Boomer Generation Shrinks by More than 1 Million

Between 2020 and 2021, the Baby Boom generation lost more than 1 million members, according to the Census Bureau's 2021 population estimates. Born from 1946 through 1964, Boomers numbered 71.4 million on July 1, 2020 and just 70.2 million on July 1, 2021—a loss of 1.1 million. Of course the Baby-Boom generation has been shrinking for years as it ages. The coronavirus pandemic pushed the Boomer losses above 1 million.

Boomers aren't alone in their decline. The number of Gen Xers fell by 245,000 between 2020 and 2021. Even the Millennial generation experienced its first-ever decline, falling by 80,000. The number of older Americans, born before 1945, experienced the biggest loss—a decline of 1.8 million. 

Size of generations in 2021 (and % of total population)
331,894,000 (100%): Total population
  47,412,000 (14%): Younger Americans (aged 0 to 11)
  64,940,000 (20%): Generation Z (aged 12 to 26)
  80,202,000 (24%): Millennial generation (aged 27 to 44)  
  49,088,000 (15%): Generation X (aged 45 to 56)  
  70,227,000 (21%): Baby Boom generation (aged 57 to 75)  
  20,024,000 (  6%): Older Americans (aged 76-plus)  

Note: Younger Americans were born in 2010 or later; Generation Z was born from 1995 through 2009; the Millennial generation was born from 1977 through 1994; Generation X was born from 1965 through 1976; the Baby-Boom generation was born from 1946 through 1964; Older Americans were born in 1945 or earlier.

Source: Census Bureau, National Population by Characteristics: 2020–2021

Most Gen X Households Have a Dog

Overall, 61 percent of American households have a pet, according to the 2018 General Social Survey. Among Gen Xers, the share is 66 percent, making them the most pet-friendly generation. This makes sense, since many acquired pets as they married and had children. Millennials are in the process of doing the same.

Percent of households with pets by generation, 2018

	Any pet	Dog	Cat
Total households	61%	46%	25%
Millennials	60	43	23
Generation Xers	66	53	28
Boomers	62	50	23
Older Americans	45	33	18

Boomers are about as likely as Millennials to have a pet. Among older Americans (the Silent and World War II generations) fewer than half of households have a pet. Many once had a pet, however. When asked whether they had a pet five years ago, 57 percent of older Americans said yes.

Note: In 2018, Millennials were aged 24 to 41, Generation Xers were aged 42 to 53, Baby Boomers were aged 54 to 72, and Older Americans were aged 73 or older.

Source: Demo Memo analysis of the General Social Survey

Householders Aged 65-Plus Are Spending 16% More

Average household spending reached a record high of $60,060 in 2017—finally surpassing by 2.1 percent the previous record set in 2006, after adjusting for inflation.

Households headed by people under age 45 are still spending less than their counterparts did in 2006, however. One reason for their lackluster spending is lower marriage rates, with fewer of these households being headed by married couples—the biggest spenders. At the other extreme, the spending of householders aged 65-plus has surged. Households headed by people aged 65 or older spent 16 percent more in 2017 than their counterparts spent in 2006. One factor behind the increased spending of older Americans is the influx of baby boomers into the age group. Studies have shown that the baby-boom cohort is more comfortable with debt than the generation it is replacing.

Average household spending, 2017 (and % change since 2006; in 2017$)
Under age 25: $33,629 (–1.9%)
Aged 25 to 34: $55,325 (–4.4%)
Aged 35 to 44: $69,034 (–1.2%)
Aged 45 to 54: $73,905 (+5.6%)
Aged 55 to 64: $64,972 (+5.2%)
Aged 65-plus: $49,542 (+16.2%)

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017 Consumer Expenditure Survey

Boomer Earnings Over a Lifetime

How much have earnings climbed for baby boomers over their lifetime? The Bureau of Labor Statistics has captured the data with its National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979, which is tracking a nationally representative sample of Americans born between 1957 and 1964. The panel was first interviewed in 1979 when they were aged 14 to 22. By the time the latest findings were collected in 2014–15, these "youth" were 49-to-58-years-old and approaching the end of their work life. This is how their earnings grew as they passed through each age group...

Average annual percent change in inflation-adjusted hourly earnings
From age 18 to 24: 6.4%
From age 25 to 34: 3.3%
From age 35 to 44: 1.8%
From age 45 to 50: –0.1%

College graduates fared much better than those with less education over the years, with their average annual earnings growing twice as fast as those with no more than a high school diploma through age 34, and then about one-third faster between ages 35 and 44. From age 45 to 50, the hourly earnings of college graduate grew by just 0.4 percent per year, but that was better than what happened to those with no more than a high school diploma—from age 45 to 50, their earnings fell 0.2 percent per year.

Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Number of Jobs, Labor Market Experience, and Earnings Growth among Americans at 50: Results from a Longitudinal Survey

Upper Middle Class More than Doubles in Size

The percentage of Americans whose incomes place them in the "upper middle class" more than doubled between 1979 and 2014, according to Stephen J. Rose of the Urban Institute. In the study, Rose defines the upper middle class as people in households with incomes ranging from $100,000 to $349,999 after adjusting for household size—or what he calls "family-of-three" equivalents. The upper middle class includes single-person households with an income of $57,735 or more, for example, and two-person households with an income of $81,650 or more.

Since 1979, the upper middle class has grown from just 12.9 to fully 29.4 percent of Americans. At the same time, the upper class expanded from 0.1 to 1.8 percent of the population. All other income classes shrank during those years...

Income Class as a Share of U.S. Population in 2014 (and 1979)
Upper class: 1.8% (0.1%)
Upper middle class: 29.4% (12.9%)
Middle middle class: 32.0% (38.8%)
Lower middle class: 17.1% (23.9%)
Lower class: 19.8% (24.3%)

"The striking finding is the change in the center of gravity in the economy," says Rose. "In 1979, 70 percent of the incomes were controlled by the three bottom groups. In contrast, in 2014, 63 percent of incomes were held by the upper middle class and the rich and just 37 percent by the bottom three groups." In the future, Rose plans to examine the changing demographics of the upper middle class—such as educational attainment and marital status—to determine the cause of its enormous growth. One causal factor that should be examined is the aging of baby boomers from young adulthood in 1979 to their peak-earning years in the 2000s. Will the size of the upper middle class shrink as boomers retire?

Source: Urban Institute, The Growing Size and Incomes of the Upper Middle Class

Growing Wealth Gap Between Old and Young

The old are wealthier than the young, a pattern that has long been true. But the gap is growing, according to an analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances, researchers compared median wealth in 1989 and 2013 for households in three broad age groups. Here are the trends (in 2013 dollars)...

Old (aged 62+): +40%
Median wealth in 2013: $209,590
Median wealth in 1989: $149,728

Middle-aged (aged 40-61): –31%
Median wealth in 2013: $106,094
Median wealth in 1989: $153,759

Young (under age 40): –28%
Median wealth in 2013: $14,220
Median wealth in 1989: $19,830

The old are doing better, and the middle-aged and young are falling behind. There's more bad news: "Baby boomers, who are now retiring in droves, are likely to be less well-off than their 'old' counterparts in the two previous generations," the Fed researchers conclude. "And it looks as if members of the next two generations—Generation X and Generation Y (the millennials)—might also end up less wealthy than the generation before them."

Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, The Demographics of Wealth—How Age, Education and Race Separate Thrivers from Strugglers in Today's Economy, Essay No. 3: Age, Birth Year and Wealth

Boomers Waiting to Claim Social Security Benefits

Boomers are less likely to claim Social Security benefits at age 62 (the earliest possible age) than their counterparts were in 1985, according to a study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. Here are the percentages of men and women who claimed Social Security at age 62 for those who turned 62 in 2010 (born in 1948) and those who turned 62 in 1985 (born in 1923)...

Born in 1948 and claimed Social Security benefits at age 62 in 2010
Men: 36%
Women: 40%

Born in 1923 and claimed Social Security benefits at age 62 in 1985
Men: 52%
Women: 64%

Source: Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, Trends in Social Security Claiming

Average Number of Jobs

The average middle-aged American has held 11.7 different jobs by age 48, according to the latest data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979.

The NLSY79 has been interviewing a nationally representative panel of respondents every few years for decades, since they were aged 14 to 22 (born between 1957 and 1964). The survey collects data on the panel's labor market experiences. In the latest iteration, respondents were aged 47 to 56, and they had held this many jobs between the ages of...

Number of jobs held
Ages 18 to 24: 5.5
Ages 25 to 29: 3.0
Ages 35 to 39: 2.1
Ages 40 to 48: 2.4

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Number of Jobs Held, Labor Market Activity, and Earnings Growth among the Youngest Baby Boomers: Results from a Longitudinal Survey Summary

Financial Status of Baby Boomers

Among people aged 50 to 64, fewer than one in four feels financially secure. These are the responses of a representative sample of the age group to the question, "What is your household's overall financial situation?"

23% say they are financial secure
27% say they have enough money to get by
22% say they're doing okay, but wish they had saved more
22% say they are struggling to make things work out financially
7% say they are in poor financial shape

Source: AARP, Americans Aged 50+ and Stress: An AARP Bulletin Survey

Stuck in the Suburbs

As boomers age into their sixties and beyond, most still live in suburban and rural areas designed for younger adults in their physical prime. Driving is a requirement for getting groceries, seeing a doctor, or visiting friends and family. Yet many older Americans (20 percent of those aged 50 or older, according to an AARP study) limit their driving or have given it up entirely. As boomers age, millions will be isolated in suburban and rural areas. Housing America's Older Adults, a new report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, examines this emerging problem and what can be done about it.

