Baby Boom

The American baby boom was an increase in births from 1946- 1964. This was a result of the post- war boom as servicemen were coming home after World War II to a new life. The increase in children and the number of veterans coming back home to their jobs encouraged many women to give up their jobs and become housewives. During this period the United States was a powerful and prosperous nation, thus an optimal time for American men and women to relax,  start a family, and move to Suburbia, which would provide the perfect environment to raise children. As a result, the baby boom also promoted the growth of Suburbs.

 At the time of the baby boom around 77 million people were born in the United States. In 1946, the birthrate went up 13% with 3.4 million children born that year and eventually it reached a peak of 4.3 million in 1957. Throughout the baby boom, the birthrate averaged out to approximately 4  million per year through 1964. However after 1964, the birthrate started to significantly decrease  and continued to until 1977 when the early boomers started having kids.

As teens and young adults, the baby boomers were described as restless and disobedient compared to the generations previous.They participated in movements for women’s rights, human and civil rights, abortion, and in addition, many also expressed their dislike for the Vietnam War especially because a large amount of baby boomers were being drafted for the war. At the height of the war about 31% of male baby boomers ages twenty to twenty- one had to serve in the military. The baby boomers were also the first generation of teens and kids with greater ability to consume.  In fashion, many new non- traditional styles were being introduced such as mini skirts, bell bottoms, and “relaxed fit” jeans. These new fashions were  considered rebellious and not as modest as the clothing from the years and decades before.

Nowadays, as the baby boomers are getting older and starting to retire the number of people working compared to the number of retirees is much less. Therefore, it is expected that by 2019 social security will provide 70 percent of people’s retirement funds at the lowest income levels.  This will cause the current and future generations of working class people to pay more out of their taxes to help the retired boomers as 25 percent of baby boomers will also not have good savings to fund their retirement.

The baby boomers are and were a very opinionated group of people. Without them, much of our nation today would still be fighting for their rights and would be wearing attire from the 1950’s. They were an extremely influential generation for our nations history and developed a culture that helps define America.

By Vaishnavi Murthy and Lajuen Usui

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