How many made up the ‘Windrush Generation’ and how old are they now?

The term, ‘Windrush Generation’, is often used to describe the estimated half million people who migrated from the West Indies to the UK between 1948, when the ship HMT Empire Windrush arrived, and 1971, when the influx ended with the 1971 Immigration Act.

The number of West Indian migrants entering the UK, by year up to 1961, is shown below:

If a new arrival was aged between 16 and 25 when they arrived in the UK then in 2023 his or her age would be:

Arrived in 1955:  84-93 years old

Arrived in 1960:  79-88 years old

Arrived in 1970: 69-78 years old

How many generations have followed the ‘Windrush Generation’?

If a woman arrived in 1960 at the age of 20 and she, and every subsequent generation of her female offspring, had their first child at the UK average age of childbirth (24 in the 1960s, rising to 29 in 2018) then in 2023 the eldest of her fourth generation would be 5 years old, her great grandchild.

The table below shows the generations of those who feature in the photo-story, Windrush: A Voyage through the Generations. It shows that we are on the cusp of a new wave of great great grandchildren:

Windrush: A Voyage through the Generations; defining the generations.

To ensure consistency of definitions in this photo-story, the first arriving family member is defined as ‘First generation’; it could be a grandparent, a parent, or an uncle or aunt for example.

Many of the ‘Windrush Generation’ who arrived in the 1960s and 1970s were following in the footsteps of family-members already here; in these cases they are referred to as 2nd generation (if just one generation came before) and hence any great grandchildren are described as 5th generation for the purpose of this photo-story.

Some were arriving in the footsteps of two family generations. Thus all four of Selena Carty's grandparents and both her parents came to Britain from Jamaica between 1948 and 1971, making Selena (who is featured in the exhibition) third generation (‘But I am also first generation born here’!).