Who Watches Live TV?

The 56 percent majority of Americans say they most often watch television live, as it is broadcast. But the figure varies by generation...

Percent who most often watch television as it is broadcast
Millennials: 40%
Gen Xers: 58%
Boomers: 65%
Matures: 67%

Source: Harris Interactive, Cable is King but Streaming Stands Strong When It Comes to Americans' TV Viewing Habits

Divorce Rate Higher than Ever

How can that be? Everyone knows the divorce rate is down. Once boomers dumped spouse number one and settled down with spouse number two, divorce moved off their bucket list.

Not so, according to demographers Sheela Kennedy and Steven Ruggles. In their research paper, "Breaking Up Is Hard to Count: The Rise of Divorce in the United States, 1980-2010" (Demography, April 2014, $39.95), the researchers blame a "deterioration of the statistical system" for the "uncertainty about trends in union instability over the past three decades." Their analysis shows that rather than declining, the divorce rate in 2011 was at a record high.

When the National Center for Health Statistics ceased to collect data on marriage and divorce in the 1990s, there was little to go on except the Survey of Income and Program Participation, which has high nonresponse rates. Beginning in 2008, however, the American Community Survey began to ask respondents whether they had married or divorced in the past 12 months and the number of times they had married. What a difference data make. After analyzing the ACS data, Kennedy and Ruggles report a phenomenon missed by most observers—a 40 percent increase in the age-standardized divorce rate between 1980 and 2008. After a slight dip in 2009, the rate began to rise again and "2011 has the highest divorce rate of any year to date."

Divorce has been declining among adults under age 35, say Kennedy and Ruggles, largely because fewer are marrying and those who do marry are the most compatible. But among adults aged 35 or older, it's a different story—about half have experienced divorce or separation by their late fifties. "The Baby Boom generation was responsible for the extraordinary rise in marital instability after 1970," they explain. "They are now middle-aged, but their pattern of high marital instability continues."

The World Is Changing Boomers

In their youth, boomers believed they were going to change the world. They managed to shake things up a bit, but now the tables have turned. A grim Census Bureau report shows how the world is changing boomers.

The baby-boom generation numbered 76 million in 2012. Only 60 million will remain by 2030. A minuscule 2 million boomers will still be around in 2060 to recall the good old days of Woodstock and Watergate. In 2012, boomers accounted for a substantial 24 percent of the American population. By 2060 they will have been reduced to a blip—just 0.6 percent of the population. No one will know what a "baby boomer" is anymore.

But before they exit the scene, boomers will shake things up one more time. Because boomers are overwhelmingly non-Hispanic white, says the Census Bureau, "their projected declines due to mortality will contribute to projected decreases in the percentage of the population in the non-Hispanic white alone category. This pattern, coupled with increases in immigration and births to minority populations, is projected to produce an increasingly diverse population in years to come." In other words, the passing of each boomer will make the United States a bit more multicultural. Boomers are changing the world after all.

Source: Census Bureau, The Baby Boom Cohort in the United States: 2012 to 2060

The Baby-Boom Generation Is Shrinking

As of July 1, 2013, there were 316,128,839 people in the United States. The Census Bureau recently released estimates of the population by single-year of age on that date. Here is the size, share of total population, age range, and birth date of each generation...

Recession generation: 19,868,088 (6.3%)
   aged 4 or younger, born 2009 or later
iGeneration: 58,003,393 (18.3%)
   aged 5 to 18, born 1995 to 2008
Millennial generation: 77,970,996 (24.7%)
   aged 19 to 36, born 1977 to 1994
Generation X: 49,211,709 (15.6%)
   aged 37 to 48, born 1965 to 1976
Baby-boom generation: 75,900,696 (24.0%)
   aged 49 to 67, born 1946 to 1964
Older Americans: 35,173,957 (11.1%)
   aged 68 or older, born 1945 or earlier

Aging is taking a toll on boomers and older Americans. Since 2010, the baby-boom generation has shrunk by 1.1 million, and the number of older Americans has declined by 5.1 million. Generation X is just beginning the downward slide, falling by 207,000. The millennial generation is still growing, however. Thanks to immigration, the number of millennials expanded by 1.4 million between 2010 and 2013.

Summer or Winter?

According to a recent Gallup survey, only 34 percent of the American public worries a great deal about global warming. Maybe that's because fully 77 percent of Americans prefer summer to winter, according to a Harris survey. Here are the percentages who prefer summer by generation...

