Baby Boom In The 1950's

Betty Friedan played a significant part in sparking the second-wave of feminism in the United States. Friedan authored The Feminine Mystique, which publicized women’s passive behavior and apathetic livelihood. In her novel, Friedan highlighted society’s partisan treatment against women based on their constrained living condition as a housewife. Friedan argued women’s growth potential had been restricted due to women’s glorification of family, loss of identity, lack of education, and misinterpretation of their gender role. Friedan conducted interviews and detailed women’s actions to support her assertion.

Lingering inequalities and other social trends from previous decades brought forth the modern feminist movement in the 1960s. These feminists campaigned for gender equality with causes such as equal pay for equal work, abortion rights, and social parity. In 1963, author Betty Friedan published The Feminine Mystique, which contained reports from a study conducted on female college graduates during the 1950s and early 1960s, which uncovered that most women labelled themselves exclusively as mothers and housewives, and were unsatisfied with the roles forced upon them. Friedan argued fervently that women needed to discover their own identities outside the roles of a wife and mother. Many believe that the arguments made in The Feminine Mystique marked the start of the modern feminist movement (Loveday, 1)

Due to economic security, the baby boom, and the "American Dream" suburbs grew in the 1950's. Our economy was the largest in the world at the time and we were becoming a largely consumerism based country. We even had enough money that the government helped pay half the loans of American Veterans through the GI Bill of Rights. That security was sure, the government would not offer to pay back so much money if they thought it would be necessary for every person (Doc 1). Home ownership rates went up by over 10% the first 10 years after WW2 (Doc 4). This was caused by a great rush of babies being born also known as the baby boom. These many children needed space to live, and suddenly, suburbs are born! With the money needed families could take

The economic uplift following the war led the country to become very affluent and caused a spike in birthrates, which came to be named the Baby Boom. “Take the 3,548,000 babies born in 1950. Bundle them in a batch, bounce them all over the bountiful land that is America. What do you get? Boom. The biggest, boomiest boom ever known in history” (Sylvia Porter; Babies Equal Boom). Such a drastic shift in demographic population unsurprisingly caused a lot of changes in society. . Baby boom culture for

After World War II, Americans experienced a time of rapid social change. American soldiers were discharged and returned home from the battlefields, hoping to find work and to get on with their lives. Marriage rate increased dramatically after the war. North American population experienced what is known as the “Baby boom” – an 18-year period of rapid population growth from 1946 to 1964. During this period, many children were born than in the same period before or after. During the post war years, the United States embarked on one of its greatest periods of economic expansion. Many Americans had enjoyed economic prosperity. However, the United States has changed since 1950.

After World War 2 as soldiers returned home they were looking to settle down, start families and make up for lost years caused by the war. This became known as the baby boom which first began in Canada in 1947 and lasted until 1966, it started later and lasted a couple years longer compared to the United States. This baby boom not only effected Canada then but continues to effect the country today and into the future. The baby boom effected Canada in many different ways, starting with how Canada’s demographics drastically changed in the early years of the boom. Another change was the economy which blossomed and, whose target audience were mainly the Boomers. The baby boomers are still affecting Canada today as they

The men and women in these families were very eager to start a new life and so the marriage rates started to increase and people wanted to have larger families. At this time, women would continue to have more children or have their first child. “Although an official definition of the baby boom does not exist, it generally describes a period of increased birthrates lasting from 1946 to about 1965” (Baby Boom). Women born between 1911 and 1912 would have an average of 2.9 children, whereas women born between 1929 and 1933 would have an average of 3. 3 children (Baby Boom).

For employees, the earning potential was reduced by the employers in order to adjust to the new workforce population. For consumers, the prices were increased because of the high demand for goods and services. This account was one of the changes that appeared in a newspaper article “Baby Boomers Are Still Reshaping U.S., but Now They're Middle-aged” written by Cheryl Russell which was published by Washington post in 1987. In his article, he says that “If there hadn’t been so many boomers entering the job market. Housing would be cheaper, the economy would do better in the 1970s and people would be making more money” (Russell 1987). In this quote, Russell provides his perspective on the changes that the boomer generation brought. He suggests that the boomer generation denied employers and the consumer the capabilities of earning more money on their jobs and the buying power consumers had before it was changed by the boomer

