the Baby Boom
Generation evolution continues....
Both the baby boomers and Generation Y are very large generations and as such have great impact on their society. Baby boomers number about 78 million people while Generation Y is not far behind at about 71 million. While baby boomers may be classified as the alpha boomers and Generation Jones, Generation Y is also called the group of echo boomers or millennials. Large generations tend to have larger impacts on society and the economy than do smaller ones. In the case of the baby boomers and Generation Y, large size is one of the characteristics they share in common.
In fact, Generation Y members are sometimes referred to as “echo boomers.” Many of the members of Generation Y are the children of the baby boomers, or in some cases even their grandchildren.
To begin with, baby boomers are defined as the children of the great postwar baby boom that occurred from 1946 until 1964 when the birth rate again declined. Baby boomers are currently the largest segment of American population representing about 28% of the total number. They are sometimes further subdivided into the first half and the second half of the baby boom.
Once the first group was simply called baby boomers or just referred to as the first cohort of the baby boom. Now some are beginning to refer to this group who are now between 55 and 64 years old as “alpha boomers.” They include many powerful figures in business, government and entertainment. Examples are former President Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, entrepreneur Donald Trump, and accomplished actress Susan Sarandon.
The second cohort of baby boomers who are in their mid forties to early fifties are also known as the Jones Generation. This name derives from author and journalist Landon Jones who is given credit for coining the term baby boomer in the first place. Perhaps the most notable member of the Jones Generation is the first African-American elected to the Unites States presidency, Barack Obama, who was born in 1961.
There is some debate about when to start the birth date range for Generation Y. Some use the date 1977 to separate the Generation Y group from Generation X which fell between them and the baby boomers. Others use as late a date as 1982, but the simplest is to include all those born in the 1980's and 1990's. This fits well with another nickname for this generation, the millennials.
Generation Y also reflects an increase in birthrate in the United States. This generation numbers about 71 million people, closely rivaling the approximately 78 million baby boomers. Some of them are children of Gen X parents, and some are children of baby boomers as well, reflecting a trend to start or enlarge families well into the thirties and forties.
Both the baby boomers and Generation Y have been heirs to explosions in technology and both groups have seemed to embrace them and exploit them. While the baby boomers witnessed the birth of the computer age, Generation Y has never known anything else. Called the most “plugged in” generation ever, it is likely that Generation Y will be leaders in the further development of computer technology.