Millennials: 70%
Gen Xers: 80%
Boomers: 79%
Older: 86%

Source: Harris Interactive, Less than Half of Americans Believe Humans Are Cause of Global Climate Change

Unpaid Medical Debt

Percentage of Americans with unpaid medical debt by generation...

31% of Millennials
31% of Gen Xers
22% of Boomers
10% of Older Americans

Source: FINRA Investor Education Foundation, The Financial Capability of Young Adults—A Generational View

So Much for the Inheritance Boom

For decades we've been hearing about the billions of dollars the baby-boom generation would inherit as their elderly parents (the richest elders in history) passed on. But a new study of inheritances finds their impact declining rather than growing. The study, published in The Journal of Economic Inequality and reported on in the Monthly Labor Review, uses 1989 to 2007 data from the Survey of Consumer Finances to examine the impact of inheritances on household net worth.

The impact is a fizzle, not a boom. Rather than increasing as a share of household net worth during the 1989 to 2007 time period, the inheritance share fell from 29 to just 19 percent. Where did the money go?

No one knows for sure, but here's my theory: The prime suspect in the disappearance of all those billions is the health care industry. Perfectly positioned to siphon family wealth from long-lived elders, the health care industry has transformed the long-awaited inheritance boom into a health care facilities, services, and salary boom. According to the Employee Benefit Research Institute, the average man aged 65 or older needs $122,000 in savings to cover 90 percent of his out-of-pocket health care costs in retirement. The average woman needs $139,000. Those numbers are conservative because they do not include the extraordinary cost of long-term care.

Mobility Rate by Generation

Only 5.9 percent of baby boomers moved between March 2012 and March 2013, according to a Demo Memo analysis of the Census Bureau's geographic mobility data. Mobility rates peak among young adults and fall with age. Here are the 2012-13 mobility rates by generation...

iGeneration (aged 1 to 18): 13.1%
Millennials (aged 19 to 36): 20.4%
Generation X (aged 37 to 48): 10.6%
Baby Boomers (aged 49 to 67): 5.9%
Older Americans (aged 68-plus): 3.5%

Among the nation's 74 million boomers, only 4 million moved between 2012 and 2013. Among the movers, 61 percent remained in the same county. Only 15 percent crossed a state line.

The Boomer Effect on the Labor Force

Between December 2007 and December 2013, the labor force participation rate of people aged 16 or older fell from 66.0 to 62.8 percent. How much of that decline is due to the Great Recession and how much is due to the aging of the large baby-boom generation?

A substantial 40 percent of the decline is due to the aging of the baby-boom generation, according to an analysis of the data by Alicia H. Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College. Although boomers are staying in the workforce longer, the labor force participation rate of older workers is still less than half the rate of prime-age individuals, notes Munnell. The growing presence of Americans aged 55 or older in the population is reducing the overall labor force participation rate. "Regardless of general economic factors, we should expect to see labor force participation continue to decline for the remainder of this decade due to the retiring of baby boomers," she concludes.

Source: Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, The Impact of Aging Baby Boomers on Labor Force Participation

Young Adults Are Splitting into Haves and Have-Nots

Young adults are splitting into Haves and Have-Nots based on their education, according to a Pew Research Center report. While this is a long-term trend, Pew's analysis of Census Bureau income data for people aged 25 to 32 shows just how much more important a bachelor's degree is to millennials than it was for generation Xers or boomers.

First, the good news. Today's 25-to-32-year-olds with a bachelor's degree have a higher median household income than did their generation X or baby-boom counterparts at the same age. For college-educated millennials, median household income in 2012 was $89,079. This compares with a median of $86,237 for gen Xers when they were 25-to-32-years-old, $81,686 for younger boomers at that age, and $71,916 for older boomers as young adults. (Note: household income is in 2012 dollars and adjusted for changes in household size.) In other words, the standard of living of college-educated young adults has improved over the decades.

Now the bad news. Today's 25-to-32-year-olds with no more than a high school diploma are decidedly worse off than their generation X or baby-boom counterparts at the same age. Millennials with no more than a high school diploma had a median household income of $39,842 in 2012. This compares with a larger $45,164 for gen Xers when they were 25-to-32-years-old, $47,986 for younger boomers at that age, and $50,097 for older boomers as young adults. In other words, the standard of living of young adults who do not go to college has dropped, their median household income now 20 percent below what it was a few decades ago.

The household income gap between young adults with a bachelor's degree and those with no more than a high school diploma has more than doubled, growing from $22,000 in 1979 to $49,000 in 2012. That growing gap explains why 22 percent of today's 25-to-32-year-olds with no more than a high school diploma are living in poverty (up from 7 percent in 1979) and 18 percent are living with their parents (up from 9 percent in 1979).

For more on the growing importance of a college education for young adults, see Pew Research Center's report The Rising Cost of Not Going to College.