Early Baby Boomers Research Articles

The prevalence of lifetime trauma and association with physical and psychosocial health among adults at the end of life.

National guidelines recognize lifetime trauma as relevant to clinical care for adults nearing the end of life. We determined the prevalence of early life and cumulative trauma among persons at the end of life by gender and birth cohort, and the association of lifetime trauma with end-of-life physical, mental, and social well-being. We used nationally representative Health and Retirement Study data (2006-2020), including adults age > 50 who died while enrolled (N = 6495). Early life and cumulative traumatic events were measured using an 11-item traumatic events scale (cumulative trauma: 0-5+ events over the lifespan). We included six birth cohorts (born <1924; children of depression [1924-1930]; HRS cohort [1931-1941]; war babies [1942-1947]; early baby-boomers [1948-1953]; mid-baby boomers [1954-1959]). End-of-life outcomes included validated measures of physical (pain, fatigue, dyspnea), mental (depression, life satisfaction), and social (loneliness, social isolation) needs. We report the prevalence of lifetime trauma by gender and birth cohort and the adjusted probability of each end-of-life outcome by trauma using multivariable logistic regression. The mean age at death was 78 years (SD = 11.1) and 52% were female. Lifetime trauma was common (0 events: 19%; 1-2: 47%; 3-4: 25%; 5+: 9%), with variation in individual events (e.g., death of a child, weapons in combat) by gender and birth cohort. After adjustment, increasing cumulative trauma was significantly associated (p-value<0.001) with higher reports of end-of-life moderate-to-severe pain (0 events: 46%; 1-2 events: 50%; 3-4 events: 57%; 5+ events: 60%), fatigue (58%; 60%; 66%; 69%), dyspnea (46%; 51%; 56%; 58%), depression (24%; 33%; 37%; 40%), loneliness (12%; 17%; 19%; 22%), and lower life satisfaction (73%; 63%; 58%; 54%). Older adults in the last years of life report a high prevalence of lifetime traumatic events which are associated with worse end-of-life physical and psychosocial health. A trauma-informed approach to end-of-life care and management of physical and psychosocial needs may improve a patient's quality of life.

From Lavender Menace to Queer Nation: the transformation of lesbian identity in the baby boom era

Women of the early baby boom years in the U.S. came out into an environment in which same-sex desire was stigmatized and criminalized. For working-class lesbians, the bar scene provided an environment in which women could find companionship and a way to live a life decoupled from traditional heterosexual roles. For middle class women, bar life was fraught with legal and social risk, and some–mostly white–women worked to establish a more “socially acceptable” communal life through organizations such as the Daughters of Bilitis. As the women’s movement flourished in the late 1960s and 1970s, women born in the early years of the baby boom (1946–1950) created distinctive lesbian feminist cultures and identities. In contrast to early baby boomers, women born at the tail end of the baby boom (1960–1964) came out in a vastly different cultural context. Second-wave feminism had already peaked, the AIDS epidemic and debates about sexuality changed the context for lesbian identity and activism, and organizing by women of color created the development of an intersectional view of lesbian identity and activism. Through an analysis of feminist magazines, newsletters, and texts of the late 1960s through the 1990s, this paper explores the cultural contexts through which radical lesbian feminist identities arose and, for a period, flourished in the U.S. By the end of the 1980s and 1990s, as second-wave feminism declined, lesbian feminist identity shifted. Over the last decades of the twentieth century, new queer forms of identification emerged, coupled with a decline of lesbian identification among younger people. I argue that these new forms represent both continuity and disruption with earlier forms of lesbian identification.

Sexual and reproductive health of baby boomers.

Early baby boomers constitute a cohort that was the first to benefit from numerous innovative interventions in sexual and reproductive health services as exemplified by hormonal contraception, legal abortion, invitro fertilisation, screening mammography and menopausal hormone replacement besides medication for male erectile dysfunction. The quest for a youth elixir continues to be a challenge for sexual health sciences.

