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Introduction
The baby boomers are commonly defined as the generation born after the Second World War, generally from 1946 to 1964. However, this definition of baby boomers is based on American demographic trends which saw a surge in births post Second World War that was sustained into the mid-1960s. In the UK, the pattern of births was somewhat different to that seen in the USA; here, the post Second World War surge in births was confined to a sharp spike in 1946, after which the number of births dropped again until the end of the 1950s (Figure 1). Then the post Second World War babies started having their own babies – and in large numbers –giving rise to the broad bulge in births that can be seen across the 1960s. Research on the baby boomer generation, even in the UK, is almost always in the American context of the term. Due to the somewhat different demographic profile seen in the UK, in this paper, we examine the characteristics of the 1960s UK baby boomers, which we define as those born between 1960 and 1969 (inclusive). Our interest is in how the characteristics of this cohort – the result of their experiences across the life course – will determine their expectations and needs for goods and services in later life. Amid increasing levels of austerity, population ageing – characterised by increasing longevity and a relatively larger share of older people – is seen as a significant challenge for governments and policy makers and has led to alarmist headlines regarding the sustainability of our welfare state. With the oldest of the 1960s baby boomers approaching their 60s, this large cohort is on the brink of “later life” and so a close examination is in order.
Between 1960 and 1969 (inclusive), there were over 8.3 million births in the UK. The apex of this 1960s surge occurred in 1964 (Figure 1), when the number of live births (875,972) came close to that seen at the end of the Second World War. In 2034, the 1960s baby boomers will be aged 65-74 years old and will number 8.25 million, out of a total UK population of almost 73 million. As people aged 65+ will number 16.9 million in 2034...