In May 1951, Sylvia F. Porter, a columnist for the New York Post, defined Baby Boomers by referring to the increased births in post war America. She said "Take the 3,548,000 babies born in 1950. Bundle them into a batch, bounce them all over the bountiful land that is America. What do you get? Boom. The biggest, boomiest boom ever known in history."
And what a boom it is! In the years following World War II the world experienced an amazing spike in birth rates, an era commonly called the "baby boom". Between 1946 and 1964, more than 76 million children were born in the US alone. 1957 was the pinnacle year of the baby boom with 4.3 million births and an amazing annual fertility rate of 122.7 births for each 1,000 women between ages 15 to 44. To put this in perspective, the National Center for Health Statistics reported slightly over 4 million US births in 2002 and a fertility rate of 64.8, or about half the 1957 fertility rate!
The Baby Boomers are hitting their golden years now and this demographic spike is going to continue to lead the world in what it means to remain productive throughout our lives. As was done with so many other issues such as civil rights, the women's movement, anti-war protests and even Woodstock, the Boomers will surely take a bold new approach to retirement and all that it means to grow older.
If you are currently re-evaluating work and retirement priorities, get in touch with us. We'd love the opportunity to share what we've learned about making this transition a positive and rewarding experience!
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For comments and questions please contact executive director Lia Miller at executivedirector@shepctrg.org or 336-378-0766.
