Baby Boomer Defined - 3 Ways To Identify Baby Boomers

A baby boomer is a person who was born during the post Second World War years, an age marked by an unusually high number of births and a rise in economic prosperity. An estimated 79 million babies are believed to be baby boomers.

In the United States, the term "baby boomer" also refers to people whose date of birth comes prior to the Vietnam war and after the Second World War. Therefore, baby boomers in America might belong to one or more generation. "Baby boom" is a special term that embraces not just the population, but also the American culture.

1. Classifying Baby Boomers

Baby boomers are classified in a number of ways. Steve Gallion, author of Boomer Nation, puts baby boomers into two categories: those born between 1945-1957 and "Shadow Boomers" born between 1958-1963.

Many people don't consider "Shadow Boomers" as an apt term to be used with reference to baby boomers. Instead, they prefer the term "Echo Boomers."

William Strauss and Neil Howe, authors of Generations, opine that those born between 1961 and 1964 impact political as well as cultural patterns, just like those born between 1955 and 1960.

The writers also mention a "thirteenth generation," called "Generation X" or the "generation of Cold War" referring to people born between 1961 and 1981.

Some are of the opinion that the generation of baby boomers originated during the Vietnam war. At the same time, many people believe that musical groups such as the Beatles, Hippies, and the Motown Sounds are characteristic of the age of the baby boomers.

2. Explaining the Baby Boomer Phenomenon

The Great Depression and the Second World War created great fear and uncertainty. A number of unmarried people were forced to put off their marriages. On the other hand, married couples had to delay giving birth to a baby.

After the Second World War, the economy of the country improved. The period between 1950 and 1960, marked as it was by economic prosperity, was the right time for the birth of a number of babies, which led to a "Baby Boom." Baby boom is also simultaneous with a boom in the construction of buildings such as houses, schools, and shopping malls.

The rise in population and the growth of families prompted mass migration of people from cities to suburbs during the years that following the Second World War. National culture also received an outlet as reflected in the appearances of baby boomers when they entered into their youth. The culture of the nation was defined by the way they dressed, wore their hair, their political ideology, and even the type of music they preferred.

As the baby boomers grew older, their purchasing power grew, and a variety of companies could make large profits. When they reached the age of retirement, the resources of the public were almost depleted.

3. Baby Boomers in their Old Age

We have an interesting assortment of highly educated, spoiled, lazy, immoral, hippie, and many more types of baby boomers. All of them are now aged fifty or above and can be considered as senior citizens.

According to the ABC News report of January 10, baby boomers have succeeded in redefining the term "aging." Compared to the generation that preceded them, baby boomers are better educated and healthy and have a unique passion for life. They are expected to live to a ripe old age of 80 or even beyond it.

Undoubtedly, the age of the baby boomers that began with a raised birth rate and a heightened economy during the post Second World War period is remarkable.

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Baby Boomers Defined - How They Impact Society

Despite adequate measures of birth control taken by couples and the increased education about population control sent out to the public, the aftermath of the Second World War and the relief over having survived the worst of it, lead to many persons working harder at building their lives around the new times.

The result of this was definite and sustained economic growth and consequently, it was easier to have babies and take care of them due to the directionally proportional sense of confidence and prosperity enjoyed by the generation of young couples at the time.

Babies born after WW-II, specifically between '46 to '64 were thus, termed Baby Boomers (since population was booming in every corner of the world) and the United States was foremost in the strong economies of the world, thus helped boost that of other countries, which resulted in a greater than expected boost for different nations. This did slow down after 1958, but it had already done a world of good, literally, to the financial status of many nations.

Baby boomers were further defined by the increased opportunities that were given to them by way of having been born in a time that bespoke economic growth and sustained success for parents who could, in turn, pass these on to the children so education was never a matter of struggle. Most baby boomers, thus, hold college degrees - some even double degrees and these highly qualified people have the cream of jobs available to them. They are therefore able to raise their families better, keep them in comfort if not entirely in luxury and also tend to be go-getters, in the best sense of the term.

However, many baby boomers, due to the fact that they are over-achievers in a way, tend to be domineering and bossy individuals who overshadow (and like to do so, too) others around them, sometimes without being conscious they are doing so; this is largely because they got too much, too soon. But, for these kinds of baby boomers, there is also a large percentage of relatively peaceful, gracious and social beings in the world of business too.

A deeper look into the life of baby boomers will have us know there is still another category within this unique, highly successful and free-spirited generation i.e. that of shadow boomers - babies born between 1958 and 1963 (also known as echo boomers). Close to 79 million of baby boomers were born during this time and were generally known to exhibit certain ethnicity and political patterns in their outlook and behavior. This lead most of them to being very hot-headed and argumentative and a newer generation followed them, tagged as Gen 'x'.

Hard to tag, difficult to handle and with set tastes in habits, holding strong opinions and exhibiting characteristic behavior patterns of leaders and winners, the baby boomers is a generation of the 60's that conflicted with parents on issues of fashion, politics, fine arts and drug use with their defiant stance of shunning accepted social norms.

It was this generation that popularized the phrase of not trusting anyone over 30 and threw light on a generation gap existing between them (the now generation) and the older lot (the old-timers). Rebels, revolutionaries and radicals all came under the baby boomer category that a common representative of the baby boomer generation would be the punk rock-star youngster, speaking of free love and power besides those flaunting established moral ideas as archaic.

On the whole, the term baby boomers applies to a generation that firmly believes in doing what they like, achieving what they want and being assertive about their needs - thanks to a high sense of prosperity and security.

Abhishek has got some great Baby Boomer Secrets up his sleeve! Download his FREE 97 Page Ebook, "All About Baby Boomers" from his website http://www.Senior-Guides.com/124/index.htm. Only limited Free Copies available.