Everyone has heard of the “Baby boom” generation, defined as those born between 1946 and 1964. The grouping was arbitrarily chosen by measuring the birth rate when it shot up in 1946 and concluding it ended as the birth rate declined- marking 1964 as the end. 1964 was “the end” only because it marked when the high birth rate of the boom was finally in sharp decline – which coincided with the widespread availability of the “birth control pill”. Thus, the period selected is mostly arbitrary.
The “Baby Boom” is the ONLY “generation” designated by the US Census. All other generation labels “X”, “Millennial”, “Gen Z”, etc, were popularized by the Pew Research Center and other media groups. Traditionally, a generation is 20 years but in generation labeling they vary from 13 to 27 years! Pew Research now discourages use of the generation labels, finding they are used today primarily to divide and pit groups of people against one another. The variation within each generation is sufficiently large that the idea of “common” features sort of falls apart.
(See How we plan to report on generations moving forward | Pew Research Center – Pew is now moving away from the generation labels because of problems including the use of arbitrary labels to create division among people).
Here is the “baby boom” – the big post WW2 bump shown in this U.S. fertility rate over time, chart. They arbitrarily picked 1946 for the start, and 1964 for the end.
This grouping is bogus, however. The purpose of creating a group label is to identify common characteristics – mostly for marketing purposes. However, there is little in common with those born early in this period and those born late.
Not surprisingly, there is another characterization based on common characteristics – and it inserts a new generation label between the “Baby boom” and “Generation X” and calls it “Generation Jones”. The name comes from the tail end of the “baby boom” group trying hard to keep up with those who came before, hence “keeping up with the Joneses”. As you can see from the fertility rate chart, those at the tail end of the “baby boom” entered a work world filled with plentiful supply of new, young workers – and whose upward mobility was hindered by the first half of the baby boom filling many of the positions.
Here is a population pyramid for 1984 showing the now older “baby boom” as a large cohort from about age 18 to upper 30s, all competing with one another for jobs and promotions.
Researchers point out that those born early in the “baby boom” have distinct memories of such things as the first satellites launched into space, the first human launched into space, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King and RFK. Those born at the end of the so-called “Baby boom” remember none of these issues. (I have only a very vague memory of seeing a photo of the JFK funeral train – but this may be from years later – no memories of the MLK assassination, and a vague memory of the RFK assassination)
These “big issues” occurred at a point in our child and youth development where they created not only memories, but ways of viewing the world around us. Those born at the beginning of the Baby Boom had different lives than those born at the end. A side effect is those born at the end are still called Baby Boomers yet have far more in common with the following generation X than “their” generation.
It is easy to see how someone invented the 18-year Baby Boom generation concept based solely on birth data – but it fails to capture commonality between early and later members of the group.
I am at the very tail end of the Baby Boom and never felt connected to those who are 10-20 years older than me, and whose lives and careers grew forward in a different world than mine.
Much more on Generation differences of the 60’s/70’s/80’s and today: The “Boomers” versus “Gen Z” today: the 60s/70s vs today – Coldstreams
