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One factor that complicates discussions of age depen-
dency ratios is the fact that the definition of “working TERMS TO KNOW . . .
age” changes across countries and over time. Many peo- generations: Groups of people who were born around
ple still work well past age 65 either by choice or out the same time and share some common traits due to
of necessity. In countries with a large number of work- the cultural and societal influences they shared as they
ing elderly, for example, Japan, the dependency ratio grew up
may overestimate the actual social burden placed on Baby Boomers: People born from 1946 to 1964 during
working-age people. the post–World War II uptick in birth rate

The Silent Generation
8-2 What are the major social generations in
the United States? The Silent Generation consists of people born between
1924 and 1945 (the end of World War II). The origin of
Social Generations in the the term is generally attributed to the political cau-

United States tiousness of its members, particularly compared with
their parents. This generation lived through the Great
Have you heard the terms Baby Boomer, Gen Xer, and Depression of the 1930s and the Second World War and
millennial? These are the names given to social gen- is relatively small because people had fewer children
erations in the United States and some other parts of in those difficult times. The Silent Generation values
the world. The news media uses these terms frequently hard work and tends to be frugal (“waste not, want not”)
as they report on fashion and entertainment choices, and averse to debt. They follow rules, consider law and
marriage trends, and job markets. order important, and generally value stable families, so
Generations are groups of people who were born they rarely divorce. This generation also fought in the
around the same time and possess some common traits Korean War in the early 1950s, played a leadership role
due to the cultural and societal influences they shared in the civil rights movement in the 1960s, and helped to
as they grew up. Demographers use the term cohorts for shape the pop culture in the twentieth century.
such groups of people. There are five well- recognized gen-
erational cohorts in the United States and other parts of The Baby Boomer Generation

the world, though each cohort’s starting and ending years The Baby Boomers were born between 1946 and 1964
may differ slightly depending on the sources of infor- during the dramatic post–World War II uptick in the
mation. Knowing the size of each cohort and its major U.S. birth rate (Figure 8.3). The end of war and economic
traits can help us understand
and predict economic trends
and social changes in the future. 4.5
4.0
The GI Generation 3.5

The GI (an abbreviation for 3.0
“government issue”) is the old- 2.5
est generation in the United Live births (millions) 2.0
States. It is composed of Amer-
icans who were born before 1.5
1924, lived through the Great 1.0
Depression, and fought in .5
World War II. With the young- 0
est member of this generation 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2016
being 96 years old in 2020, the
total number of people in this Figure 8.3 The baby boom in the United States. What are some other baby booms the
cohort is quite small. United States has experienced since the 1960s, and what might be the reasons for them?

Module 8 Population Composition 25
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