baby boomer
Summary
A baby boomer is a member of the large birth cohort born after World War II, usually about 1946 to 1964 in the United States. Most testable: as this cohort ages and retires, the share of older adults and the old-age dependency ratio typically rise.
Detail
Meaning: A baby boomer is a person born in the surge of births after World War II, usually dated about 1946 to 1964 in the United States. Boomers form a birth cohort: people born in the same period who live through the same historical events at similar ages and may share attitudes. Because the cohort is large, it typically strains institutions at each stage of life: first schools, then the job market, now retirement systems and healthcare.
On the MCAT: Expect a population pyramid with a bulge at middle or older ages, or a passage on population aging. Predict that the old-age dependency ratio (people 65 and older relative to working-age people) rises as boomers retire. Questions may also separate an age effect (due to being a certain age), a cohort effect (due to birth period), and a period effect (due to a historical event affecting everyone at once).
Common confusion: "Baby boomer" names a birth cohort, not an age bracket, so a boomer is still a boomer at 80. A difference between boomers and younger adults in a one-time survey may reflect cohort rather than aging. Following the same people over time (a longitudinal design) helps separate the two.
Sources
- Introduction to Sociology (OpenStax)
- Sociology (Macionis)
- Sociology: A Brief Introduction (Schaefer)
Written for the MCAT and checked before it was published. For study reference only. Spotted an error? Let us know.