Are Boomers Different From Their Parents?

By Mark Mills

I recently did a radio report for WBUR-FM on “Boomers and Work.” It looked at Boomer attitudes and intentions about work after age 65. I presented this as an emerging change, part of the overall “redefining of life after 50.” We were honored to receive a comment from marketing expert David Wolfe, who has a very interesting blog called Ageless Marketing.
Here is a link to the radio segment, followed by David’s comments and my response to David.

David Wolfe said:

Actually -- as is so often the case -- the representation that boomers are unique in looking to continue working after retirement is erroneous. In Serving the Ageless Market which I wrote in the late 1980s, I reported an AARP study indicating that two out of three men over 65 wanted to go back to work. Moreover, over a third of men 60 and over indicated a desire to open a home-based business.

The more we see in boomers the same characteristics their parents and grandparents had at comparable ages in later life the better we'll understand what is arguably the most misunderstood age cohort in history.

A number of boomers have told me something to the effect, "The older I become the more I see of my mother (or father) in the mirror each morning"

As I tell my audiences, "When Maslow formulated his famous Hierarchy of Basic Human Needs, he didn't make an exception for boomers. They now have and have always had the same basic needs as people at comparable ages have had for centuries.

What differs is boomers styles of needs satisfaction because of vastly greater range of options available to them that were not available to their parents and grandparents.

My response:

Dear David…. Thank you for your comments on my recent audio blog on “Boomers and Work” that appears on boomerstv.com.

I agree that Boomers are not laying claim to a whole new set of wants and needs. People are people and their basic human needs are common.

But life keeps evolving and one generation’s experience is not identical to the prior one.

Although 2/3 of men in the 1980’s may have said they would work beyond age 65, the average retirement age continued to creep down in the 80’s and 90’s. It is not clear men actually did what they told pollsters they would do. Perhaps the job market was not ready to accommodate those ambitions.

How will it be different for Boomers?

• Participation of women in the work force is very different than for our parents’ generation. Women apparently were not included in that 1980’s survey.



• Average longevity is rising, and with medical science and increasing health consciousness, is likely to increase in the next 25 years. That will require people to work longer if they have not saved enough for retirement.



• The age for receiving full Social Security benefits has been raised since the 1980’s. For many Boomers it will be age 66, gradually increasing to age 67.



• Part-time and contract employment is a much bigger trend than in decades past. That may allow more Boomers to pursue a mix of work and other activities.



• The next 25 years may see a shortage of skilled workers unlike anything we have seen in past years. Again, that could be fertile ground for working Boomers.



• More work can be done in a home-based setting. Technology and the growing service economy place fewer physical demands on many professions, allowing people to work longer.



• The sheer number of people moving into this stage of life will have a profound impact on society.

In short, despite Maslow and his Hierarchy, it is going to be different this time.

On a personal note, as a 55 year old, I have often seen over the past 25 years how different my attitudes were from those of my bosses, who have usually been just 5 or 10 years older than I was. I have a different world view; my beliefs were shaped by very different events.

I love my parents, but I do not look in the mirror and see them. And I have never heard a Boomer say, in a broad sense, that they are becoming like their parents.

The rock n’ roll plays on. Strap on your helmet and get ready for a new definition of retirement.