What is a Baby Boomer?

What is a Baby Boomer Anyway?

We tend to use the term, baby boomer, to refer to middle aged people these days. But what, exactly, is a baby boomer? You may be very surprised to know that this issue generates some debate.

Baby Boom: After WWII, the returning soldiers tended to start their post-war lives. This met an increase in weddings. This lead to an increase in babies. So the baby boom usually refers to the post-war increase in families in the US, UK, Australia, and Canada. There was also an increase in the birth rate in Russia (Sputnik Generation), and in Western Europe. Being an American, I think that most of us tend to think of the baby boom as a US thing, but it really spread over much of the world.

Birth Years of Baby Boomers : Here is where the debate starts. The term has been applied to babies who were born between 1946 and 1964, but this is an 18 year spread. Technically, a baby born in 1946 could grow up and have a child in 1964. So would the offspring of a baby boomer also be considered a baby boomer?

Some people think that the cut-off date should be 1959, which would only allow for a 13 year spread. Some people have given the name, Generation Jones, to those born in the early 1960′s. This comes from the expression, Keeping up with the Jones’s. So that would make President Obama a member of Generation Jones. John Lennon would be considered to old because he was born in 1940.

Famous Baby Boomers: We do get to keep Michael Jackson, Bill Clinton, George W Bush, and Rush Limbaugh. So you can see that you cannot really stereotype the political views or outlook of boomers, even though some people do try.

Baby Boomer Jokes: These days, boomer jokes seem to turn out to be jokes about middle age or growing older. But yes, for any of you younger people reading this, The World was in Black and White!

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