Baby boomer
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The term baby boomer most commonly refers to people born during the years 1946 to 1964 worldwide.[1][2] In Canada it is anyone born between 1960 and 1980.[3] Australia identifies baby boomers as those born between 1946 and 1961.[3] Generally, after 1960 the birth rate started falling.[4] In 1951, Sylvia F. Porter, a columnist for the New York Post, first used the term baby boom for the rapid rise in birthrate after World War II.[5]
Economic impact
From 1945 to 1964 about seventy-seven million babies were born in the United States.[6] In the 1950s baby boomers bought Mouse-ear hats after they watched "The Mickey Mouse Club". They danced to rock and roll and idolized singers like Elvis Presley. Hula hoops and Barbie dolls were wildly popular.[7]
By the 1960s many baby boomers were teenagers. They spent nearly $20 million on things including food, clothing, and recorded music.[8] Businesses were eager to find ways to meet their demands. By the 1970s entire industries were changing because of baby boomers.[8]
Aging and end-of-life issues
In 1998 the baby boomers began to discuss about their end-of-life issues; but many commentators think they have became burdens for their children and society.[9] According to the 2011 Associated Press and LifeGoesStrong.com surveys:
60% lost value in investments because of the economic crisis
42% are delaying retirement
25% claim they will never retire (currently still working)[10]
Baby boomer today
The oldest baby boomers are 80 in 2026 and one in five Americans will be 65 years old in 2030. Many people believe they will become a stress on social welfare systems.[11]
Baby Boomer Media
The baby boom birth years from the mid 1940s through the mid 1960s extended an early-1940s increase in live births following lows in the Great Depression.
U.S. adult demographic cohorts in 2019
Diagram of the Kondratieff wave from 1800 to 1990
Large numbers of Americans pursued higher education after World War II. Pictured: the University of Chicago Law School (1955–63)
An American family gathering to watch television (1958)
(Left to right) Simone de Beauvoir, Jean-Paul Sartre, and Ernesto Che Guevara meeting in Cuba, 1960. They were some of the radical icons of the 1960s.
Betty Friedan, American feminist and writer.
An American university student listening to a British rock record on campus while sporting newly popularized blue jeans, 1970
Londons Carnaby Street, 1966
A graffiti telling students to "take your desires for reality" at the Sorbonne, May 1968
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References
- ↑ Dimock, Michael. Defining generations: Where Millennials end and Generation Z begins (in en-US). Pew Research Center (January 17, 2019). Retrieved 2020-11-08.
- ↑ Baby Boom Generationu-s-history.com. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Matt Rosenberg. Baby BoomAbout.com. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
- ↑ Jose Miguel Rivera. Prolonged Health for Baby Boomers, Creative Retirement Transition for the WorkforceNew York University. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
- ↑ Sol Steinmetz, There's a Word for It: The Explosion of the American Language Since 1900 (New York: Harmony Books, 2010), p. 99
- ↑ Baby Boomer Generation Fast Facts (1 September 2014)CNN. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
- ↑ Baby, boomer. Baby boomer market. www.history.com.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Baby BoomStudy Notes, LLC. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
- ↑ Baby, boomer. End-of-life issues. www.bizjournals.com.
- ↑ Baby, boomer. Aging and end-of-life issues. www.livingbetterat50.com. Retrieved 2015-03-12. 28 January 2013
- ↑ Baby, boomers. Baby boomer today. www.history.com.