Prepared by Elisabeth Lindsay.
Baby Boomer is the term applied to the generation of children born in the postwar years, generally considered the decade between 1945 to 1955 (although some suggest it extends to 1965), when the country experienced a higher than normal birth rate. For many years the "Boomers," as they are known, by their sheer numbers influenced marketing. Today, as the Boomers retire, much topic of discussion is their affect on the economy and how their retirement has been affected by the economy.
Although the naming of eras has been around for a long time, i.e. the Industrial Age and the Roaring Twenties, Baby Boomers may have been the first generation to have been named in its own age, but the trend continues. After the Boomers came the Beat or Beatnick generation, and Generation X, although generations may overlap, with their official titles and time periods debated. Today's generation has been referred to as the Entitlement Generation, although that name may not stick with current economic downturns creating a reality for generations young and old. A greater understanding of the naming of time periods and generations may help researchers better understand the social conditions of the age in which their ancestors lived, and in some cases appreciate their ancestor's role in defining their own generation.
