The Effects Of The Baby Boomers Age

By Morgan Lee


The Baby Boomers are generally defined as the generation born between 1946 and 1964. The corresponding demographic of post-World War II is commonly described as "the American High" which refers to the country's prosperity and optimism in the years following the war. Today, about twenty-five percent of America's population was born in the baby boomers age.

Statistically, the baby boom began in 1946, about one year after the end of World War II. Its sudden occurrence was the result of a large number of U. S. Soldiers and military employees returning home from the war, eager to return to their home lives and start their families. In January of 1946, there were about 223,000 births in the United States; by October, nine months later, the rate increased to nearly 340,000.

There were about thirty-two million births in the decade of the 1940s; this was an increase of 25% from the total count of the 1930s of about twenty-four million. In 1954, the highest annual birth rate in American history was reached at four million. In the following ten years - until 1965 - the annual rate never dropped below that number.

The late-1940s to the mid-1960s was a time of optimism and prosperity for America. The government passed the Serviceman's Readjustment Act (also known as the G. I. Bill) in 1944, which offered a wide range of benefits for returning veterans, including business loans, low-cost mortgages for homes, and payments for college tuition. It gave veterans excellent control over their personal finances, and the opportunity to establish prosperous post-war lives.

America was not the only country that felt this influence. Canada underwent a baby boom as well; Canadians define it as the timespan from 1947 to 1966. Here, the correlation between returning soldiers and a rise in births is obvious, as most Canadian soldiers came home about a year after America's soldiers.

European countries experienced this as well. The majority of the European countries involved in the war saw a dramatic increase in births between 1946 and 1948. Again, this generally corresponds to the years in which the majority of their veterans returned home.

The average human today from the baby boomers age is between 48 and 66 years old. Currently, the majority of this age range is either entering retirement or is already retired. The results are evident in our society; the science of gerontology is expanding greatly; Social Security is maintaining more business than it ever has before; and retirement homes in America are not only expanding, but are also increasing in numbers. In the 21st century's third decade, the 2030s, scientists expect a sudden decrease in our population, as the result of the demographic reaching the average life expectancy in America.




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