60 years of boomers: the generation of the many criticized

Baby boomers - 60 years of boomers: the generation of the many criticized

Boomers are easy to recognize. They type with one finger on their cell phone. They stay in the "writing" status forever and then only send one sentence. They use emojis incorrectly, for example they don't know that the crying face should only be used ironically. They print out e-tickets to be prepared for a possible battery failure.

Boomers are called Sabine and Susanne, Thomas and Michael. They use phrases like "Give the flipper, comrade" and respond to "Do well" with "Do better". They don't shy away from asking the 18-year-old grandnieces about their "love life" at family celebrations. And these are the harmless points. The really annoying ones come when they express their opinion on gender, veganism or climate change.

That's the view of many late-borns. Now, in 2024, there will probably be more talk of the boomers, because Germany's highest-birth cohort - the 1964 generation - will be 60 years old.

From Trump to Michelle Obama

After 1964, the pill made its presence felt and births went downhill. As a result, the baby boomer years are often placed between 1946 and 1964, between the end of the world war and the pill crisis - or in other words: from Donald Trump and Udo Lindenberg (both 1946) to Michelle Obama and Hape Kerkeling (both 1964).

However, this categorization applies primarily to America, says social policy and finance expert Martin Werding, one of the five German "wise men of economics". In Germany, the baby boomers started much later after the war than in the USA and were also significantly weaker. "In Germany, the peak was 2.5 children per woman, in the USA it was 3.8," explains the Bochum professor, himself born in '64, to the German Press Agency.

However, "Gen Z", the generation born around the year 2000, is not so precise when it comes to classification. They often feel that everyone over 40 is a boomer somewhere. And that is not meant as a compliment. Young people usually use the term "Ok Boomer" to express their frustration at what they perceive as narrow-minded attitudes.

When New Zealand MP Chloe Swarbrick (born in 1994) from the Green Party responded to a right-wing conservative critic's interjection with a curt "Ok Boomer" just over four years ago, it caused a worldwide sensation in her age category.

Full classes and mass unemployment

At its core, the criticism of the boomers is that they have spent a lifetime of unrestrained consumption and thus driven the planet to the wall. Instead of at least humbly acknowledging this, they downplayed their responsibility, continued to jet around the world, pushed cyclists aside with their SUVs and blocked old apartments that were far too big for young families.

Those so scolded naturally have a slightly different view of themselves. What accompanied them throughout their existence was a feeling of fullness: they crowded into class with 40 people and later could often only follow the university lecture on screens because the lecture hall was overcrowded. Journalist Jochen Arntz, who published the book "1964 - Deutschlands stärkster Jahrgang" ten years ago, often felt that life was like a trip to Jerusalem - you constantly had to make sure you got a seat.

"The baby boomers in Germany are a generation that was hit hard by mass unemployment when they entered the job market," says Werding. "I graduated in 1982 and the motto of those years was 'No Future'. Labor market research tells us that this leaves "scarring effects", i.e. lifelong disadvantages in terms of labor market participation, wages and so on. The statement that the boomers got through life without a crisis is simply not true for Germany."

With fierce competition for the jobs available, an ambitious and pragmatic generation emerged that was rather apolitical compared to the older '68ers or today's Fridays for Future movement. Book author Arntz - born in '65 - believes, however, that it is often overlooked that this generation shouldered the burden of German unification and significantly advanced European unification. Younger people often take this for granted.

Dealing with criticism from younger people

So how do the boomers react to their children's criticism? "I don't want to spend a long time defending my generation against the accusation of a certain carelessness in dealing with natural resources," admits Werding. "But, of course, the progress in knowledge has only come slowly over time." And yes, of course there are people in his generation who should actually change their lifestyle but simply don't want to. However, a look at the top personnel of the Green Party shows that there are also completely different Boomer types.

Debates about meat consumption, waste separation and travel habits are part of everyday life in many families. Werding, the economist, also has to listen to one or two things at home. "I currently have the interesting experience that my children and my students are pretty much the same age, in their early 20s. And that always leads to discussions." He doesn't want to evoke a generational conflict, but the fact is that both the students and his children sometimes have different priorities to him. "There's sometimes a nasty look if I throw something in the wrong garbage can. And last year it was our youngest who made sure the heating was turned off."

Jochen Arntz thinks the younger generation's criticism is okay, "because basically every generation rubs up against the previous one". Conversely, the Boomers also rubbed up against the '68ers born in the 1940s, who in their eyes always knew everything better. "If there wasn't this friction between the generations, society would grind to a halt."

As statistical life expectancy has risen significantly, the baby boomers still have plenty of opportunity for further development. For example, they could use their enthusiasm for work in such a way that they don't suddenly retire in their millions, but instead continue to contribute to society in voluntary work, for example. "Perhaps they will at least be able to achieve a kind of retirement-work balance in their old age," says Arntz.

And he sees another encouraging prospect: "If you look at all three generational projects together: the '68ers, who renewed and opened up Germany socially and politically, those born around 1964, who shaped German unity and its integration into European unity, and the following generation, who are striving for an ecological and digital transformation, then these three generations together could have achieved something very meaningful."