Baby Boomers represent the 76 million people born between 1946 and 1964. They were born during the post World War II baby boom. They rejected and redefined traditional values. They are also the wealthiest, most active and have the most disposable income for food, apparel and retirement programs. They are retiring later in life due to the economic recession of 2008 but are living longer than any generation before them. Below, I break down the Baby Boomer generation across all aspects of their life, including consumerism, their values, their political views and employment status.
Facts About Generations Series
51 Of The Most Interesting Facts About Generation Z.
74 Of The Most Interesting Facts About Millennials.
44 Of The Most Interesting Facts About Generation X.
53 Of The Most Interesting Facts About Baby Boomers.
Baby Boomers and the economy
- Baby Boomers face present value lifetime costs for uncovered long-term care of $44,000. [PMC]
- 65% of Baby Boomers plan to work past age 65 or do not plan to retire and 34% plan to continue working for enjoyment, including 18% who want to stay involved and 16% who enjoy what they do. [Transamerica Center]
- 59% of Baby Boomers are unemployed and looking for work and 33% are employed and looking for work. [Future Workplace and Beyond.com]
Baby Boomer values
- 67% say that adult children have a responsibility to provide financial help to elderly parent in need compared to 84% of millennials. [Pew Research]
- 39% support same-sex married compared to 70% of millennials. [Pew Research]
- 90% are married and 49% were married between 18 and 33. [Pew Research]
- 17% don’t identify with one religion compared to 36% of millennials. [Pew Research]
Baby Boomers as employees
- 80% of Baby Boomers in their early 50s are in the workforce and a third of the oldest boomers are still working in some capacity. [Gallup]
- 67% of Baby Boomers are either not engaged or actively disengaged at work. [Gallup]
- 41% of Baby Boomers say workers should stay with an employer at least five years before looking for a new job. [Millennial Branding/PayScale.com]
- Baby Boomers are most likely to have the highest-paying jobs, including Chief Medical Officer (CMO) ($300,700), Psychiatrist ($215,200), and Aerospace Engineer ($122,800). [Millennial Branding/PayScale.com]
- 54% of Baby Boomers spend between 5 and 20 hours per week searching for a job. [Millennial Branding/Beyond.com]
- 87% of Baby Boomers choose job boards as the resource they turn to first in a job search. [Millennial Branding/Beyond.com]
- LinkedIn is the top choice of Boomers (29%) of social networking sites for job searching.[Millennial Branding/Beyond.com]
- 65% of Boomers feel like they suffer from age discrimination. [Millennial Branding/Beyond.com]
- For Boomers, the most important things they look for in a job are meaningful work (60%) and location (57%). [Millennial Branding/Beyond.com]
- 64% of boomers said they feel relevant to their company’s vision and mission. [Millennial Branding/Beyond.com]
- 67% said they’ve had enough training to become a leader at their company. [Millennial Branding/Beyond.com]
- 61% of Baby Boomers say that Boomers are the most capable of leading organizations. [Millennial Branding/Beyond.com]
- 53% of Baby Boomers said that men make better leaders than women. [Millennial Branding/Beyond.com]
Baby Boomers as entrepreneurs
- More than 80% of Baby Boomers launch ventures as a lifestyle choice or to boost income. These boomer entrepreneurs are primarily choosing to start businesses because it allows them to be independent (32%), pursue their interests and passions (27%) or increase their income (24%). [Gallup]
- 66% who own businesses agree or strongly agree that they can easily think of people who would be great partners if they ever decided to start a business. [Gallup]
- Baby Boomers are twice as likely to launch a new business compared to millennials. There’s a 35% chance that an older business owner started the business he or she currently manages. [Kaufman Association]
- 45% of Baby Boomers consider themselves to be entrepreneurs. [Millennial Branding / Monster]
Baby Boomers as consumers
- 30% would access a mobile coupon to redeem in a retail store and 32% research products online. [Neustar]
- Boomers represent 44% of the US population, and in the next 5 years, they’re projected to hold 70% of US disposable income and buy 49% of total consumer-packaged goods. [Nielsen / BoomAgers]
- Baby Boomers account for over 50% of sales for 72% of over 6,500 brands that Nielsen tracks. [Nielsen and Hallmark]
- 59% said newspapers and magazines were instrumental in starting their consumer product search. [Neustar]
