Generation 1968 Approaches Retirement

Nobody has been more influential with regard to generational shifts than American sociology. According to one of the most prestigious American institutes of social research, the Pew Research Center (PRC), the first day of 2011 will mark a generational landmark of historical importance: The oldest members of the “Baby Boom” generation will turn 65, which is still the age of retirement in many countries. For this reason, the institute has published a sociological survey of this age group in America that can do no wrong. The Baby Boomers on the other side of the Atlantic are the European ‘68ers, the last generation that wanted to change the world for the better, and which for some time now has been given most of the blame for the disasters of our time, from individualism and the crisis of values to multiculturalism to the decline of the West.

The sixty-something Baby Boomers feel that they are exactly nine years younger than they are and that old age does not begin until 72. Such chronological optimism does not correspond with their existential feelings: They are the most pessimistic and unsatisfied of all the age groups about their lives and the progress of their country. They were probably like that when they were aged 18. Now they feel more affected by the current crisis – called the Great Recession by the PRC – than their parents, who belong to the Silent Generation, born during the Great Depression.

As is always the case, the generation of 1968 became very conservative. They voted more for Obama than McCain but only just; in the last legislative elections, however, their votes went to the Republicans much more than to the Democrats. Even so, they are more liberal, less religious and more tolerant than their parents, and they don’t view their relations with successive youngsters in terms of generational conflict. In fact, they identify most with the “New Millennium” generation, those who turn 18 after 2000. The Baby Boomers, children of prosperity, are now confronted with the Great Recession at the end of their working lives. In this they also identify with those who find the path into work has been closed, as has happened to the Millennials.

The arrival of the entirety of the Baby Boomer generation to senior status will change society in America, which will become more gray: in 2030, 18 percent will be over the age of 65, as opposed to the current figure of 13 percent. The whole of the developed world will experience the same change. China, still depicted as an emerging nation, will suffer the same fate. They “will redefine old age in America, just as they’ve made their mark on teen culture, young adult life and middle age,” say the PRC researchers. Which is to say, the generation of 1968 will continue to go to war. Just as they’ve done all their lives.