Demographics and social determinants of oral health for baby boomers.

Age cohorts such as the baby boomers are influenced by historical experiences and the socio-dental events during their lifespan. These events/experiences have impacted their health behavior and consequently, their systemic and oral health. As the baby boomer population is aging, and the majority of them are retaining some of their natural teeth for longer, only fewer are becoming edentulous. This paper discusses the demographics and the social determinants of health of the early baby boomers (1945-1955), as well as the late boomers (1956-1964). We have used data from the literature to describe the events which might have impacted these cohorts' attitudes and expectations towards the utilization of health care and dental services. There are variations in the way different age groups perceive dentistry and use dental and other healthcare services, known as cohort differences. Nonetheless, because people are now keeping more of their natural teeth as they age, there is a greater demand for oral healthcare among the baby boomer generation. In order to provide specialized care that addresses their unique needs, there is a need for expanded training programs at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. A cohort is composed of numerous individuals whose attitudes and behaviors are shaped by their personal life experiences and broader societal trends. Consequently, any information about a particular cohort can only offer generalizations. As healthcare providers, it is important to be aware of the general characteristics of a cohort, but also exercise caution when applying them to individual patients. We should interpret these characteristics in light of each patient's unique circumstances.

Oral health issues of late Baby Boomers (1956-1964).

To examine the issues and forces on the oral health of late Baby Boomers born in 1956-1964 that have shaped their oral health status and the opportunities and disparities in oral health care that this generational cohort has experienced. Past and current literature on the oral health status of this cohort was reviewed in light of concurrent social, political, and economic climates in order to better understand current and future needs in oral health care for this generation. The majority of late Baby Boomers have not yet had their 65th birthday. They have benefitted from more opportunities for education, preventive health care, and technological advances in dentistry and medicine than any other prior generation, including their big brothers and sisters-the early Baby Boomers. Yet they have had fewer economic advantages than the early Boomers. Age prevalent diseases, conditions, and medications common to older adults will pose new risks to oral health. Discrete, longitudinal data on oral health status and needs by generational cohort-such as for the late Baby Boomer cohort-is lacking. Despite retaining more of their dentition than any other generation, it also evident that over the course of their lifetime, poverty, racism, and limited education have been unrelenting barriers to oral healthcare and undermine outcomes of care.

Oral health issues of early baby boomers.

The purpose of this article is to detail the oral health status of early baby boomers and how it is affected by the cultural influences after World War II. National data on clinically and self-assessed oral conditions from the 2021 NIDCR Oral Health in America Report, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2011-2014), Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Cancer Institute (2018), the Indian Health Service (2022), and the Health and Retirement Study (2018) were tabulated and compared (where available) to similar data for older and younger cohorts. Data analyses show that there is more tooth retention overall. There are higher levels of tooth loss, unrestored caries, and periodontitis among Black, American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Hispanic baby boomers, and the poor. Smokers had higher rates of periodontitis. A life course approach to oral health care is warranted. Only by regular access and preventive care throughout life can avoidable, unnecessary, overly complex, and invasive procedures be prevented.

Open-Population Inference: An Investigation of the Underrepresentation of the Second Generation in Research on Intergenerational Income Mobility

Studies about intergenerational income mobility are increasingly popular across the social sciences. These studies require individuals’ own incomes and their parents’ incomes to be observed prospectively across decades. Because this longitudinal observation is less difficult among third-and-higher generation persons than among 1.5- and second-generation persons (particularly undocumented 1.5-generation immigrants), studies of intergenerational income mobility risk underrepresenting 1.5- and second-generation persons. This article investigates this underrepresentation of people from immigrant families and provides an analytic framework that adjusts for this underrepresentation in studies of intergenerational income mobility. Using data on the experiences of two US birth cohorts, early baby boomers (born 1948–1953) and late generation Xers/early millennials (born 1978–1983), we illustrate our method of adjusting for the underrepresentation of 1.5- and second-generation persons. We find that within the late generation-X/early-millennial cohort, the underrepresentation of 1.5- and second-generation persons does not substantially bias intergenerational income mobility estimates. However, inferences about change across cohorts are more affected by the underrepresentation of 1.5- and second-generation persons in data used to estimate intergenerational income mobility because the population shares of these groups grew across the two cohorts. We discuss how our approach can be applied to other settings, including other countries, and to cross-country comparisons. We encourage future research on these comparisons because the underrepresentation of 1.5- and second-generation persons might substantially affect understanding of cross-national income mobility differences.