- 77% of Boomers will purchase something based on its value followed by 42% who had a positive experience in the store and interestingly enough, 42% choose an item based on price. [Fona]
- 35% of all U.S. homeowners are Baby Boomers. [Zillow]
- Baby Boomers spend 18% more time than Millennials on their home search, averaging 4.9 months searching for a home to buy. [Zillow]
- Baby Boomers spend the most across all product categories but are targeted by just 5-10% of marketing. [AARP]
- Over the next 20 years, spending by Boomers is expected to increase by 58% to $4.74 trillion. [AARP]
- Baby Boomers are responsible for 80% of all luxury travel spending. [Pew Research]
- 62% have the best experience at a brick-and-mortar store when buying a product compared to 19% who said online-only retailer. [Salesforce.com]
- 74% have praised a brand in person to others and 54% have in-store. [Salesforce.com]
- 86% are a member of a brand loyalty program to get points and rewards and 71% to get better deals. [Salesforce.com]
Baby Boomers as investors
- 70% of the disposable income in the U.S. is controlled by Baby Boomers. [Nielsen]
- Baby Boomers will inherit $15 trillion in the next 20 years. [Nielsen]
- Boomers own 80% of all money in savings and loan associations. [Suzanne Williams]
- 59% of Boomers expect Social Security to be a major source of their income during retirement. [IRI]
- 45% of Boomers surveyed had absolutely nothing saved for retirement. [IRI]
- 30% postponed their retirement plans 30% stopped contributing to retirement accounts. [IRI]
- 73% say they are fairy or very knowledgeable when it comes to investing compared to 25% that aren’t knowledgeable at all. [Securian]
- 65% turn to a financial advisor and 39% turn to news outlets are their primary source for investment advice. [Securian]
- 71% of Baby Boomer workers have access to a 401(k) or similar plan offered by their employer, including 78% who are working full-time and 42% part-time. [Transamerica Center]
Baby Boomers in Politics
- 44% identify themselves as conservative, 33% moderate, and 21% liberal. [Gallup]
- 66% of Baby Boomers say that preserving social security and medicare is more important than reducing the deficit. [Pew Research]
- 35% of Baby Boomer voters say that the government should do more to solve our problems compared to 59% of Millennials. [Pew Research]
- They get their news from local TV (60%), Fox News (47%), and NBC News (47%). [Pew Research]
- 45% select politics and government as one of the three topics that they are most interested in. [Pew Research]
- 34% are conservative, 33% are liberal and 35% are mixed. [Pew Research]
At present, the oldest baby boomers are already in their 60s. By 2030, about one in 5 Americans will be older than 65, & some experts believe that the aging of the population will place a strain on social welfare systems.
I always find generational discussions so fascinating – the cut off dates seem so arbitrary! (I’m born in the very last month of the 10 or 11-year period that is generally ascribed as “Generation X”)
Especially since nearly all of the referencing sights on social media are Americanised and not actual factual world history!
the original Baby Boomers were born to British women after the First World War.
Please read my factually based post above!
This s just a fresh knowledge i come to know about. The Baby boomers and its interesting facts are really worth getting and i also get a point today through this article that why people having an old orthodox opinion about career and couldn’t able to recognize the opportunities in new trending world all set to Baby Boomers.
Thank you for sharing!
Hah. And the baby boomer generations says that millennial act too entitled….. Isn’t social security retirement benefits considered by the government to be an ENTITLEMENT?
you work for those benefits where have you been??? You are entitled to them because you actually WORKED. Unlike today for most young people. Work what is that??? Mommy and Daddy will just pay for it. Really dude wake up.
Sorry to disagree with you…but Social Security was paid into by each and every working person and their benefit is really like a “forced savings account” that they deserve to be the recipient of. On the other hand, Welfare is an entitlement program that has coddled and disempowered more people by giving them, in many cases, unchecked access to funds which are abused and misused, ultimately creating an ongoing “dependence” which weakens many urges to strive for more and be more “self sufficient”… Two very different scenarios entirely !
