…he conducted meetings. Lots and lots and lots of meetings, many in the middle of the night.
from Starring the Boss Baby as Himself!
written and illustrated by Marla Frazee
Beach Lane Books, 2010
Surprise! Millennials have surpassed Baby Boomers as a demographic in the United States. Surprise again! It’s old news.
The Boomer Generation peaked in 1999 and held that position for two decades.
According to Pew Research, “Millennials, whom we define as ages 23 to 38 in 2019, numbered 72.1 million, and Boomers (ages 55 to 73) numbered 71.6 million.”
Before that, though, the 1960s came and went. In 1964, Jack Weinberg famously advised us Boomers not to trust anyone over 30. By 1984, Abbie Hoffman wondered whether people under 30 could be trusted. UPI (United Press International) archives.
Hoffman and Weinberg were both part of the Silent Generation (named for not speaking up against Joseph McCarthy’s communist scare and not protesting America’s involvement in the Vietnam War). Hoffman, aged 47 in 1984, claimed, “it may be the other way around.” As part of the Silent Generation, Hoffman meant the GenXers were not committed to social change. Boomers, he claimed, rebelled against hypocrisy. But GenXers rebelled because “the system” was getting in the way of their social interactions and job performances.
It’s dangerous and unfair to paint whole generations with a broad brush, but here it is.
Silent Generation: inactive members of society
Boomers: active and motivated change-makers
GenXers: “me” driven, success-oriented
Millennials: motivated by finding meaning, purpose, and making a social impact
My husband and I are Boomers. Our kids are GenXers. They came of age (mostly) amid the AIDS epidemic, MTV, and Sesame Street. They mostly were too young to vote for (or against) Ronald Reagan, but were affected by his Reaganomics policies.
Heavily involved in their children’s lives, the term “helicopter parent” was coined in 1969, and applied to us Boomers as we were busy raising our GenXers.
In 2025, Boomers are between 61-79 years old. Millennials are between the ages 29-44. And the demographic gap is widening. The latest US Census statistics I could find are from 2023. Just two years ago, the Census revealed 65.5 million Baby Boomers and 72.7 million Millennials (USA Today).
The reasons why the balance shifted are many. People move. Lots of people still want to come here for work. Most of those immigrants are Millennials, it’s their age. More Baby Boomers are reaching the end of their lives. It’s their age, too.
I like to look for similarities among the many humans I meet, and we humans are wired to look for meaning in our lives. Social scientists use their tools: focus groups, surveys, and experiments, to discover what large groups have in common.
You can find lists and lists of generational characteristics. They are all common traits. They speak of the middle of the spectrum, not of the many people who slink toward the edges. They all overgeneralize. Here goes:
After WWII, the American economy soared.
Baby Boomers experienced the Vietnam War (and lots of us fought in it and protested it), assassinations of JFK, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and John Lennon, Woodstock (and all that that involved), and the Beatles (and all that that involved, too. John Glen orbited Earth and Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. Women’s health care leaped forward when Roe v. Wade was decided.
Boomers value loyalty, hard work, and saving money for the future. As a group, they show respect for authority, but not blind obedience. They believe a “good job” requires a college education. They prefer personal contact over email, ZOOM, and texts.
Boomers believe in “prosperity through hard, honest work,” in other words, the American Dream is still possible. This optimism fuels their drive for success. We like to feel useful and productive.
Like the Boomers, Millennials also lived through communal trauma and joy. They remember 9/11 and life before the internet. They remember when music came over the radio in real time. Their phones were attached to the wall, and one phone number per household was the norm.
Millennials grew up with technology. They were not born into it like GenZers. They adapt to new tech easier than GenXers and especially us Boomers. But being fluent in both digital media and analog, boundaries can be a challenge as Millennials straddle the divide between the two.
Millennials value their community and work to help it survive. They want to find meaning in their work, achieve self-satisfaction, and experience the feeling that their work is making a difference in the world. not just giving them financial rewards.
They value the importance of protecting the environment, human rights, and creativity and look for careers that align with their values, including their company’s ethics.
Even though they are the most well-educated generation in US history, many carry lots of student debt. They entered the workforce after the Great Recession, and COVID hit millennials hard. They are less likely to own their own home than their parents at the same age. They are less able to save money.
Success is redefined for many Millennials. Their American Dream is the ability to experience life as they live it, more than the financial rewards of a nine-to-five.
No matter our age, we’re all looking for happiness. Most people are kind and want to be productive, any way that productivity is defined. We want to love and be loved, no matter how that love is expressed. Even though their advice is not always appreciated at the time it’s given, most people want the next generation to thrive, and the one after that, and the one after that, too.
One more week of Jon Meacham’s Soul of America (Random House, 2018). I’m getting very close to the end. Even when he’s talking about the American Revolution, the New Deal, or Civil Rights, he reveals similarities with today. Even though I would not call him optimistic, he is realistic, energizing, and encouraging. Read this one. It’s important.
