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As the boomer generation moves through the life course, the projected growth of the 65 and older population, as seen in Table 2.3, will have big implications over the coming decades. The baby boomers will be influenced by age effects, period effects, and cohort effects. Aging effects are brought about by the physiological process of aging, along with responses to those effects by others. Period effects are those affecting all age groups in society at the same time. Finally, cohort effects are associated with events affecting groups of people during the same years (Moody & Sasser, 2012).

The baby boomers are an extremely large group because of higher fertility rates. They make up around a quarter of the entire U.S. population. There are a number of aspects that differentiate this segment of the population from the older and younger groups. First, more attention has been paid to this group as they crowded schools, became a target for marketers, and reached eligibility to vote. Second, boomers on average have higher levels of educational attainment than earlier generations. Third, in their childhood (1950s and 1960s), they experienced an extended period of post-war affluence and economic prosperity. Finally, the 1960s and 1970s were a time of dramatic upheaval, including the Vietnam War protests and campaigns for civil rights, feminism, and environmental advocacy. Some boomers protested, while others were more conservative, which is an example of the diversity within the cohort (Moody & Sasser, 2012). Baby boomers are a large and unique cohort who share common experiences and express their individual differences. They are expected to transform the way aging and older persons are viewed and treated in society.

Table 2.2

Source: U.S. Census Bureau (2014a).

Table 2.3

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Division (December, 2014b).