Getting to know Baby Boomers

The Baby Boomers (born 1946-1965) were named because of the huge population rise in the post-war years. This generation took a broken post-war world and rebuilt it to reflect their own values. When they reached a certain life stage, the economy magically grew.  

Boomers might think that they had the golden touch, as they grew our economies, but not everything was due to their genius. Due to their sheer numbers, when they reached certain life stages, the markets grew. Car sales peaked when they learned to drive in the late-60s and 70s, homeownership was boosted in the 80s and the expansion of DIY shops and garden centres soon followed. By the 90s, everyone seemed to have a second home by the sea or in some countryside paradise in Tuscany.  

Their own childhoods made them tough and resilient. For many, their parents still lived with the trauma of war: scarcity. This had a direct effect on the way they developed. I hate to generalise, but I do experience many Boomers who are focused on doing, achievement and external measures of success, yet are unable to name the emotion they are feeling or the reason why they do what they do.  

I was once told that in the post-war years, everyone was healing their own personal pain so there was no point moping about, much better to get on with life, and this attitude is prevalent still.  

The Boomers were tasked with rebuilding a nation with little room for sentimentality or emotion. Their results and growth-orientated mindset enabled the Western world to dominate world economies and, for the most part, increase living standards. The right to live in freedom was what their parents had fought for, and now they fought for social, political and economic freedom in their own way.  

By the 1960s, as contraception became accessible to women, career options were broadened to all, and civil rights and human rights were pushed into the arena. They wanted to choose who to love, where to work and how many children to have. Women entered the workforce and gained control over their fertility, and soon the birth rate dropped.  

The 1970s were tough financially, but by the 1980s, things began to boom. The 1980s saw foreign holidays become the norm, and 2 car families and homeownership were common. Governments withdrew from industry and privatisation meant financial markets thrived.  

The Yuppie was born and all things involving wealth and greed were trendy. Everything was bright, bold, shiny and in your face, and the more you had the better. Seriously, I remember big hair, big shoulder pads and big smiles everywhere. The Boomers were having the time of their lives. Being raised in this era was, of course, going to influence the 80s kids and impact their values, beliefs and attitudes.