As the first of the Baby Boomers begin turning 40 this year, it is a good time to examine this groups' profound impact on American politics. After all, Baby Boomers - those born between 1946 and 1964 - will comprise nearly 60 percent of the voting age population.
The forces shaping America's political future are strong and sweeping. They have been growing with the Baby Boom since the end of World War II. These three critical postwar demographic forces are:
1.The integration of women into the work force. There is no slice of the demographic pie that has undergone more change than women. Compared with their mothers, Baby Boom women have a whole new world of opportunities. Women now make up approximately 53 percent of the work force, up from about 30 percent in the year I was born, 1951.
2.The Shrinking of the American family. While the family remains a steady influence, it has changed. The number of working mothers continues to rise; the number of single-parent families continues to rise. One of the struggles of life in the 1980s is keeping the post-nuclear family together. It's a struggle no politician and no political party can ignore.
3.The graying of America and the end of the dominance of the youth culture. This aging trend will continue as the average life span increases, thanks to improvements in health care. In 1970 the median age was 28; today it is over 31.
These three trends, which have reshaped this society, have also reshaped its politics. And the Baby Boomers have come of age politically. Proof was provided in 1984 in the Democratic primary process, when Gary Hart, riding a wave of Baby Boomer support, nearly upset Walter Mondale. Their power was demonstrated a second time when Baby Boomers again rejected Mondale and switched from Hart to Reagan in the general election.
Attention should be paid to this group not only because it's big, but also because it's cohesive. Their voting cohesion is a generational cohesion, the result of shared experiences - historical events, music, and of course television.
A New World
After World War II, American society entered into the post-industrial communications age, with the mass media emerging as the dominant force. Expanded communications gave the Baby Boom generation a common set of experiences, both cultural and political.
The Baby Boomers were the first generation weaned on television. Starting with Captain Kangaroo and Davy Crockett, the tube gave baby Boomers common ground, and American business was not long in catching on to the commercial potential. The cutting edge of modern mass marketing was the "fad."
Baby Boomers went from coonskin caps to hula hoops, Barbie dolls, miniskirts. As they grew up, these young consumers all shared the Beatles craze and then spearheaded the disco movement. Then it was on to preppie-hood, Yuppie-hood, jogging, and tofu.
But it wasn't just the
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