I am a late Boomer. I never thought of distinguishing myself from the early Boomers by calling us Jones because I do not do generational warfare. The early Boomers has it better economically than the late Boomers (Jones), but they had the war to deal with. Every gen has their problems.
I turn 62 today (Happy Birthday to me), I never did duck and cover, I had nothing in common with early boomers. I would have 6 months old during the Cuban missile crisis, it had zero influence on my life. The Vietnam really had little impact other than something on the news. I was 13 when we evacuated Saigon, hardly life impacting to a 13 year old in the USA. We had already stopped combat by my 11th birthday, so I surely wasn't in fear of the draft, no draft cards to burn for me. My generation "Jones" had no summer of love and while "aids" became know in the early 1980's it really had little impact as our mileage was still low, we still had that brand new car smell. The cold war did impact my generation, in that we won it and I was still serving when we won the first gulf war (the mean age of the military in the gulf war was 28 vs 22 in Vietnam). I joined the US military during the Reagan build up, not drafted but a willing participant to win the war against the commies. So maybe anyone born after 1960 IS NOT a boomer. The Iran hostage crisis, the high price from inflation and stagflation and recessions impacted my life, not Vietnam, not Woodstock, not Watergate. The number of life births per year should not make a generation; the only outlier is that when the fertility rate of women hit a low in 1940, it didn't hit that low again until 1980. So in that sense everyone born after 1940 until 1980 is a baby boomer. So using births is just as dumb as using birth rates to create a cohort where none exists. Just calling me Generation Jones is necessary because the whole lump of baby boomers from 1946 to 1964 doesn't make logical sense. So can we just stop calling anyone born after 1960 a boomer it is insulting. You know who has more in common Biden, Trump, Pelosi, McConnell, Bush, Clinton's even though some are technically not a boomer, they have so much in common, they all were born in the 1940's. They can even have Chuck Schumer since he was born in 1950. What is the baby boom generation? Answer: anyone born before 1960.
Happy belated birthday! I do agree that there is a huge difference between the people born in the earlier and later part of what are designated as Baby Boomer years and was trying to highlight that here. I also agree that people born in the 40s in general have more in common as a whole than those born 1946-1964. It does come down to this generation being based solely around birth rate. I am also interested in exploring a better experiential cut-off for this group, 60 may be a good option. I find that people born in the mid to late 50s seem mixed with things.
I knew someone born in 1963 who served in Operation Desert Storm (when he was 27), it is beyond crazy to call him a Baby Boomer. His Mom was born in 1940 basically a toddler during World War II.
I remember half jokingly telling friends that prophylactic devices would be provided during weekend trips. We got to the party earlier but I want to think we were smart about stuff. We are really Xers after all, I was taught to question everything by my boomer parents.
Yes! Thank you!!! Born after 1960, youre GenX! Life changed for anyone who graduated HS 1980 or so, and later. Thats just a fact. Also, those born during WWII are more boomer than anything. They came up with the boomers. Edit-Happy belated Birthday!!! Now don't collect your SS until 70 like the rest of GenX!
1957 boomer here. Totally agree that the most significant events in my life were the assassinations of RFK, JFK, and MLK, Vietnam, oil embargo and Watergate. When I entered the workforce after college (1979), there was one copier for an office of 100 people, electric typewriters and NO laptops or “dumb terminals” connected to a LAN. Long distance calls were prohibitively expensive
That can definitely be true of some people in Generation Jones. It depends, though and also based on the perception of Boomer as I think some people have more stereotypes based around earlier Boomers and some on later Boomers. My mom was born in 64 and definitely seems more Xer!
@@richardterroni9433 I was born in 58 and that’s not Boomer. It’s solidly Gen Jones. To participate in the Summer of Love you’d have had to be born 1950 or before.
The health of Baby Boomers has been affected by a lot more than lead paint. Our neighborhoods were sprayed with DDT by giant trucks-as were our vegetables. Our lakes, ponds, streams, rivers and inner harbors were very polluted and so was the air we breathed. Young people today would be shocked to see some of those sights-I’m thankful for the environmental movement that pushed to see incredible change. Not perfection, but I was amazed as a teenager when the reservoir in my neighborhood went from brown to a beautiful, swimmable blue. Interesting video. Generation Jones has been a trip so far
there are 3 groups of boomers: 1946-54; 1955-1959; 1960-64 (I am in the last group, being born in 1960). Different personalities, different experiences in each group.