Social security based on need is a section many get ..they never paid anything in ..know this and do not confuse the 2
are you seriously kidding me????? I have worked my entire adult life since 1966. I’ve paid into it every single workday of my life. I deserve what I’m getting for benefits. How about you? What’s your work experience?
Last time I checked, they have been TAKING social security out of my paycheck for YEARS….Along with Medicare….so entitlement? I DON’T THINK SO….by the way, are you aware that congress does NOT pay into SSI? They have their OWN form that is nothing like ssi…..and they pass bills dealing with SSI even though it doesn’t pertain to them….I think they need to have skin in the game…don’t you?….
WHO WERE THE ORIGINAL BABY BOOMERS
… and why is the term used to abuse the older generations of today by the poorly educated younger generations?
The ORIGINAL BABY BOOMERS were those children born to the British women who had survived the First World War.
The Brittish Government coined the term ‘Baby Boomer’ to describe THAT GENERATION ONLY as being a part of the POST WAR EFFORT to repopulate England and make up for all of the lives lost during WORLD WAR ONE.
Since Australia is also a part of the BRITISH COLONIES AND ALWAYS HAS BEEN then the term BABY BOOMER applies to ONE GENERATION… and that generation was after the FIRST WORLD WAR ONLY!
But… true to form… Wikipedia and Google, and any other links in this Computer Information Era… have now AMERICANISED the term ‘Baby Boomer’ and insist that it was for all of the generations born from 1946 through to 1964.
I AM NOT AMERICAN… I was born just prior to 1960 in one of the counties that made up the original British Empire… and I am sick to death of everything American being repurposed to suit their own agendas.
Just because they cannot invent their own descriptive terms doesn’t give them license to repurpose those terms being used in a positive way to denigrate their own population.
Added to my chagrin… is the way the Media Spin Doctors of Division and Hatred use the term ‘Baby Boomer’ in a derogative and insulting manner to describe today’s Grey Haired Generation of RETIREES.
Their… ‘Anti-anything-old-and on pensions-is-at-fault-for-all-the-ills-of-the-word’ IDEOLOGY is creating a level of hatred and targeted abuse towards the generations that make up today’s grandparents… while making the younger, and entitled, generations feel that the older generations are to blame for them not being able to buy homes and have all the so-called luxuries their grandparents and parents HAVE EARNED THE RIGHT TO ENJOY IN THEIR OLD AGE!
Here in Australia, a more correct term… for the older generations now enjoying their retirement years after slogging their guts out and going without even the basics while raising their children… is THE GREY NOMADS!
This is because they have sold or rented out their homes and hooked up the caravan and are traveling around this great country.. while they are still young and physically sound enough to do so!
My mother is the last of the ORIGINAL BABY BOOMERS… she is in her mid-80s as she was born AFTER THE FIRST WORLD WAR ENDED… and long before the SECOND WORLD WAR HAD BEGUN.
HER GENERATION ARE THe ONLY TRUE BABY BOOMERS ON THIS PLANET!
… and they are not at fault or to be blamed for any following generations inability to create a life for themselves and BE HAPPY!
Be Blessed!
__/\__ <3
Wow! You are one angry person. Let it go. It’s a small thing in the overall scheme of life. In America, btw, your mothers age group is called “The Greatest Generation.” Feel better.
Like many of the commenters above, I find the generational discussions quite interesting. I fall within the later stages of the Baby Boomers, born in the early 60’s. A key contributor behind the emotion of these conversations is definitely the changing economy. It goes without saying the job market has changed over the years. Not sure the term “career job” still exists. As union jobs and wages disappear, big industries (along with their benefits) dissolve, and with the continued growth of the global economy, many people will not be afforded the opportunity of working for a single employer for their entire career. While many people today may say this is not something they would even desire, it did provide many a stable financial setting for them and their families. As retirees leave the workplace, and “retire” financially with a pension as well as Social Security, I can see where the disdain may come from, although it is misplaced.