Is a Baby Boomer Dangerous?

Carol Posted on February 19 2017

CONTRARY TO THIS CHILD'S BELIEF, A BABY BOOMER IS NOT A TYPE OF BOMB…

Last week I was visiting a friend who was babysitting her granddaughter and out of the blue the 7 year old asks, "Are baby boomers dangerous?" We had a great laugh and it got me thinking of how we take expressions for granted and it isn't until you see it through someone else's eyes that you understand how it can be misinterpreted. So this lead me to do a bit of research on the term Baby Boomers.

A boomer is someone that was born between 1946 and 1965. And, there are specific groups of them:

Boomers I or The Baby Boomers that where born between 1946-1954
Boomers II or Generation Jones that where born between 1955-1965

About Boomers I – The Baby Boomers

Boomers I, or The Baby Boomers, where born between 1946-1954. They are the second largest sector of our current population, with the Millennial’s recently passing them, as the largest living generation. The first Boomer segment experienced the Kennedy and Martin Luther King assassinations, the Civil Rights movements and the Vietnam War.

About Boomers II or Generation Jones

Boomers II, or Generation Jones, was born between the years of 1955-1965. This generation was a bit less government friendly, as they where post-Watergate and experienced various economic struggles, like the oil embargo of 1979. They also seemed to come in second, to the The Boomers Boomers when it came to the best best jobs, opportunities and housing – which by the way is also felt by Generation X.

What caused the Boom?

There are a few events that led to the baby boom explosion in 1946 – which created a large increase of population, in a short period of time. The main contributing events where:

The end of the war, which resulted in a feeling of future prosperity
The end of the depression, where people that where hesitant to have children, now felt comfortable to their grow families – again because of the hope of emerging prosperity

So with these two ingredients, you had a recipe for population boom, with the effects of plateauing about 1965. One of the main reasons for this, has to do with the birth control pill, which was approved in 1960 and became a very popular form of contraception, in 1965.

What effect did the boom have?

Over the next few decades the population growth (specifically in the Western world) was significant. What occurred was revolutionary. There were many things that changed during this time period. One of the most significant effects of the boom and changes in society, was the creation of the suburb. The suburb had some substantial effects. First, it moved people out of the city centers which helped to create ghettos. Second, it isolated women who at the time where not a big part of the working population.

But with change there are always new opportunities that can appear. One of the people that took advantage of the suburbs and what it had created was Brownie Wise. Brownie could be considered an innovative sales person that paved the way for other women to enter the workforce. She built the Tupperware brand and has an extremely interesting story.