10 Curious Things About Baby Boomers

Baby Boomers are a curious bunch. And by "curious" I mean "unexpected," not "inquisitive."

After a recent survey of 26,000 Boomers, Mediamark Research called those born between 1946 and 1964 - which includes me - an "optimistic group." But are we optimistic - or just delusional?

Almost 4 in 10 Boomers say they think they and their household will be better off financially one year from now. Moreover, close to 90 percent say they think they themselves will be financially "better off" or "the same" one year from now (via MarketingCharts).

We vote. We play the lottery. We sign petitions. We exercise.

We stuff our garages with cars and our newly remodeled houses with giant screen TVs.

But, interestingly, many of us have no medical insurance. In fact, a fairly large chunk of Boomers are potentially unprotected financially should they face serious medical issues: Almost one-quarter carry no insurance at all.

And while more than 40 percent of us say that "preserving the environment" is a very important guiding principle in our lives, we nonetheless own a lot of cars (35.6 percent of us live in households with 3 vehicles or more).

Boomers, now age 43 to 61, make up over one-third of the US population, representing a total income estimated to be well over $900 billion. Our economic optimism fuels a lot of spending: Baby Boomers spend more money disproportionate to our income than previous generations, says BabyBoomer magazine.

In its survey released this week, Mediamark said that 55 percent of Boomers say they voted in a federal, state or local election. Almost one-third (30.8 percent) undertook a home-remodeling project; and 41 percent say they played the lottery.

Here's a fuller picture:

So here's what I wonder: Are Baby Boomers optimistic or delusional? Or maybe, are we optimistic to our own detriment?

Do we think we'll never get sick? Do we give money to the environmental causes without downsizing our vehicles?

And, are we approaching the voting booth with the same sort of hopeful resignation as when we buy a scratch ticket?

Comments

[TangerineToad]

Whenever I read these generational research studies, I have to wonder whether it's generation-specific or age-specific.
In other words, aren't people in their 50s prone to own more cars because they're wealthier, more established and likely to be in a situation where they have older children (who can drive) living at home.
Which has nothing whatsoever to do with the Baby Boom.

@Ann: If it makes you feel better, William Strauss and Neil Howe, in their seminal work on GenX, "13th Gen: Abort, Retry, Fail" define Gen X as starting in 1961 - their theory was that anyone too young to remember the Kennedy assassination was too young to be a Boomer. Doug Coupland, who came up with the term "Generation X" also originally intended it to refer to those born in the early 1960s. I remember that reading these made me feel better, since as someone born during those years, I'd never felt any connection to baby boomers. Now that may be because I am the oldest child in my extended family, but still, I feel they raise many valid points.

[EinChicago]

Anyone born 1961-1965 is a baby boomer and trying to cast themselves as a Gen X or Gen X as anything older than those born after the summer of love/1969 is truly delusional and really proves the point of this column about Baby Boomers being delusional.

No way is Gen X any younger than those born in late 1969 onwards. And that's reeeeeeeaaaally pushing it.

[curiousasheck]

Boomer Kids

"Mommy says Daddy is a idiot."
"Dad says mommy should cook dinner for us."
"Dad is never home."
"Daddy says mommy is never home."
"When's mom coming?"
"When's dad coming?"
"Why are they always late?"
"Did mommy forget to get me?"
"If they don't come, can I stay with you?"

[Tim Berry]

Now you've got me (a 48er) wondering how we compare to the old idea that normal people lean politically left at age 20 and right at age 50. I also wonder how many of us who were on the streets protesting the war in 1970 are protesting the war today, and if so, how?

Remember the fear of what we called "selling out" back in the late 1960s? How would we do on that scale today? Did we sell out?

I also question the facts. Answers to polls aren't facts. They tell us what people chose to say to the pollster, not what they really think. much less do.

[CaliforniaDrySherry]

As one born in the very center of the goat in the snake's belly that is an old analogy for the baby boom, when I look around at my peers what I see are ... blinkers. There's just so much they don't want to think about these days, so most of them don't. I call it "willful ignorance." It's not really unique to our generation; frankly, it's much more pronounced in most of our parents. It probably has something to do with the waning of our youthful feelings of immortality.
Personally, I waved goodbye to cynicism a few years ago when I progressed to total pessimism, and am now an avowed fatalist. My belief is that if there's still a human species alive on earth in 500 years, it will be countable in thousands rather than billions.
But cheer up! None of us will be around to see it!

[Mack Collier]

"Our economic optimism fuels a lot of spending: Baby Boomers spend more money disproportionate to our income than previous generations, says BabyBoomer magazine."

I would guess that figure has only gotten more disproportionate with each successive generation as credit has become much easier to gain.

[MrLion]

Ann Handley asked, "are we approaching the voting booth with the same sort of hopeful resignation as when we buy a scratch ticket?"

Short answer: No. At least when you play the lottery, there's a finite chance of winning.

[Ann Handley]

Ah yes -- good point!

[skeptical2]

I don't think baby boomers are optimistic at all. They have actually taken more interest, as a group, in the climate crisis and the Iraq war than their elders or children.

According to your facts, almost 60% think they will not be better financially one year from now. Regarding vehicles, 65% don't own three or more vehicles (and the ones that do probably have teenagers). The better question is how many miles are traveled each year for each car.

Boomers do overspend as a group and will pay for it in their later years. The medical insurance problem is a major issue facing all Americans.

[mommadona]

You've missed the "parallel universe" paradigm here.

You are lumping the koolaide drinkers in
with the reality-based.

There's a television ad for a home-loan company that shows a man listing off all his "life"...
"I have a lovely home, and a brand new car, and I even belong to my local golf club...

and, as he's busily riding his lawn mower over his lovely green lawn....he states

"AND I AM IN DEBT UP TO MY EYEBALLS-WON'T SOMEBODY HELP ME?"

Now - THAT'S a KoolAide drinker.
The rest of us have "gotten" it.
And we are NOT happy campers.

[wldnswmmr]

If you add up all those qualities, doesn't one adjective come to mind (and I say this as someone born in 1948)? That adjective is immature. Everything you write about reflects the great Boomer narcissism of irresponsibility. Let the future take care of itself, assume you'll always be healthy, be fatalistic about your life. It's how our generation has helped to run the national debt through the roof, driven the average family savings rate below zero and mortgaged the national infrastructure to foreign creditors, all while consuming like crazy and using more energy per person than any nation on Earth. "Baby" Boomers indeed.