Internet Use and Cognitive Functioning in Later Life: Focus on Asymmetric Effects and Contextual Factors

Despite the emerging literature linking information communicative technology (ICT) use and cognitive functioning in later life, whether the association varies as a function of social environment and birth cohort remain an open question. Using nine waves of panel data from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study (2002-2018), we examined within-person asymmetric effects of transitioning into and out of Internet use on cognitive functioning, and whether the associations vary depending on living arrangement and across birth cohorts. Results from the multilevel models indicated that transitioning into Internet use was associated with improved cognitive functioning at a given wave and decelerated cognitive decline over time. Similarly, ceasing to use the Internet was associated with worse cognitive functioning and accelerated cognitive decline. Further, such linkages between Internet use and cognitive functioning were moderated by living arrangement and birth cohort. The detrimental effect of ceasing Internet use was worse for those older adults who live alone. Transitioning into and out of Internet use was unrelated to changes in cognitive functioning among recent HRS cohorts, namely, the War Babies (b:1942-47) and Early Baby Boomers (b:1948-53). These findings highlight the interplay between technology, social environment, and cognitive functioning in later life. The salubrious effects of adopting an ICT technology, such as the Internet, as well as deleterious effects of ceasing to use such technology, underscores the importance of promoting digital literacy and access to ICT technologies among the older adult population.

Reversing the Gains of the Civil Rights and Women’s Movements: How Housing Strain and Market Exclusion Led to Wealth Depletion During the Great Recession

Objective: We use feminist standpoint theory to investigate how the intersection of identity influenced wealth loss following the Great Recession among older single adults who benefitted from the social movements and legislative gains of the 1960s and 1970s. Looking back on more than a decade of recession and recovery, this study explores how intersections of race, class, and gender produced different wealth outcomes for the early baby boomer EBB cohort. Method: A sample of older baby boomers from the University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study was selected at two waves, 2004 and 2016. We used a generalized estimation equation with interaction effects to test changes in wealth over time for different race and gender groups. Results: Controlling for income and health, we found that both single Black and white women lost wealth at significantly higher rates than single white men. Poor health was associated with wealth shocks, or substantial wealth loss, for single white women, whereas the intersection of race and gender was associated with wealth loss for single Black women. Black women in this cohort ended the Great Recession with $85,000 less than their peers based on the overlapping identities of race and gender independent of health trouble. Conclusions: The policy history of women’s credit and lending access, as well as predatory targeting during the subprime lending crisis, contextualizes our findings. We discuss policy approaches to prevent future wealth erosion in households headed by Black women.

A New Look at Cohort Trend and Underlying Mechanisms in Cognitive Functioning.

The prevalence of dementia in the United States seems to have declined over the last few decades. We investigate trends and their underlying mechanisms in cognitive functioning (CF) across 7 decades of birth cohorts from the Greatest Generation to Baby Boomers. Data come from 30,191 participants of the 1996-2014 Health and Retirement Study. CF is measured as a summary score on a 35-point cognitive battery of items. We use generalized linear models to examine the trends in CF and explanatory variables across birth cohorts. Then, Karlson-Holm-Breen decomposition method is used to evaluate the contribution of each explanatory variable to the trend of CF. CF has been improving from the Greatest Generation to Late Children of Depression and War Babies, but then significantly declines since the Early-Baby Boomers and continues into Mid-Baby Boomers. This pattern is observed universally across genders, race/ethnicities, education groups, occupations, income, and wealth quartiles. The worsening CF among Baby Boomers does not originate from childhood conditions, adult education, or occupation. It can be attributed to lower household wealth, lower likelihood of marriage, higher levels of loneliness, depression and psychiatric problems, and more cardiovascular risk factors (e.g., obesity, physical inactivity, hypertension, stroke, diabetes, and heart disease). The worsening CF among Baby Boomers may potentially reverse past favorable trends in dementia as they reach older ages and cognitive impairment becomes more common if no effective interventions and policy responses are in place.

