Baby Boomers

Marc Freedman casts the ageing of America in a positive light, identifying it not as a problem but as an opportunity to be seized, provided we can learn to engage the experience and talent of older adults.

In large chain bookstores the "religion" section is gone and in its place is an expanding number of topics including angels, Sufism, journey, recovery, meditation, magic, inspiration, Judaica, astrology, gurus, Bible, prophesy, evangelicalism, Mary, Buddhism, Catholicism, and esoterica. As Wade Clark Roof notes, such changes over the last two decades reflect a shift away from religion as traditionally understood to more diverse and creative approaches. But what does this splintering of the religious perspective say about Americans? Have we become more interested in spiritual concerns or have we become lost among trends? Do we value personal spirituality over traditional religion and no longer see ourselves united in a larger community of faith? Roof first credited this religious diversity to the baby boomers in his bestselling "A Generation of Seekers (1993). He returns to interview many of these people, now in mid-life, to reveal a generation with a unique set of spiritual values--a generation that has altered our historic interpretations of religious beliefs, practices, and symbols, and perhaps even our understanding of the sacred i

The buying habits of baby boomers really do differ from those of their parents. The authors show how marketers can use each group's consumption patterns to reach both markets most effectively. Another insight: buying habits of these groups differ according to the product or service offered. By analyzing each cohort's buying habits in various purchasing situations, the book dramatizes the need for customized marketing strategies. Based on two national surveys conducted by the Center for Mature Studies, Georgia State University, the book will be essential for marketing professionals and their academic colleagues.

Viewing artistic works through the lens of both contemporary gerontological theory and postmodernist concepts, the contributing scholars examine literary treatments, cinematic depictions, and artistic portraits of aging from Shakespeare to Hemingway, from Horton Foote to Disney, from Rembrandt to Alice Neale, while also comparing the attitudes toward aging in Native American, African American, and Anglo American literature. The examples demonstrate that long before gerontologists endorsed a Janus-faced model of aging, artists were celebrating the diversity of the elderly, challenging the bio-medical equation of senescence with inevitable senility. Underlying all of this discussion is the firm conviction that cultural texts construct as well as encode the conventional perceptions of their society; that literature, the arts, and the media not only mirror society's mores but can also help to create and enforce them.

With the transformation of the elderly into a major political force in American politics, older Americans have used their increasing numbers and political power to capture a growing and disproportionate share of public resources. This book explores their emergence from obscurity to political preeminence and considers the effect of their power on other members of society. It traces the shift in public attitude from the 18th century to the early 20th century, when the elderly population increased and needed an economic safety net. It then focuses on the elderly's growing power in the late 20th century and examines how they are receiving an expanding share of the budget for such programs as Social Security and Medicare at the expense of such groups as children in poverty.

This contributed volume provides a broad-based and in-depth exploration of demographic and related issues facing American society as it anticipates the retirement of the so-called "baby boomers." The work provides a critical examination of the population and labor force projections most commonly used in discussions of retirement in the next century; looks at issues relating to the health and age structure of the population, examining those issues in the context of support mechanisms for retirement income security; and considers the potential lessons to be learned from the experiences of other industrialized societies in dealing with an aging population.

Americans at Midlife is an exploration of the middle years within the framework of trends in the larger society, including longer life expectancy and an aging population; changes in marriage, divorce, and family composition; increased participation of women in the labor force; and the growth of two-income families.