The documentary that we watched in class mentioned the post World War II Baby Boom, but didn't go into a whole lot of detail.
The Baby Boom was possibly the greatest population changing event in American history, and began almost exactly nine months after the war ended (you can probably figure out why). 1946 saw the most babies born in American history: 3.4 million, which was a 20% increase from 1945. The trend continued upwards, and at least four million babies were born every year from 1954 to 1964. The beginning of that phase just so happens to correspond with the end of the Korean War. The year that the Boom peaked, 1957, saw over eight babies born per minute. The influx of young people was so large that by the end of 1964, 40% of the population (over 76 million) were Boomers.
The Boomers, aside from being known for their numbers, are known for their achievements in advances. Socially, the headed up much of the Women's Liberation movement, were the main protestors of the Vietnam War, and were a big part of the hippie movement (but we'll get to all of that later in the year). Technologically, Baby Boomers are credited with most of the innovations regarding computers and digital technology; it's thanks to them that Silicon Valley is Silicon Valley.
In the end, we'll spend many weeks later in the year learning about what those born in the Baby Boom did as adults, but it's interesting to realize how great a change they were part of just by being born.
Sources:
http://www.history.com/topics/baby-boomers
http://www.cnn.com/2013/11/06/us/baby-boomer-generation-fast-facts/
I think it's also interesting to note the "echo boom" that Mr. Stewart briefly mentioned. According to a source I found, there were 80 million echo boomers. They are also called "Generation Y" or "Millennials." This group is actually larger than the baby boomers (who accounted for about 72 million people). If you Google "Echo boomers" it's interesting to see what the news is saying about them. One article I found claimed that "Echo Boomers Will Save the US Economy." I wonder if older generations had such faith in the original Boomers, especially because of the significant generation gap that Mr. Stewart mentioned today in class.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cbsnews.com/news/the-echo-boomers-01-10-2004/
http://theechoboom.com/2010/09/the-echo-boom-statistics/
It's also kind of cool to think that many people of our age are included in this generation. But, many of us, the people with younger parents, are part of the next generation, dubbed Gen Z.
DeleteIntrigued after reading your comment, Julia, I did a simple google search on "echo boomers" and found a very interesting article about how "echo boomers will save the economy". The basic principle is that as the echo boomers age, they will fuel the economy by investing, buying stock, and spending. There are 80 million of them, as you said, Julia, and each and every one of them is helping increase the national income!
ReplyDeleteI'd encourage all of you to check it out: http://www.businessinsider.com/echo-boomers-will-save-the-us-economy-2013-2
Now coming back to this, imagine if we were part of the baby boom. Coming to colleges and applying to them would have been so much easier. All these stress levels would have never been a problem in the first place. It's just insane what these colleges expect out of us. Applying to colleges would have been amazing, but is it worth missing the technology boom we are in at a young age. Just thinking about applying to Stanford at that time would have been amazing!
ReplyDeleteNow coming back to this, imagine if we were part of the baby boom. Coming to colleges and applying to them would have been so much easier. All these stress levels would have never been a problem in the first place. It's just insane what these colleges expect out of us. Applying to colleges would have been amazing, but is it worth missing the technology boom we are in at a young age. Just thinking about applying to Stanford at that time would have been amazing!
ReplyDelete