CUMULATIVE DIS/ADVANTAGE, COHORTS, AND ECONOMIC SHOCKS BEFORE AND AFTER: LIFE COURSE INEQUALITY AND THE RECESSION

We examined age/cohort profiles of income inequality in the Survey of Consumer Finances for 2007, 2010, and 2016. Overall, the Gini coefficient decreased somewhat following the 2008 onset of the Recession, but rebounded by 2016 to a higher level than the 2007 baseline. Within-cohort inequality trends from 2007-2016 differed considerably across cohorts. For late baby boomers and millennials, inequality increased sharply – from .56 to .67 for the 1963-1972 birth cohort and from .49 to .60 for the 1973-1982 birth cohort. Inequality was higher at baseline for early baby boomers than later cohorts but did not increase as they moved into midlife and early late life. The Great Recession, with its large drops in asset values, initially led to slight reductions in inequality, but this effect was temporary. Late boomers and millennials experienced sharp increases in inequality following the Recession, presaging a very high-inequality late-life experience for these cohorts.

Savings between Cohorts: The Role of Planning

We compare the saving behavior of two cohorts: the Early Baby Boomers (EBB, age 51- 56 in 2004) and the HRS cohort (age 51-56 in 1992). We find that EBB have accumulated more wealth than the previous cohort but they benefited from a large increase in house prices, which lifted the wealth of many home-owners. In fact, there are many families among EBB, particularly those headed by respondents with low education, low income, and minorities, which have less wealth than the previous cohort. Lack of wealth can be traced to lack of retirement planning. Notwithstanding the many initiatives aimed at fostering planning in the 1990s, a large portion of EBB still do not plan for retirement even though most respondents are close to it. The effect of planning is remarkably similar between the two cohorts; those who do not plan accumulate much lower amounts of wealth - from 20 to 45 percent depending on the location in the wealth distribution - than those who do plan. Thus, for both the EBB and the HRS cohort, lack of planning is tantamount to lack of saving irrespective of the many changes in the economy between 1992 and 2004.

The Wage Penalty for Parental Caregiving: Has It Declined Over Time?

AbstractObjectiveThis study analyzed differences in the wage penalty for parental caregiving between early Baby Boomers and the previous generation.BackgroundResearch has explored the association between parental caregiving and women's labor market outcomes, but few studies have conducted cross‐cohort analyses.MethodThis study used nationally representative data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and compared two cohorts of individuals aged 50 to 64. One cohort was born between 1931 and 1941, and the other was born between 1948 and 1953. The 1994 to 2012 waves of the HRS were pooled, and multivariate fixed effects regression models were used to estimate the associations among birth cohort, parental caregiving, and women's and men's log hourly wages.ResultsIntense parental caregiving was associated with a 4.8% reduction in women's wages. Baby Boom women did not fare better than their predecessors. Moreover, despite a substantial increase in Baby Boom men's parental care, the association between caregiving and their labor market outcomes was negligible. Similar to their predecessors, married and unmarried Baby Boom men did not pay wage penalties for parental caregiving.ConclusionThese results extend our understanding of the gendered life course and suggest that parental caregiving may contribute to older women's economic disadvantage.