Be curious! (and march for your beliefs)
from Starring the Boss Baby as Himself!
written and illustrated by Marla Frazee
Beach Lane Books, 2010
Surprise! Millennials have surpassed Baby Boomers as a demographic in the United States. Surprise again! It’s old news.
The Boomer Generation peaked in 1999 and held that position for two decades.
According to Pew Research, “Millennials, whom we define as ages 23 to 38 in 2019, numbered 72.1 million, and Boomers (ages 55 to 73) numbered 71.6 million.”
Before that, though, the 1960s came and went. In 1964, Jack Weinberg famously advised us Boomers not to trust anyone over 30. By 1984, Abbie Hoffman wondered whether people under 30 could be trusted. UPI (United Press International) archives.
Hoffman and Weinberg were both part of the Silent Generation (named for not speaking up against Joseph McCarthy’s communist scare and not protesting America’s involvement in the Vietnam War). Hoffman, aged 47 in 1984, claimed, “it may be the other way around.” As part of the Silent Generation, Hoffman meant the GenXers were not committed to social change. Boomers, he claimed, rebelled against hypocrisy. But GenXers rebelled because “the system” was getting in the way of their social interactions and job performances.
It’s dangerous and unfair to paint whole generations with a broad brush, but here it is.
Silent Generation: inactive members of society
Boomers: active and motivated change-makers
GenXers: “me” driven, success-oriented
Millennials: motivated by finding meaning, purpose, and making a social impact
My husband and I are Boomers. Our kids are GenXers. They came of age (mostly) amid the AIDS epidemic, MTV, and Sesame Street. They mostly were too young to vote for (or against) Ronald Reagan, but were affected by his Reaganomics policies.
Heavily involved in their children’s lives, the term “helicopter parent” was coined in 1969, and applied to us Boomers as we were busy raising our GenXers.
In 2025, Boomers are between 61-79 years old. Millennials are between the ages 29-44. And the demographic gap is widening. The latest US Census statistics I could find are from 2023. Just two years ago, the Census revealed 65.5 million Baby Boomers and 72.7 million Millennials (USA Today).
The reasons why the balance shifted are many. People move. Lots of people still want to come here for work. Most of those immigrants are Millennials, it’s their age. More Baby Boomers are reaching the end of their lives. It’s their age, too.
I like to look for similarities among the many humans I meet, and we humans are wired to look for meaning in our lives. Social scientists use their tools: focus groups, surveys, and experiments, to discover what large groups have in common.
You can find lists and lists of generational characteristics. They are all common traits. They speak of the middle of the spectrum, not of the many people who slink toward the edges. They all overgeneralize. Here goes:
After WWII, the American economy soared.
Baby Boomers experienced the Vietnam War (and lots of us fought in it and protested it), assassinations of JFK, Bobby Kennedy, Martin Luther King, and John Lennon, Woodstock (and all that that involved), and the Beatles (and all that that involved, too. John Glen orbited Earth and Neil Armstrong landed on the moon. Women’s health care leaped forward when Roe v. Wade was decided.
Boomers value loyalty, hard work, and saving money for the future. As a group, they show respect for authority, but not blind obedience. They believe a “good job” requires a college education. They prefer personal contact over email, ZOOM, and texts.
Boomers believe in “prosperity through hard, honest work,” in other words, the American Dream is still possible. This optimism fuels their drive for success. We like to feel useful and productive.
Like the Boomers, Millennials also lived through communal trauma and joy. They remember 9/11 and life before the internet. They remember when music came over the radio in real time. Their phones were attached to the wall, and one phone number per household was the norm.
Millennials grew up with technology. They were not born into it like GenZers. They adapt to new tech easier than GenXers and especially us Boomers. But being fluent in both digital media and analog, boundaries can be a challenge as Millennials straddle the divide between the two.
Millennials value their community and work to help it survive. They want to find meaning in their work, achieve self-satisfaction, and experience the feeling that their work is making a difference in the world. not just giving them financial rewards.
They value the importance of protecting the environment, human rights, and creativity and look for careers that align with their values, including their company’s ethics.
Even though they are the most well-educated generation in US history, many carry lots of student debt. They entered the workforce after the Great Recession, and COVID hit millennials hard. They are less likely to own their own home than their parents at the same age. They are less able to save money.
Success is redefined for many Millennials. Their American Dream is the ability to experience life as they live it, more than the financial rewards of a nine-to-five.
No matter our age, we’re all looking for happiness. Most people are kind and want to be productive, any way that productivity is defined. We want to love and be loved, no matter how that love is expressed. Even though their advice is not always appreciated at the time it’s given, most people want the next generation to thrive, and the one after that, and the one after that, too.
One more week of Jon Meacham’s Soul of America (Random House, 2018). I’m getting very close to the end. Even when he’s talking about the American Revolution, the New Deal, or Civil Rights, he reveals similarities with today. Even though I would not call him optimistic, he is realistic, energizing, and encouraging. Read this one. It’s important.
Be curious! (and march for your beliefs)
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