Because of the baby boom generation, they have caused a huge impact on the United States demographics. Results have shown that there is an increase of the median age, which means the population has gotten older. Results also show an increase of population in metropolitan and suburb areas of the older people. Baby boomers are called the first suburban generation, because their parents were the first to populate the suburbs during the postwar period. Thus, the older people may stay near these areas due to the fact that their parents resided there as well. The population changes of states were also analyzed. The states are most likely facing a population change due to the older people migrating after retirement. When comparing the states for

This phenomenon occurred almost exactly 9 months after WWII. Some historians like Landon Jones says,“the cry of the baby was heard across the land.” In 1946 3.4 million babies were born an all-time high for U.S., this was 20 percent more than in 1945. This change caused what is now known as the “Baby Boom.” The babies didn't stop there in 1947 another 3.8 million babies were born, then in 1952 3.9 million babies, and then they’re forward from 1954 to 1964 4 million babies were born each year. “By 1965 the cry of babies ended, leaving 76.4 million “Baby Boomers” living in the United States.[1]” “Baby Boomers” made up of 40 percent of the United States population.

Jobs were lost, prices were raised, and even after many government attempts, things were not getting better. However, during the war, jobs and wages increased to help wartime needs and the gap between the classes grew smaller. This brought the growth of a middle class. More and more Americans now “...were flush with funds for buying houses and otherwise establishing families” (Brands 69). Being able to buy homes, for many Americans, is a symbol for prosperity. During this time of economic stability for the majority middle class, families grew and these children, called Baby Boomers, grew up in this environment of hope. These children didn't have to face the hardship their parents did and were able to live better lives based on the current strength of the American economy. The rise in consumers meant the rise in demand, “Much of the economic activity revolved around the physical needs and wants of the Baby Boomers and their families” (Brands 71). With the hope of their parents and the will to strengthen the economy and social equality, this continued dream of success was carried on. The ideas of success greatly vary between the aforementioned modern take and the ideas of the

The fertility rates were around 122.7 children per 1,000 women, which was at a record high. This generation made its mark on history with the number of children produced in just a short matter of time. In the United States, there were about 79 million baby boomers living in the twentieth century. During World War II many women held off on their choice to have children. This caused the women to have their children after the war was over so the birth rates increased dramatically (MacUnovich, 2002). Also, with all of the social and economic changes, having more children and the choice to have a child was easier in a sense. The millennial generation was soon to come after the big baby boom because of the world

Prior to the war it was looked upon harshly for women to work outside their homes but when the country was desperate, social views quickly changed. Women shifted from domestic roles to labor roles and took the place of men once they had left for war. Once the war was over, men came back and quickly redeemed their jobs pushing women to move back to domestic roles. This quick shift left women psychologically changed. Once they got a taste of the working life, women were eager to rely on themselves. World War II gave women the opportunity to live the working life. This led to “The Feminine Mystique” written by Betty Friedan. More and more women hit the feminine track and began fighting for equality amongst gender. Therefore, World War II not only influenced and changed the roles of women during the time of the war, but also shifted the societal norms. These shifts still conflicted with the ideals of many Americans but gave women the confidence and determination to defend themselves and fight for gender equality. The ending result led to the feminist movement that still continues to advance and evolve

Feminists during this movement focused on “the typical social roles women were cast in and advocated for equal pay, sexual liberation, and breaking free from traditional gender roles” (Second). Countless organizations were created during this time period, allowing women to really fight against the oppression they faced for years. This wave was believed to have been sparked from The Feminine Mystique, a novel by Betty Friedan. While controversial, the novel really opened the conversation to what women’s roles were in and outside of their homes. Friedan argued that women through the twentieth century “neglected their own development in order to further the development of their husbands and children” and would “submerge their true identities for the sake of familial harmony” (Archer).

The baby boom of the postwar era is a real marvel to society for the simple reason that it has never happened before. Farber states that he is not sure exactly why the baby boom occurred; however, he implies that there were many factors leading to the occurrence of the phenomenon. During the 1950's seventy percent of women were married by the age of 24, and families were having an average of 3.8 children each. There are no records of a baby boom after World War I, nor were there any records of a baby boom after any major European wars. Therefore, the postwar baby boom was due to factors that had nothing to do with the war directly. It was perhaps that America was in a state of extreme prosperity, people had money, houses, back yards and appliances. They then felt it was a good time to settle down