Just Who Are 'Baby Boomers?'

Michael Thompson, Contributing writer

World War II ended during 1945, and thus emerged the baby boomers, 76 million in all, born in the U.S. between 1946 and 1964.

When the men of the military came home, the ladies were waiting, the wedding bells chimed and the baby boom began

The era lasted for 18 years and ended when another war ignited, this time in Vietnam. Certainly the immediate post-World War II love explosion did not have so much staying power, but there were other reasons for the baby boom to endure. Manufacturing from the war economy had by and large cured the Great Depression. The automobile established newfound freedoms and suburbs emerged across the nation. This was a generation that felt good about having babies.

Just through sheer numbers, baby boomers flooded the public schools starting in the 1950s. Three of four American households had children in public schools during the Eisenhower years; today the ratio is one in four. Boomers then exploded upon the colleges and the labor market, during the 1960s and beyond. Many boomers remain vigorous, but the next emerging impact will be health care and Social Security.

How do we describe a baby boomer? To begin, maybe we don't. We are speaking about 76 million people, or 28 percent of America's population today, as explained in the online babyboomer.com magazine. We are speaking of a group that not only has exercised vast independence, but has carried out this independence amid the richest middle class ever known to mankind, controlling more than 70 percent of America's wealth. Baby boomers are diverse and often the subject of myth.

Possibly the largest myths are political, especially regarding early boomers who endlessly are portrayed as mainstays of a long-haired, free-love, anti-Vietnam generation that made 1968 a calendar year in history. In truth, a majority of young adults in '68 still supported the war in Southeast Asia, fearing the domino theory of Communist aggression. Racial attitudes were not exactly progressive; the segregationist George Wallace received his highest level of support from young white males.

This is the generation that pushed Ronald Reagan to the presidency and then Bush 41 and then Bush 43. Even Bill Clinton was often conservative in his presidential politics; his "liberalness" was more embodied in his personal lifestyle. A study by MetLife's Mature Market Institute indicates that two-thirds of baby boomers consider themselves politically conservative.

"Contrary to what most of us have believed about the baby boomers who came of age in the turbulent 1960s, the group is very much like the 'Silent Generation' that preceded them," says Dr. Sandra Timmermann, the institute's director.

Her research indicates that more than half of boomers are in their first marriages, that they have an average of two or three children, and that 78 percent have grandchildren. More than half will retire from full-time work between the ages of 62 and 65 and begin collecting Social Security, despite all of the talk of people working in longer careers.

More than eight in 10 boomers own their own homes, at an average value of $297,000, but nearly half are fearful that they have not fully prepared to pay health care costs. This issue will continue to emerge, because the U.S. Census estimates that the senior citizen population will nearly double by the year 2030.

Sources:

www.aaa.foundation.org/home/seniordrivers.com

www.babyboomer-magazine.com/news/165/ARTICLE/1207/2008-05-06.html

www.seniorjournal.com/NEWS/Boomers/2008/8-02-12-RetiringBabyBoomers.html