The feature Birth Cohort Information is located under the Specialized Display suboption, which is in turn located under the Display topic on the Main Menu.

The use of this feature is quite similar to the use of Cohorts of Population. However, this feature allows the user to view the total population of a country/region or group as broken down into generations. For example, notice the left side of the picture shown below. In this example, the birth cohorts are for Canada. For the year 2005, the majority of the population is grouped into Generations X and Y, which were born between the years 1965-1984 and 1985-2010 respectively, and the Baby Boom generation (1945-1964). A few of the Pre-Baby Boom generation is alive, while (obviously) no one from Generation Z is born yet.

Next, click on the Advance option on the top of the screen until year 2025 is reached, or click four times on the option. The user should see a graph similar to the one below. In this new graph, notice the changes in the distribution of the total population among the various generational cohorts. Members of Generation Z are now represented on the graph, while the numbers of the Pre-Baby Boom generation have decreased since 2005. The numbers of people belonging to the Baby Boom generation have also decreased, while the numbers for Generations X and Y seem to have changed little. To return the year to 2005 or any previous year, click on Regress in the heading.

The user is able to customize and experiment with the forecasted birth cohort information, according the preferences of the user. By clicking on the Show Numbers options in the heading, the user is able to view the number of males and females that makes up each generation. A dialogue box similar to the one shown below should appear. The user is able to save and/or print the birth cohort information.

If the user wants to change countries to view, first select Change Display, and then select Change Country/Region. A list of countries or regions to choose from should appear.

The year 2005 is displayed when the Birth Cohort option is first opened. Clicking on Advance or Regress will change the displayed year in five-year increments- from 2005 to 2010, from 2010 to 2015, and so on. To view a specific year, and to avoid having to click Advance multiple times to reach that year, simply select Set Year in the Change Display option in the heading. The user can select any year between 2005 and 2100.

The user may also be interested in view how the distribution of generational birth cohorts are affected by running scenarios different from the base case. To change the scenario, first select Change Display, and then Change Scenario.