How Did The Baby Boom Affect The Economy

During the Great Depression and World War II many Americans delayed marrying and having children because of the poor economy. The number of marriages and births soared after the war. Many older couples who had delayed having children began having them when the war ended. This increase in births among both younger and older American couples created the Baby Boom Generation. This large group of people born in the U.S. from 1946 to 1964 amounted to 76 million children. Those born during this time make up approximately 36% of today’s population (Deutsch). What impact has this had on the economy? Read on to see how the baby boom generation has affected the economy and what will happen as they retire.

The Baby Boom generation has played a major key in the American economy over the past 50 years. More importantly over the past 30 years as these individuals have come to age and began leading society they have been the main driving force for the economy, “In their heyday, the boomers were an unprecedented economic force, pushing up rates of homeownership, consumer spending and, most important of all, employment. (Casselman 2014)”. This generation makes up a key number of population in today’s society. This paper will look at the positive and negative effects that the group has had in the American economy and how economists plan future projections from the impact of the group. Retiring age for this group has hit or is fast approaching is the economy set for a steep decline because of this or can it maintain status quo?

Throughout the 1960s there was a cultural phenomenon that started in the United States and spread like wildfire to multiple other cultures in the world. This phenomenon was also known as countercultures. This decade raised the 76.4 million Americans born during the baby boom generation. The babies of this boom entered their teen years during the 1960s and they definitely embraced a multitude new standards, dramatically different from the way their parents were raised. While some encompassed new ideals in dress, music and movies others joined countercultures and rebelled against the social norms with poetry, novels and art. Three of the most altering countercultures were the Hippies, the Sexual Revolution and the Gay Liberation.

To put into perspective who this aging population is and how they came to be reference is made to a generation called the baby boomers. These are individuals born between 1946 and 1964. They are called baby boomers because of the number of children born after World War II. It is estimated that the peak year for births in the United States was 1957 when over 50 million babies were born ( Aboukhadijeh, F, 2017 ). The prior generation was during the great depression in the United States and the age that came after still never rivaled the baby boomer generation. Statistical information sheds some light on how this age flourished compared to previous ones. The life expectancy rates had increased due to better medications, and the eradication of

The "Beat Generation" often considered hippies, punks, drug users and alcohol, libertines, etc., born between 1948 and 1962.

During the 50’s, culture became a major focus of Australia and began to take control of the country. There were many varieties of entertainment to appeal to the needs of all people of Australia. And if something became popular, television would help promote it. Television enters the living room

The decline of home births began in the 1900’s. at the start of the century 95% of births were at home, in 1938 Half of births took place at home, and by 1955 less than 1% of births took place at home. During the early 1900’s hospitals began a smear campaign to make women believe that midwives were unfit to bring babies into the world. Women continued to go to hospitals also, for the access to painkillers, and cleaner environment, and the access to trained doctors. Now that is the way things are done. However even with the influx of technology into the medical practise, the United States have some of the highest infant and maternal mortality rates of a first world country.

One graph is showing US birth rates, by the mothers age during the years 1990-2009. This graph shows that the largest growing age of a mother is 40-44 years. In 1990 it was about 5.2 thousand and in 2009 it shows it has grown to approximately 10 thousand women. Women in the age ranges of 25-29 years, 20-24 years, and 30-34 years have remained consistent during the 10 year period.

When researching what the factors can cause a baby boom, I have many factors that influence the birth rate to make a jump. But I decided to stay focused on America’s most famous baby boom following world war. This boom was seen from a combination of peace, prosperity and the homecoming of thousands of young men this created the baby Boomer generation, between 1946 and 1964 74.6 million babies were born to mothers in the U.S. As the economy boomed, the GI Bill also helped returning soldiers find affordable homes, solid jobs, subsidized education and vocational training. This gave them enough financial security to settle down and start families. However it is always difficult to pinpoint and give an exact science to a baby boom, but the one experienced

The offset that caused the baby boomer generation to create a culture was the Vietnam War. These young kids were upset because their older brothers and sisters were being drafted into the war and killed. They were hoping that they would make an impact by bringing peace and harmony at a harsh time. Uniting and bringing people together was one of their biggest goals. The hippies wanted to impact the world or at least try. At this time the biggest problem the hippies had was that Americans were forced to to fight in war against their morals. Martin Luther King JR helped opened people’s minds to also set off the hippie movement because he inspired people to stand up for what they believed in and to speak their mind.

Generation after generation have contributed to society and life some way or another; some more than others. The Baby boomer generation has had the most impact on the United States than any other generation. A Baby boomer is someone born between 1946 and 1964. They are considered to be too busy for neighborly involvement yet with strong desires to reset or change the common values for the good of all. They are optimistic, dream chasing and not satisfied with what they know and want more.

In 1950, the average number of children per woman was around 5 and in 2010 that number decreased by 50 percent to 2.5. The major contributor to this dramatic change was advancements in medicine (i.e. birth control). In 1950 the life expectancy of a child was forty-seven and in 2010 it went to seventy. One of the major contributors to this shift was lifestyle changes to healthier living (exercise, diet and less smoking) and advancements in medicine. With aging societies, there comes some potential negative implications to international stability and US national security.

The American hippie movement of the 1960s was strengthened by the increase of youth population. Many believe the official beginning of this cultural event started with the youth of the 1960's but it really started with their parents. In the late 1930s and early 1940s America was just coming out of a disheartening depression.(About the Great Depression.) America's unfortunate fate led them into another unlucky situation, World War II. Many youthful men and women joined the service, in fact over an estimated sixteen million total were sent into the war.( GI Bill History - U. S. Department of Veterans Affairs. ) In the late 1940s soldiers coming back at the end of the war were now onto the next stage of their lives and made families. This is what started the baby boomers. After so many hardships and losses the last thing anyone expected was an approximately seventy-six million babies born between baby boomer era of about ten to fifteen years. (BBHQ: Boomer Statistics. ) Many of these children had strict parents who had become disheartened from losing childhood

After World War II, the US economy took off, giving Americans the confidence in their ability to support a large family (Kimberly N. Kutz). During this eighteen year period over seventy-five million babies were

After World War II, the U.S. economy flourished. This was evident with production going up in general and with the increase in production and jobs came an increase in spending in the United States. Life was good. The United States growth between the 1940 and 1970 was 4%. This was largely due to the big spenders, the baby boomers. This era of growth came to a screeching halt in the late 1970’s with an