A little constructive criticism from a marginal boomer (my kids call me a boomer despite being born in early 1965): You really need a proper microphone. The sound is echoing around the room and not very clear at all. They are not expensive, though exactly how you connect it up will depend what you are using for recordings. A camcorder would be easier to use for this than a 'phone, but you can get some microphones for 'phone use.
I prefer the Strauss Howe generation theory which uses common life experiences/culture to breakdown the generations. It makes more sense to use 1943-1960 as the boomer generation. Gen X from 1961-1981.
@@richardterroni9433 I graduated university in April 2001. The earliest millenials were just out of HS and many were much younger. Most who perished that day were boomers and Xers.
Born in 1961, give me back my flip-phone! LOL. Not to mention 40s, 50s, 60s and mid 70s music and throw in the movies from that era. I'm back to buying CDs and DVDs, I don't text you have the phone in your hands so call me, wink. I miss those days, yeah I know you keep hearing that from us but it's true.
I loved the video, and it is very clear that you did a lot of work putting all this together. Thank you for all the work. Pleasae get a better microphone, this old boomer had difficulty hearing your audio. Cheers!
I was born in the analogue age, before metrication, before calculators, digital watches or anything. My job did not get computerised until 1986, pre-Windows by a few years. Born in the late 1950s, I grew up in the early to mid-1970s, more 1960s than later 70s-early 80s.
It's possible some groups may market specifically to Generation Jones. The Baby Boomer generation is the years it is because of the demographic event of the baby boom. While a lot of Baby Boomers probably do have things in common, the year designations didn't really factor in anything else so Leading/Trailing Edge/Generation Jones was come up with more as a way to note some of the differences that exist. They have occasionally been studied separately, it just hasn't caught on as something more official it seems.
At its root, it comes down to a line on a graph, but we still have way more in common with those born in the first-wave than not. I think the most formative thing is the fact that we were raised by silent generation and greatest generation types at a time when children more readily adopted the principles and beliefs of their parents, and their parents lived through both the Great Depression and the Second World War, meaning those people had their faces ground into this world’s cruel reality in a way that hadn’t been seen for a long time, and starting at a very young age at that.
It's a Sub-Generation that includes late members of the Baby Boom and early members of Generation X. Similar to the Xennials which I am a member of, although on the Millennial side.
You're right - it should be. Born in 1964 - never related at all to the definition of the Boomers. Brady Bunch not Leave it to Beaver! Not idealistic - realistic. The first to see MTV!
So, born in 1963. I've never seen Howdy Doody, played with Rock 'em Sock 'em robots, or identified with Boomers. I have always felt I am a leading edge Gen X, which I used to be before they redefined 1960 up to 64 then 65 as the cut off date. But, Gen X leading edge & Generation Jones are both great places to be. We had an amazing set of opportunities in life that are not there for kids now- or in the last 25 years I'd say.
Okay folks here's the deal on Boomer's end....The Pill. The birth rate dropped bigtime after that. Me, born in '64 as a cusper boomer was the 10,000th student enrolled in my new school district, after we moved out to LI, NY to suburbia. I'm okay with being a boomer, at the tail end. My wife is a cusper Gen Xer born in '66. Life is Grand.
My generation is 1990-1997 I’m Gen Y my first phone in 2001 was an Nokia 1997 I was 4 at the time when I had an Nokia in 2004 I had an pager 📟 and 2005 my 3rd Cellphone was an Boost Mobile Nextel Chirp phone so I was 8 years old watching Rap DVDs 📀 and 90’s movies I remember the 90’s and 00’s I watch adult Swim in 2008 when I was 11 so I’ma front Millennial
I’m proud of being a boomer and so are my siblings and friends even though I’m a trailing age boomer. I would not change my generation years with any other generation.
