Baby boomer
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- For the video game, see Baby Boomer (video game).
| American Generations
| |
|---|---|
| Term | Period |
| Awakening Generation | 1701–1723 |
| First Great Awakening | 1727–1746 |
| Liberty Generation Republican Generation Compromise Generation | 1724–1741 1742–1766 1767–1791 |
| Second Great Awakening | 1790–1844 |
| Transcendentalist Generation Transcendental Generation Abolitionist Generation Gilded Generation Progressive Generation | 1789–1819 1792–1821 1819–1842 1822–1842 1843–1859 |
| Third Great Awakening | 1886–1908 |
| Missionary Generation Lost Generation Interbellum Generation G.I. Generation Greatest Generation | 1860–1882 1883–1900 1900–1910 1900–1924 1911–1924 |
| Jazz Age | 1929–1956 |
| Silent Generation Baby Boomers Beat Generation Generation Jones | 1925–1945 1946–1964 1948–1962 1954–1962 |
| Consciousness Revolution | 1964–1984 |
| Baby Busters Generation X MTV Generation | 1958–1968 1963–1978 1975–1984 |
| Culture Wars | 1980s–present |
| Boomerang Generation Generation Y Internet Generation New Silent Generation | 1977–1986 1979–1999 1988–1999 2000–2020 |
A Baby Boomer is someone who was born during the period of increased birth rates when economic prosperity rose in many countries following World War II. In the United States, the term is iconic and more properly capitalized as Baby Boomers and commonly applied to people with birth years after World War II (WW II) and before the Vietnam War, thus possibly comprising more than one generation. The Baby Boom is the iconic term widely used to refer to the American population and culture in particular, as post WW II demographics across the world did not mirror the sustained growth in American families over the same interval.
Contents |
[edit] Causes of the Baby Boom
A large part of the Baby Boom was an after effect of World War II where the bombed out cities and fractured economies increased the needs for goods and services in unprecedented peacetime amounts. Consequently, the Arsenal of Democracy switched gears and started cranking out goods and materials for export, as America supplied the "free world" with goods to rebuild their own economies. This led to an unprecedented bubble of vigorous economic growth that didn't slow down until 1958. Furthermore, in the U.S. the G.I. Bill enabled record numbers of individuals to attend college and obtain, perhaps in most cases, the second college degree in their extended families. This led to an increase in education and granted higher incomes to families allowing them the resources to produce more children.
[edit] Definition
To date, there are various designations for the beginning of the Baby Boomer generation. In his book, Boomer Nation, Steve Gillon breaks Baby Boomers into two groups: Boomers, born between 1945 and 1957; and Shadow Boomers born between 1958 and 1963. In some cases the term Shadow Boomer is incorrectly applied to the children of the Baby Boomers. However this group is more accurately referred to as Echo Boomers.[2]
William Strauss and Neil Howe, in their book Generations, include those conceived by soldiers on leave during the war, putting the generation's birth years at 1943 to 1960. Howe and Strauss argue that persons born between 1961 and 1964 have political and cultural patterns very different from those born between 1955 and 1960 and fit into what those writers term the Thirteenth Generation or Generation X (also known as the Cold War generation) born between 1961 and 1981. As the influence of Strauss and Howe has grown, a smaller number of people still accept Baby Boomers as including those born after 1961, although there are some who put the dates at 1946 to 1963 because of the number of significant "Gen-X" figures born in 1964. There were over 79 million babies born during that generation.
It can be argued that the defining event of early baby boomers was the Vietnam War and the protest over the draft, but it would be certainly correct to say it was the generation of The Beatles, The Motown Sound, Beats and Hippies. Conscription in the United States ended in 1973 so anyone born after 1955 was not subject to the draft. This argues for a ten year range 1946 to 1955 and this would fit the thirtysomething demographic covered by the TV show of the same name. This means that those born in the years 1956 to 1965 would be Generation X in the late 1980s and would be twenty something as a response. On the other hand, if the gross number of births were the indicator, there would be no reason for 1964 to be the ending year as the number of births did not decline in 1965. The choice of 1964 as the end date may not have been set by a demographer but by more popular writers and the source of the 1964 year has not been pinned down yet. The entire controversy over naming and dating between the boomer and the Gen X cohorts could be explained by noting that the boomer years of 1946-64 is too long for a cultural generation yet may still mark a period of increased births while the cultural disaffinities of those born after 1957 (thereby missing the draft and being too young to be part of the 1960s) could be captured by the Gen X of Douglas Coupland, the term "X" has itself been transformed to cover a later cohort.
[edit] Characteristics
Baby boomers presently make up the lion's share of the political, cultural, industrial and academic leadership class in the United States. Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, born within sixty days of each other in mid-1946, are the first and second Baby Boomer presidents, and their careers in office illustrate the wide, often diverging spectrum of values and attitudes espoused by this largest American generational group to date. To date, baby boomers also have the highest median household incomes in the United States.[1]
The second boomer generation (late boomer, early gen Xer's) are still in their forties, and many have yet to "leave their mark upon history," a desire that drives most leaders of this generation. Patterns of history for Idealist generations suggest that Boomers will have a long tenure of political office and cultural influence, as was true for the Awakeners of Benjamin Franklin and Samuel Adams, the Transcendentals of Abraham Lincoln and Walt Whitman, and the Missionaries of Franklin Delano Roosevelt and George Catlett Marshall.
