formative years of the 1980s during the "hyper - politicized environment of the final years of apartheid". In the US, Generation X was the first cohort to grow up post-integration . They were described in a marketing report by Specialty Retail as the kids who "lived the civil rights movement ." They were among the first children to be bused to attain integration in the public school system . In the 1990s, demographer William Strauss reported Gen Xers were "by any measure the least racist of today's generations". In the US, Title IX, which passed in 1972, provided increased athletic opportunities to Gen X girls in the public school setting . In Russia, Generation Xers are referred to as "the last Soviet children", as the last children to come of age prior to the downfall of communism in their nation and prior to the fall of the Soviet Union . </P> <P> Politically, in the United States, the Gen X childhood coincided with a time when government funding tended to be diverted away from programs for children and often instead directed toward the elderly population, with cuts to Medicaid and programs for children and young families, and protection and expansion of Medicare and Social Security for the elderly population . One in five American children grew up in poverty during this time . These programs for the elderly were not tied to economic need . Congressman David Durenberger criticized this political situation, stating that while programs for poor children and for young families were cut, the government provided "free health care to elderly millionaires". </P> <P> Gen Xers came of age or were children during the crack epidemic, which disproportionately impacted urban areas and also the African American community in the US . Drug turf battles increased violent crime, and crack addiction impacted communities and families . Between 1984 and 1989, the homicide rate for black males aged 14 to 17 doubled in the US, and the homicide rate for black males aged 18 to 24 increased almost as much . The crack epidemic had a destabilizing impact on families with an increase in the number of children in foster care . Generation X was the first cohort to come of age with MTV and are sometimes called the MTV Generation . They experienced the emergence of music videos, grunge, alternative rock and hip hop . </P> <P> The emergence of AIDS coincided with Gen X's adolescence, with the disease first clinically observed in the United States in 1981 . By 1985, an estimated one to two million Americans were HIV positive . As the virus spread, at a time before effective treatments were available, a public panic ensued . Sex education programs in schools were adapted to address the AIDS epidemic which taught Gen X students that sex could kill you . Gen Xers were the first children to have access to computers in their homes and schools . Generally, Gen Xers are the children of the Silent Generation and older Baby Boomers . </P>

What are some characteristics that describe generation x