The article in the Washington Post June 26, 2015 caught my eye, “Social Issues: Census update shows more diverse society as baby-boom generation ages,” by Fredrick Kunckle.
It was interesting that “A new Census Bureau report shows the baby-boom generation fading further into the gray and giving way to millennials in a country whose younger generations are also becoming more diverse.”
“The white population in the United States reached an all-time high median age of 43, while
those younger than 5 were outnumbered by minority children.”
“That’s a reflection of how the U.S. is aging,” said Mark Hugo Lopez, director of Hispanic research at the Pew Research Center. Millennials, the social media generation, overtake baby boomers.”
. . . .”At the national level, a lot of these trends we see now tend to be continuations of older trends,” said Ben Bolender, chief of the Census Bureau’s population estimates branch. The annual update of population estimates released by the Census Bureau on Thursday includes changes by age, sex, race and Hispanic origin nationwide and by states and counties between April 1, 2010, and July 1, 2014. Although the report is short on dramatic shifts, it offers a snapshot of further changes in long-term trends, especially as the nation becomes older and more diverse.”
What was harder for this Boomer Grandma to read was:
“In a sense, 2015 marks the demographic passing of the baby boom generation, and it will continue to be an ever smaller part of the total U.S. population until it disappears altogether later this century,” said C. Matthew Snipp, a sociology professor at Stanford University. The question now, he said, is whether the rise of the millennial generation will produce the same kind of cultural revolution that has been the legacy of boomers.”
“Millennials will soon surpass Baby Boomers as largest living generation. The Pew Research Center, citing census data released last month, said Friday that millennials – defined as the generation born between 1981 and 1997 – will overtake boomers this year as the death rate among the post-war generation offsets the number of older immigrants entering the country. Members of the millennial generation – which continues to grow as immigrants between the ages of 18 and 34 migrate to the United States – make up one of the most ethnically and racially diverse cohorts in U.S. history. They are projected to reach 75.3 million in 2015. That’s compared with 74.9 million boomers who were born following World War II.”
This Grandma lived the “cultural revolution that has been the legacy of boomer,” and experienced what it was like to compete for spaces in college and jobs with a large cluster of those the same age, and for us to make a positive impact on American society. But, to read that “2015 marks the demographic passing of the baby boom generation” makes me wonder whether our legacy will go the way of our parents’ generation–the World War II generation who also gave so much to our country. I guess the new generations make their mark and ours becomes history.
For one, this Boomer Grandma is too young to contemplate all of this. It took me a month to be able to write about it!
Joy,
Mema
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