DEPRESSION TRAJECTORIES IN OLDER ADULTS: DIFFERENCES BY GENDER, RACE/ETHNICITY, EDUCATION, AND COHORT

Depression symptoms have been shown to follow a U-shaped curve over age. However, little is known about changes in the age trajectory of depression symptoms over time and differences by sociodemographic groups. We assessed the age trajectories of depression symptoms among older adults in a U.S. national sample, examining differences by gender, race/ethnicity, education, and cohort. Using the Health and Retirement Study, we analyzed data from 34,675 adults aged 50 or older who were surveyed biennially between 1994 and 2014. Depression symptoms were measured via the 8-item Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale. Multi-level models with random intercepts and slopes were used to characterize growth curves of depression over age, first adjusting for sociodemographic factors and then allowing each to modify the age effect. Adjusting for sociodemographics, mean depression symptoms at age 50 was 1.63, fell to a minimum of 1.34 at age 67, and then rose exponentially to a maximum of 2.61. Younger cohorts showed increasingly flat slopes (p<0.001), with declines over age in war babies (born 1942–1947) and early baby boomers (born 1948–1953). Women compared to men (p<0.001) had more depression symptoms with flatter slopes. All race/ethnicity groups and education levels showed similar curves over age. There is significant variability in the age trajectory of depression systems over time and by gender. The conventional U-shaped curve may not correctly characterize depression over old age for more recent cohorts. Studies are needed to understand the sources of this important shift in the age trajectory of depression symptoms.

A study of Canadian female baby boomers

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding of baby boomers’ physiological and psychological needs through clothing consumption.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research approach was employed for this study. Data were collected from two generational segments: early baby boomers (1946–1954), and late baby boomers (1955–1964). In total, 13 informants aged from 53 to 71 years were participated in this study. Content analysis and interpretive approach were used for data analysis.FindingsAccording to the findings, there are several reasons why the baby boomers shopped for clothing, including a way of stress relief or retail therapy, wardrobe update, replacement of worn-out garments, attractiveness of clothing styles and convenience. Style, fit, comfort and colour were the four most important product evaluative cues. Other than product cues, age appropriateness is an important factor for clothing consumption. Many informants were disappointed with their current body type, shopping experience and the industry offers.Practical implicationsAge-appropriate clothing can give wearers greater self-assurance/-gratification. If fashion designers create their products based on the baby boomers’ cognitive age, it would probably increase their customers’ acceptance and satisfaction.Originality/valueThe rapid growth of the aging population is a global phenomenon. Therefore, investigating the needs and challenges of the baby boomer generation is both timely and imperative. This study intended to offer new knowledge on the issues of baby boomers’ unmet needs, and provide insights and implications to fashion practitioners.

Asset Depletion, Chronic Financial Stress, and Mortgage Trouble Among Older Female Homeowners.

The Great Recession disproportionately impacted older adults and women of color, suggesting that women may be entering retirement without adequate assets. However, the current literature lacks a detailed account of women's experiences of mortgage trouble and foreclosure, as well as a longitudinal view of how these experiences impacted their overall financial assets. Grounded in cumulative inequality theory, this mixed methods study employed a QUAL→quan approach to gather qualitative data from a sample of 21 older adult women regarding their experiences of mortgage trouble. Quantitative longitudinal data was gathered for a subsample of the Early Baby Boomer Cohort using the Health and Retirement Study. Qualitative findings indicated women approaching retirement experienced chronic underemployment, wage stagnation, and financial volatility as contributors to asset depletion and eventual mortgage default or foreclosure. Quantitative results indicated asset depletion both during and post-Recession was considerably more pronounced among older adult women of color compared to older adult White men. These findings suggest that a lifetime of financial disadvantage coupled with macroeconomic instability situates older adult women, particularly women of color, in a financially vulnerable position for retirement. The ways in which 2017 attacks on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Dodd-Frank, and the Fiduciary rule carry potential to further destabilize this population are also discussed.

Why are U.S. Households Claiming Social Security Later?

