Baby Boomers: Don't Call Me "Old", at Least Yet

A comprehensive study of baby boomers sheds new light on the attitudes and opinions of the 78 million members of this generation as they deal with middle age issues and prepare for their twilight years. First lets see how much you know about baby boomers:

True or False: The majority of baby boomers who will turn 62 this year report that they are retired or will be fully retired by age 65.

True or False: The majority of these baby boomers have been married only once.

True or False: The majority of these boomers, who came of age in the 60s, are conservative.

It turns out that the answers to all of these questions are true. Notwithstanding what we have read about the unique aspects of baby boomers, they have more in common with the generations that preceded them than not. This is surprising since their formative years couldn't have been more different than that of their parents. Today's 62 year olds were "born in 1946, were 17 years old in 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and turned 18 at the start of the conflict in Vietnam. Their 21st birthdays were in 1967, the year of the 'summer of love,' and just before the political turmoil of 1968."

"Despite the social and political turbulence of their youth, these leading edge boomers have established very traditional lifestyle characteristics. They were married once, had two children and feel they've done a decent job of caring for their family, their community and themselves. They really are more like Ward and June Cleaver than we may have thought and they might be classified as 'conventional.' Just 2% say they attended the Woodstock Festival of 1969."

There are some notable differences however, possibly driven by the increased longevity of this group. In particular the 62-year olds do not consider themselves old and state that they will not be old for another 17 years. Health is the strongest factor in determining whether or not one feels old. The healthier individuals defined old age as 83 with the ones in poor health saying it happens at 74.

Caregiving is also much less widespread than one might be lead to believe. "Only 5% have both parents still living; 27% have one parent. The fact that the remaining sixty-eight percent have neither of their parents living indicates that caregiving for an older relative is no longer a responsibility. Eighty-seven percent say neither they nor their spouse are caregivers to elderly parents or relatives right now." (Remember the study focused on 62 year olds and the numbers might give a different story for all baby boomers, particularly those at the tail end of the bubble.)

The study was conducted for Metlife and highlights are available from their website. Story quotes are from MSN Money's summary of the study.

h/t: Jackie Silver