Boom, Bust and Echo

Demographic Groups in Canada

The Baby Boom• 1946 – 1966• Very high birthrate• Became a force to be

reckoned with • Age of economic

prosperity• Suburbia• Child centered• Sought social and

political change• Sexual revolution

Causes of the Baby Boom

• End of WWII• One in Five Canadian soldiers came back

with a war bride – almost 50,000 women and children

• Men were anxious to resume their lives – marriage rates were double pre-war rates

• Notion that marriage and family was the quickest route to respectability – failure to marry proved immaturity, parental complex,

inferiority complex and narcissism

Causes Con’t

• Immigration• More than two million people came to Canada

from 1945 – 1960• Most immigrants came

from Western Europe and USA• Many immigrants were young couples seeking a better life, adventure, and to start a family

Bringing up the Boomers• The post war economic boom meant that

Boomers were raised in a prosperous time• Suburban Culture – huge demand for family

housing• Car became a necessity –car culture… drive in

restaurants, theatres, shopping centres, etc.• Young families: 1961 census – nearly 50% of

the population of the suburbs was under 15, less than 10% was over 55

• Nuclear family – grandparents lived elsewhere• Overcrowded hospitals, schools, universities…

solution was to expand – created national debt that we still have

http://www.ngcsu.edu/Academic/Arts_Let/Psych/GenderStudies/Attribution.html

A Child Centred Universe

• Dominance of young families meant that the focus was largely on the kids – Brownies, Scouts, etc.

• Psychological approach to child rearing – Dr. Spock (behaviourism)

• Permissive parenting – trust your children, don’t worry about spoiling them, give them lots of attention

• Critics say this created a self centred generation• Progressive education – John Dewey

Counterculture• Had permissive parenting and child centred

education created a generation of long haired rebels?

• Boomers didn’t seem to follow the rules – hippies, drugs, The Beatles, Vietnam, “Sit-ins”, peace symbols, Trudeau-mania, Woodstock, etc.

• Had a large collective voice… and used it!• Many were interested in political activism - Vietnam

War, Civil Rights Movement, Nuclear Technology, Environment, Women’s Rights, Minority Rights, etc.

Sexual Revolution• Bye bye pre-war morality! Behaviour, social norms

and morals changed drastically• More couples cohabiting, engaging in pre-marital sex

– illegitimate births increased from 4% in 1955 to 9.5% in 1968

• Canadians emphasized personal and sexual freedom• “The Pill” – enabled sexual freedom• Women were staying in school longer and pursuing

careers• Led to declining birth rates… and an end to the Baby

Boom

The Impact of the Boomers

• Filled the job market – made it difficult for the next cohort (Baby Bust) to find jobs

• Finally they are retiring, but…• The dependency load is increasing (pop’n under

15 and over 65)• Healthcare? Pension plans? Social services?• Many boomers are pursuing a second career• Create trends in industry – travel, tourism,

retirement homes/condos, recreation, etc.• Large disposable income – big box stores

The Baby Bust: Generation X and Twentysomethings

• The Baby Bust is the demographic group following the Baby Boom; those children born between 1960 and 1979. It can be further divided into two groups; Generation X and the Twentysomethings.

Sometimes the term "baby busters" is used interchangeably with "Generation X," typically to denote those born starting in 1965, with various dates offered for its end year, the most common being 1978 or 1980. However, it is never become as popular or frequently used as "Generation X" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X)

Origins of the term Generation X:

• Was first used in a 1964 study of British youth by Jane Deverson. The study revealed a generation of teenagers who "sleep together before they are married, don't believe in God, dislike the Queen, and don't respect parents"

• In 1976, the phrase was picked up as the name of a punk rock band featuring Billy Idol, which released three albums before disbanding in 1981. However, the term Generation X was used to describe the early British punks more generally with their nihilism, rejection of earlier generation's values, and the feeling that they were a lost generation that meant nothing to society, and vice versa.

In a Canadian Context…

Popularized by Canadian novelist Douglas Coupland in Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture, which describes the angst of those born between roughly 1960 and 1965, who felt no connection to the cultural icons of the baby boom generation. In Coupland's usage, the X referred to the namelessness of a generation that was coming into an awareness of its existence as a separate group but feeling overshadowed by the Boomer generation of which it was ostensibly a part.

Characteristics of Baby Busters/Gen Xers

• Readily-accessible birth control • Legalization of abortion on

demand • Increase in divorce • Increase in mothers in the work

place • The Zero population movement • "Devil-child films" • Lack of optimism for the future,

nihilism, cynicism and lack of beliefs and trust in traditional values

• Grunge Music

Characteristics Con’t• Media portrayed Generation X as a group of

flannel-wearing, alienated, overeducated, underachieving slackers with body piercings, who drank franchise-store coffee and had to work at McJobs

• Grew up during the time of the Cold War, the fall of the Iron Curtain and the USSR, the oil crisis of the 70’s, economic recession and outsourcing of jobs to developing countries, layoffs, AIDS, globalization

• Increasingly flexible and varied gender roles for women contrasted with even more rigid gender roles for men (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_X)

The Echo Boom: Generation Y

• Generation Y, also known as the echo boomers, are the children of the Baby Boomers (born between 1980 and 1995)

• This generation consists of approximately 7 million people, a reflection of the declining birth rates of the Baby Boomers

• They’re variously called the Internet Generation, Echo Boomers, the Boomlet, Nexters, Generation Y, the Nintendo Generation, the Digital Generation, and, in Canada, the Sunshine Generation.

Impact of the Echo Kids

• Puts a large strain on the education system – many new schools have been built, however, many schools are overcrowded

• Will be able to step into jobs more easily than Gen X’ers since many of the Boomers are retiring

• However, education requirements have increased in almost all feilds.

Economic Impact

• Echo kids are one of the first group of youth to work en masse

• Large disposable income and huge buying power – as influential as Boomer parents– “… what some marketers call the six pocket

phenomenon – kids getting cash from two parents and four grandparents – explains why many Echo kids can afford to spend $50 for a Nike sweatshirt…”

– “The brand name is increasingly important. Echo kids have been saturated in television since birth and, as a result, they are the most brand conscious cohort in the hisotry of the planet” (David Foot, 1998)

Media

• Where media was previously focused on the Boomers, it has shifted toward the Echo kids

• They’re the first generation to grow up surrounded by digital media– Electronics– Computers– Video– Fashion– Focus on experiences – Reality TV, Extreme sports, You Tube– Obsession with celebrity

Social Impact

• The global generation• Belief that Youth can make a positive social

impact• Concerned with issues such as global warming,

AIDS, poverty, cancer, environmental degredation, war, depleting resources, etc.

• Full of potential and ability to act– Free the Children– Kenya Build– Relay for Life

What do you think?

• Many people have negative views of teenagers and youth:– Obnoxious, selfish, lack of respect for parents,

teachers and the law – Increasing rates of youth violence, school shootings,

girl gangs– Promiscuous behaviour, drinking, drug use– Out of control

• Do you agree? Where do these opinions come from?