The Baby Boomers were born between 1946 and 1964, so the baby boomers’ age range in 2023 is between 77 and 59 years old.
Why are they called baby boomers?
Their name comes from the high birth rate after World War II (1939-1945), determined by the economic boom in the United States and Western Europe.
Baby boomers enjoyed a period of economic growth during their youth and early adulthood and invented the hippie movement
Baby boomers characteristics
So, what are the typical characteristics of baby boomers?
They grew up in a completely different world than the one that surrounds us now. Their childhood and youth were during the welfare state, and they faced the first financial crisis in 1973.
The geo-political world was also very different back then; they witnessed the Vietnam War, the revolutions in some third world countries, while they spent the first half of their life with the political unrest that meant the cold war. This gave birth to some cultural expressions which became classics nowadays and witnessed the first moon landing on TV.
Some of them protested in the ’60s against the Vietnam War, and they were part of the hippie movement. This was the time of the psychedelic experiments, free love and, definitely impactful for the future generations, female liberation.
Many Baby Boomers are working or plan to work past 65 years old, and some of them do not intend to retire at tall, which means that they are still significant in the workforce, primarily since some high-rank corporate positions are being held by those who have acquired them after a long term career.
They are the wealthiest generation so far (and by far). Compared to the millennials, they married seven years earlier (age 23), owed a house and had kids earlier too, which can be explained because their average actual labor earnings were about 25% higher.
Parents to the millennials, Baby Boomers are accused of having “stolen” some rights and benefits which they very much enjoyed, such as access to education, secure jobs after graduating and home-owning, among others. There is quite a clinch between both generations, accusing each other of selfishness and being narcissistic.
Baby Boomers and tecnology
The technology that surrounded the Baby Boomers in the first half of their lives was not more than landline phones, printed newspapers and books, TV (first black and white and later color).
They listened to music on vinyl, followed by the cassettes and only by their midlife did they saw the VHS and the cable TV.
Baby Boomers adapted to personal computers by half of their lives and later on to mobile phones and wi-fi, but their technology and entertainment consumption behavior remains very different compared to younger generations.
Who are the most famous baby boomers?
Some colossal rock and pop names come from their generation, such as the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, or Jimmy Hendrix.
Baby boomers enjoyed economic growth during their youth and early adulthood and invented the hippie movement.
With all this being said, they shaped the world as we know it today, and they still hold key political positions. For example, the last four presidents of the United States, including Donald Trump, are all Baby Boomers, while there has not been one Gen-Xer American president.