Over the past two decades, the share of individuals claiming Social Security at the Early Eligibility Age has dropped and the average retirement age has increased. At the same time, Social Security rules have changed substantially, employer-sponsored retirement plans have shifted from defined benefit (DB) to defined contribution (DC), health has improved, and mortality has decreased. In theory, all of these changes could lead to a trend towards later claiming. Disentangling the effect of any one change is difficult because they have been occurring simultaneously. This paper uses the Gustman and Steinmeier structural model of retirement timing to investigate which of these changes matter most by simulating their effects on the original cohort (1931-1941 birth years) of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS). The predicted behavior is then compared to the actual retirements of the Early Baby Boomer cohort (1948-1953 birth years) to see how much of the later cohort’s delayed claiming and retirement can be explained by these changes. This paper found that: • The Early Baby Boomer cohort was less likely to be fully retired than the HRS cohort at both age 62 (36.7 percent vs. 44.0 percent) and age 64 (49.5 percent vs. 53.9 percent). • The model suggests that the shift from DB towards DC plans was the biggest contributor to these declines, followed by better health. • Changes to Social Security rules and improvements in mortality played smaller roles. • Taken together, the four changes explain about 60 percent of the drop in full retirement at 62 – the remaining could be due to changes in preferences or other changes not simulated like the rising cost of health care. The policy implications of this paper are: • As DB plans continue to fade in the private-sector, claiming will likely be further delayed. • If health continues to improve, claiming could be moderately delayed. • The resumption of the increase in the Full Retirement Age is not likely to lead to substantial delays in claiming.

Correlates of Intimate Partner Violence in Male Baby Boom and Elderly South Korean Cohorts

The current study seeks to identify the past-year prevalence of intimate partner violence (IPV) and to find out how factors from the ecological system perspectives relate to IPV among baby boomers and the current elderly. The 2010 National Domestic Violence Survey data of South Korea were used. The samples consisted of current elderly men (N = 180), early baby boomers (N = 134), and late baby boomers (N = 168). The findings were that 21.4 % of the late baby boomers, 13.4 % of the early baby boomers and 11.7 % of the current elderly reported IPV in the past year. For the late and early baby boomers, it was shown that controlling behavior was associated with IPV. Among the current elderly group, depression and patriarchal attitude were associated with IPV. The findings suggest specifically targeted intervention programs in order to mitigate IPV by generation in South Korea.

The Endless Baby Boomer Generation

ABSTRACTUsing the Eurobarometer cross-sectional data sets conducted between 1976 and 2008 in nine European countries, we aim to describe and explain cohort differences. We make use of recent improvements of the age–period–cohort (APC) methodology to have a better assessment of these cohort-based changes. At first, we find strong and significant cohort fluctuations in participation in political discussion where the people born in the period 1945–1955 have an almost systematically higher participation than previous and following cohorts. The introduction of individual level variables such as education does not explain the cohort bump of the early baby boomers. Post-APC estimations show that the contextual factors size of a birth cohort and economic affluence at the entry into adulthood are important explanatory factors for cohort differences. In conclusion, since strong cohort effects are detected in the APC model, the decline in participation of the young appears to be less a temporary moratorium that will vanish with age but a durable trait without redeem.

The Great Recession, Decline, and Rebound in Household Wealth for the Near-Retirement Population

This article uses data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine the effects of the Great Recession on wealth held by the near-retirement-age population over 2006–2012. Despite a severe decline in asset values during this period, the wealth of early Baby Boomers (ages 51 to 56 in 2004), fell by only 3.6%. Much of the decline was cushioned by the wealth represented by Social Security and defined benefit (DB) pensions. The rebound in asset values observed between 2010 and 2012 mitigated, but did not erase, the losses experienced earlier. Those in the highest wealth deciles, with a larger share of financial assets, were hurt most severely. Unlike those in lower wealth deciles, they have yet to regain the wealth lost during the recession. Although the losses in assets imposed by the Great Recession were relatively modest, the failure of assets to grow above their initial levels has imposed a cost on recent retirees.