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Statistics about Baby Boomers are used for many purposes.  Health care professionals use them to predict future needs and to plan for hospital growth.  Drug companies use them to determine the amounts and types of pharmaceuticals that will be in demand.  Carmakers use them to study the types of cars that will be popular and the features that would be helpful in the future.  In fact, all marketing professionals use them so their products will appeal to this large segment of the population.  These statistics show:

• Baby boomers make up 28% of the American population. (U.S. Census)
• The first baby boomer turned 60 on January 1, 2006.
• An American turns 50 every 7 seconds - that’s more than 12,500 people every day. (U.S. Census)
• As of 2009, people who are 48 years of age represent the largest age group in the United States. (U.S. Census)
• By 2015, those aged 50 and older will represent 45% of the U.S. population. (AARP)
• By 2030, the 65-plus population will double to about 71.5 million, and by 2050 will grow to 86.7 million people. (U.S. Census)
• Of the 72 million family households in the U.S., 34 million of them are baby boomer households. (MetLife Mature Market Institute)
  · A 50-year-old female can expect to live 82.5 years; a male 78.5 years. (The National Center for Health Statistics)

Baby Boomer attitudes have changed from that of their elders for many reasons.  The information super highway has certainly contributed to their knowledge and they are more aware of everything from politics to religion to sex. Their generation expected to do well and to change the world.  They are far more interested in the world around them than younger generations and more apt to be concerned.   *When the parents of boomers in the 70s were asked to compare their sense of personal responsibility to that of their children (boomers), 86% said their children had less of a sense of personal responsibility. But, half (51%) of boomers today disagree that they have less of a sense of personal responsibility compared to other generations. Again, the gap is narrowed in comparisons of boomers now versus their children. Over seven in ten of both boomers now and their children agree that young people have less of a sense of personal responsibility compared to other generations.

It appears that Baby Boomers feel much differently than their children about many things.  They feel their children and especially their grandchildren have far less respect for others than they do.  That includes respect for teachers, respect for their parents, authority, government and employers.  They also fear their children and grandchildren are less honest than they are.  It can be argued that it’s a generational debate because each generation has felt that way, however, the younger generations tend to agree with the Baby Boomers.  They also feel that their Baby Boomer elders have more respect and are more honest than they are.  On the other hand, Baby Boomers feel they keep up to date on modern trends and their children and grandchildren disagree.  It seems the more things change, the more they stay the same!

**This article is the property of SeniorMobiles.com and may not be quoted or recopied without permission

*Written by Curt Davies and Jeff Love, AARP Knowledge Management
August 2002
©2002 AARP