Leaders of this generation tend to reevaluate their lives in midlife, and many focus desperately on the successes and failures of their children. Increasingly, the tendency to "micromanage" the lives of their children is expressed in this generation to a significant degree; and this generation's tendency to regulate personal behavior (as in alcohol and drug use and the content of cultural creations) is arguably more stern than that of the "uptight" adults that Boomers knew during the Consciousness Revolution that Boomers experienced around 1970. As an example, Boomers may have not gone so far as Missionaries did in attempting to outlaw alcoholic beverages, they have been in the forefront of efforts to attack the pathologies (drunk driving, domestic abuse) of drunkenness and drug use. Boomer prosecutors have shown unusual willingness to impose severer sentences upon criminal offenders, including "three strikes" laws and the death penalty.
Boomers have played a strong role in attempts to make America more overtly religious. Many have turned to fundamentalist Christianity as a solution to what they see as social rot. Many prefer religion over science wherever any doctrinal conflict appears; thus one finds a rise in creationist dogma and the promotion of prayer in public schools to an extent not known since the time of the Scopes Trial.
[edit] Impact on History and Culture
[edit] Government Movers and Shakers
The Boom Generation has, as of 2006, had two U.S. Presidents:
- 1946 Bill Clinton, 1993-2001
- 1946 George W. Bush, 2001-incumbent
It is estimated that the Boom Generation will hold a plurality in Congress until 2015, the White House until 2021, and will have a majority in the Supreme Court from 2010 to 2030.
Non-U.S. peers of the Boomers include U2 frontman Bono, Daniel Ortega, Charles, Prince of Wales, Tony Blair and former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
In light of the generation gap and the poor state of the environment, social security, etc., Andrew Smith, in his novel "Moondust," said that Baby Boomers have the unique distinction of pissing off both their parents' and their childrens' generations.
[edit] Famous People
The Boom Generation has had many influential pop-culture icons including:
- Robert Plant, Lead Singer-Led Zeppelin, b. 1948
- Michael Jackson, American Singer, Entertainer, b. 1958
- James Hetfield, Guitarist, lead singer-Metallica, b. 1963
- Madonna, American Singer, Entertainer, b. 1958
- John Bonham, Drummer-Led Zeppelin, b. 1948
- Anthony Kiedis, Lead Singer-Red Hot Chili Peppers, b. 1962
- Howard Stern, satellite radio disc jockey, b. 1954
- Gene Simmons, Bassist, Vocalist-Kiss, b. 1949
[edit] Cultural Influences
Their cultural endowments have included the following:
- Doonesbury (cartoonist, Garry Trudeau b. 1948)
- All the President's Men (book, Bob Woodward b. 1943 and Carl Bernstein b. 1944, later a movie)
- Forrest Gump (film, Robert Zemeckis b. 1952)
- Steve Jobs b. 1955 (Co-founder of Apple Computer, founder of Next Computer)
- The Color Purple (Alice Walker b. 1944)
- Cathy (cartoonist, Cathy Guisewite b. 1950)
- "American Pie" (song, Don McLean b. 1945)
- Saturday Night Live (television show)
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (film, Steven Spielberg b. 1946)
- Thirtysomething (television series)
- Vietnam Veterans Memorial (Maya Lin b. 1959)
- Do the Right Thing (film, Spike Lee b. 1957)
- The Wonder Years (television series)
[edit] United Kingdom Booms
This term is less used in the United Kingdom, partly because the pattern of birth rates was different. There was a sharp post-World War II peak in 1947, when more babies were born than in any year since the post-World War I peak in 1920. There was then a decline, followed by a broader but lower peak in the 1960s. Thus British baby-boomers are younger than their American counterparts, and had not risen to such prominence when the term was coined. The two peaks can clearly be seen in UK population pyramids.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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[edit] External links
- BBC report on pensioners
- The Baby Boom and the Future of the Economy
- Turning 60
- USA Today story on Kathleen Casey, the 1st baby boomer
- Excerpts from Boomer Nation on Plymouth State University Website
- Baby boomer generation UK community based website.
- Aging Hipsters US Boomer blog & Forum.
- Heyday Not-for-profit UK community based site.
- I Remember JFK A Baby Boomer's Pleasant Reminiscing Spot.
| Preceded by: Silent Generation 1925 – 1942 (Strauss & Howe) | Baby Boomers 1943 – 1960 (Strauss & Howe) | Succeeded by: Generation X 1961 – 1981 (Strauss & Howe) |
sk:Generácia Baby boomers sr:Беби бум генерација sv:Baby Boomer