@chiarac3833 I would somewhat agree, I may move the start date forward a year to 1942 since that seems to be the year when Boomer traits seem to outweigh traits of older Generations, but you are close to spot on.
I am a boomer..lived the life enjoyed the freedom..of doing what I wished..in rock bands..drank smoked .I had a wonderful life pick on me all you wanr..i.lived in a grwT time
This was a very nice and informative presentation (particularly in regard to the Jones 2nd Wave Boomers). Thank you. I have been classified as a Leading Edge Boomer since I was born in '47. I also became aware of generational theory through Strauss & Howe's work in the early 90s. My wife and I are definitely part of the traditionalist wing of Boomers And, yes, since I have been blessed with good health, I still work.
Born in 1957 so I guess I'm a trailing boomer. One question for anyone here, when I was young I was under the impression the boomers ended at 1960. Looking at some of the comments here that would make sense. While my classes never did duck and cover we knew about it - maybe because I lived in Canada? Another thing I've thought about recently is I believe the "Baby Boomer" was the first generation to have their timeline in history actually named. Only in the last few years have I found out all the other generational names - the Greatest, the Silent etc. So we win again! Thanks for this channel, it was time well spent - better than scrolling through TikTok! lol
Yes 57 is quite on the edge regarding which group you fall into. And that is true, this was information that was shared at one point, and even some still interpret it this way today from a cultural standpoint (the generation ending in 60) but 64 is considered the official demographic end in the U.S. and is widely accepted. There could be some slight differences with Canada. Glad you like the video :)
Also 1957 here. I never really considered myself to be a baby boomer because I had nothing in common with what’s considered to be the baby boomer. Example, when they were protesting the Vietnam war I was 10 and more concerned about my Little League team, when President Kennedy was assassinated, I was six and had really no idea what was going on. I always heard that 57 was the peak of the baby boom but I never considered myself part of that generation.
in social science research, 10 years is a considered a cohort. the age spans of the current "brackets" are simply too long. i'm 59 & did participate in tuck and cover. but i had teenaged sisters who were very much hippies in the early 70's CA, so i do feel like a flower child! beyond that, im not a boomer!
They vary but that is a criticism and why I tried to explain some of that nuance. And that personal context plays a role with things too (California, your sisters). You are Gen X!
@@TheGenerations1 my grandparents were from the Silent Generation born June 14th 1931 August 5th1933 Nov 14th 1934 and April 18th 1937 respectively and there are still some from the greatest generation living such as former president Jimmy Carter who turns 100 October 1st my only living grandparent turns 93 June 14th if he's still alive I turn 39 March 5th so am a Millennial and proud Of it each generation is roughly 15-20 years long generally I also believed Millennials ran from 1981 to 1996 and Gen Z from 1997-2011 so Alpha started in 2012 and ends in 2026
I think the torch was passed from the first boomers to the late boomers when Nixon left office in Aug 1974, the next day the world changed and a new era began.
When you name Gen X, and realize you forgot about the generation just prior. "Eh, just lump them in with the Boomers. So what if they're 30 years old? No one will notice!" And no one has.
