Steve Gillon, in his book Boomer Nation, states that the baby boom began in 1946 and ends in 1960, but breaks Baby Boomers into two groups: Boomers, born between 1945 and 1957; and Shadow Boomers born between 1958 and 1964.
Brent Green, author of Marketing to Leading-Edge Baby Boomers, defines Leading-Edge Boomers as those born between 1946 and 1955.
Children of the Baby Boomers are referred to as Echo Boomers, born between 1982 and 1994. Echo Boomers are followed by the MTV Generation and immediately precedes the Internet Generation. This generation is significant because they are the last born to appreciate the changes of the digital revolution, and the rise of the internet and computer technology. The “Echo Boomers” are expected to be highly involved in what is now being called Generation C.
To complete the list of generations:
Generation X – also known as the Cold War generation, born between 1961 and 1981 (although others refer to born between 1965 and 1976).
Generation Y – also called N generation, born between 1984 and 2001.
Note: Many may disagree with the above demographic profiling. I am referring to the above for the purpose of this article.
The Baby Boomer’s generation has found that their parents (due to modern technology) are living longer, their children are seeking a better and longer college education, and they themselves are having children later in life. The boomers have become “sandwiched” between generations. The “sandwich generation” takes care for both elderly parents and young children at the same time.
The baby boomers were the first group to be raised on television. As early as the 40’s. are, people in diverse geographic locations could watch the same shows, listen to the news, and laugh at the same jokes. Later, the boomers watched scenes from the Vietnam War, and the assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King and Robert F Kennedy.
In the Philippines, according to Ernst & Young, one of the world’s leading professional services organizations that helps companies identify and capitalize on business opportunities, the population of the Philippines has increased fourfold in the last 50 years, from about 20 million in 1950 to today’s 88,706,300 (ref: NSO as of 08Dec06, Summary of Projected Population). So, we did contribute to the Baby Boom. Uhmm,,, the U.S. Colonial rule of the Philippines in December 1899 lasted until full independence in 1946 (briefly interrupted by the Japanese occupation in 1945) and much of what we are today is colonial.
Details here were researched from the Internet, specifically from the Wikipedia. Hmph! I remember having to research using the Collier’s encyclopedia, and I mean from all 24 volumes. These were hard-bound- glossy paged- 8” x 14”-one inch thick books.
Growing up, we lived in a compound, so boomer!, and the encyclopedias were on the second floor of my grandparent’s house. Now, if you had three topics to research on, you’d be lucky if all these were in one book. If the topic was short, I could copy it right away but most of the time I had to borrow the books and carry them across the driveway back to our house. If I was lucky, the househelp would carry them for me.
Making the report…. it was handwritten! Back then we had Penmanship twice /thrice a week at school and were taught how to use a fountain pen, and together with Kuya, we both got pens with iridium nibs. 
Do you remember when penmanship could identify an Atenean from a Lasallite, a Theresian from an Assumptionista or one from St. Scho?
By the time my younger siblings were in college we had an electric typewriter featuring the backspace to auto-erase. Ahhh, technology!
For my Echo Boomer-Gen C-Gen N daughter, research is straight from the Internet, paperless and submitted electronically.
I am thinking about my next boomer topics: Kuya’s Polaroid camera or his Agent007 briefcase? How about the Betamax (with a red underline)?
1 comment:
The Sandwich Generation is squeezed between often guiding their kidults through an extended adolescence and caring for their aging parents. And older Baby Boomers may be part of a Club Sandwich, with the addition of baby sitting responsibilities for young grandchildren.
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