In 1970, Estimated Total Number Reached 74 Million
The huge Baby Boom Generation, which began in 1945, has its earliest-born members celebrating 80 years in 2025. The “Boomers” arguably have had the greatest impact on the American cultural landscape of any of the last eight social generations.
A timeline of these generations in the Western world, according to the Pew Research Center, begins more than 100 years ago with what Gertrude Stein called the Lost Generation -- those born from 1883 to 1900. This population cohort came of age during World War I and the Roaring Twenties.
The Greatest Generation follows the “Lost” with births from 1901 to 1927. It includes veterans who fought in World War II and Americans who experienced the Great Depression growing up.
Next comes the Silent Generation born from 1928-1945. Included are veterans of the Korean War, and many who might have fought during the Vietnam War.
“Pig in a Python” Generation
The bulging population surge called the Baby Boom is usually reported as lasting from 1945 to 1965. (Some researchers estimate it as 1946-1964.) Birth rates year-to-year after World War II constantly increased until they peaked in the mid-1950s for several years.
By the late nineteen sixties, this birth rate growth began to be seen as a “boom” phenomenon. It could be defined as a short term population increase, or a notably large group; that creates a demographic bulge on a population graph.
Such a graph of U.S. birth numbers shows the baby boomers sticking out like a “pig in a python” being digested, and moving through. In 1970, popularAmerican author Tom Wolfe coined an early use of the pig in python metaphor in a speech about the Boomer generation. He also predicted, “Youth will grow old; condemned in its old age to wag the head of society with outmoded ideas of peace and love.”
Certainly by the end of the turbulent 1960’s, it became obvious to social researchers that the Boomers were going to dominate society in the U.S. for many decades. After all, generations are defined mostly by their sheer numbers (or lack of same) and by their populations’ influence on society during their time.
The boomer population bulge created, over time, three “cultures”: during which Boomers were the dominate population group by numbers and economic impacts: Youth culture -- 1960s and 70s Middle-aged culture -- 1980 to 2005 “Gray-haired” culture -- 2006 to 2025 In that critical year, 1970, the boomers were moving to becoming a major force of societal influence. This is most dramatically illustrated by their sheer numbers at the time. Boomers were more than 36 per cent of the U.S. population compared to all other age groups. There were 74 million of them ranging in age from 5 to 25 years.
Boomer Generation Peak
The boomer births reached a 5-year peak in the mid-1950s. Here are some facts about this maturing generation in that period: Peak birth rate years = 1953-1957 Peak birth rate year = 1954 with 25.3 births per 1,000 population (highest annual rate sine 1920) 5 peak years total births = 20.6 million (now ages 70 to 75) Estimated total Boomer live births in 20 years = 78 million As the boomer generation began to have fewer births, the steepest year-to-year decline in birth rate happened from 1964, when the rate was 21 per 1,000 population, to 1965 when it dropped to 19.4 per 1,000. This was the lowest rate since 1940.
Significantly, ever since then, the birth rate in the U.S. has not reached 19 per 1,000 in any year from 1966 through 2009. That year had a historic low rate of 13.8 per 1,000.
The source for this data is the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, National Center for Health Statistics.
What is ahead for the baby boomers? The American Legion’s magazine recently reported that there is a “Silver Tsunami” coming as 4.1 million Americans “turn 65 from 2024 through 2027: It is the largest surge of retirement age Americans in history.”
U. S. SOCIAL GENERATIONS
•The Lost Generation -- 1883-1900 (Gertrude Stein described World War I veterans)
•The Greatest Generation -- 1901-1927 (includes those serving in WW II)
•The Silent Generation -- 1928-1945
•Baby Boomers -- 1945-1965 (the ‘pig in a python’ cohort; 78 million strong)
•Generation X -- 1965-1980 (the “baby bust” generation)
•Millennials -- 1981-1996 (the turn of the 3rd millennium; AKA Generation Y)
•Generation Z -- 1997-2012 (colloquially known as “Zoomers”)
•Generation Alpha -- 2013-2025 (first to be born entirely in the 21st century)
•Generation Beta -- 2025-2039 (Begins this year as the boomers turn 80)) SOURCES: Pew Research Center, Wikipedia online, and other media