It is very annoying to be born in the UK and have younger people who mentally live in the internet’s US culture call you AND your parents boomers, and thinking that your teenage years were some cross between Grease and Footloose. Not even for actual UK boomers! British Boomers did receive free health care, very good social housing, social security, subsidised (because state owned) utilities, free university education for the children of the smartest 5% of the middle class and jobs for the asking for the rest at 15. They got a huge, unacknowledged economic lift from North Sea Oil and membership of the European community - it staved off penury from loss of empire and helped pay war debt to the US for decades. At the tail end, the cohort being called Gen Jones were raised to expect all that. But in the Thatcher years, the Boomers voted to pull the ladder sharply up after themselves: buy their “council houses” for a song and commodify them; sell off all the national “family silver” infrastructure. And cuts, cuts, cuts to the benefits of the National Insurance we all paid into. This large demographic then voted to end free further education, raise the retirement age - for those behind them - and start commodifying and destroying the national health service just when they themselves started to need it most. And then, as their last kick down, they voted for Brexit. British boomers in retirement - the majority have meagre pensions, actually. Hell mend them. Jones started adult life at 15-16 (another fact that Gen Z is oblivious to) in the mid-70s - mid-80s, with its nose pressed up against a prosperous boomer window, and that’s largely how it continued. Silent Generation parents in the UK & Europe often had an extremely harsh childhood (born into Depression poverty, growing up in WW2 with deficiency diseases, wartime bombing, enemy occupation, refugee displacement, bereavement, interrupted education, polio, TB, PTSD… Even those who “finished” school were pitched into full time adult work at age 13-14.) It hurts my heart to hear my parents dismissed as “boomers” as much as it annoys me (born 1962) to be classed as one. Gen X, especially in the US, make this huge deal about what was actually normal childhood life for centuries - for working class kids. I suspect this “feral childhood” thing only got noticed at all because for the first time, it was mothers in better-off families going out to work. And also, many boomers with Greatest Generation parents got a lot of parental attention - but their own kids didn’t. Unlike G Jones, Gen X could see their own free-range childhood in contrast with both their parents and their children. “Latchkey kids” was almost everyone I knew in my primary & secondary school years. I first heard that term at about 18-19 from politicians, and only then realised that to better-off folk it was a “thing”. (You don’t label normality.) In many ways we Gen Jones share the experiences of Gen X more than with boomers - but our attitude to it is different. Even as kids we could see how our parents’ physical and emotional “unavailability” and self absorption was a response to their own Depression/wartime early environment - one with little (or even harsher) parenting. Many had dutiful rather than affectionate relationships with our grandparents. Giving you a roof; telling older kids to show you (age 4-5) how to get to school and other life skills; leaving money under the clock to buy groceries, asking “What are you lot doing indoors? Rain won’t melt you!” - and not beating you with the cold savagery of their own parents (only when they “lost it”) - the Silent Generation genuinely saw this as the full compendium of childrearing. At least until they became grandparents. Mine learned hugs in their fifties, from their grandchildren. Parents’ nights and other school events, cooking, laundry, sporting support, transport, knowing our acquaintances, studies, activities or whereabouts - Silent Gen parents saw their supervision, let alone participation as optional, mostly unnecessary. We’d be fine. Or live with our mistakes. And maybe the Silent Gen, and boomers, were justified in believing that about Gen Jones and Gen X: it turned out we needed to. Although some died from those mistakes.
GenX gets along with the Greatest Generation because both generations saw the world collapse infront of them and saw all the "truths" become non-truths, hence the skepticism shared by both. Same with GenZ and the great collfge myth busted.
Yeah, in general 1940s-born people tend to fit with the first wave Boomers. I almost feel you could set aside people born in the 40s together culturally in many ways, though half would be born before WW2 ended which does seem potentially pretty significant
One thing I don’t like about baby boomers is what’s happening to them right now politically in the U.S. More and more Baby Boomer members of Congress in both the senate and the house are retiring, and few are replaced by fellow boomers. With more millennials and eventually Gen Z (The oldest born in 1997 will be eligible to run) being elected into congress, it’s safe to conclude our politicians will get younger, and I hate it. I hate younger politicians especially because they’re naïve, they don’t know what they’re doing and I just wish Baby Boomers are still the majority in congress.
I think Boomers are still the majority in Congress but certainly, over time, they will be replaced with younger generations. Hopefully they do a better job than you think!
@@TheGenerations1 For the time being they still are, but with many retirements. lost renominations. and lost bids so far it's inevitable that the number of boomers will go down. Also, I apologize for my tone. You proved a good point, it's also inevitable that younger generations would replace the Baby Boomers in one way or another, but the only thing I'm mentioning here is the potential for millennials and gen zers today, not in the foreseeable future running for government, meaning that if they're successful with their campaigns now, they'll be elected at younger ages. Regardless, I just hope these youngsters will know that they're doing, I'm worried about another calamity you see.
I'm sure the Baby Boomer Congress members didn't know what they were doing when they were first elected, either. The younger politicians will learn, as the Boomers did. For the record, I'm a Baby Boomer, Generation Jones variety.
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