I am a proud Baby Boomer and happy to say so.
My generation includes the 76-to-78 million Americans fortunate enough to be born just after World War II between 1946 and 1964. As the children of people Tom Brokaw dubbed “the greatest generation,” we first drew breath into an economy booming with post war veterans. They were thrilled to have survived the worldwide conflict and anxious to get on with their lives. Millions of veterans headed to college on the newly-minted GI bill and started families that peaked with an average of 4 children per household.
The Haymount neighborhood in which my sister and I grew up teemed with children and dogs who ran around together in packs as leash laws were a thing of the future. Most mothers stayed at home and most dads were climbing advancement ladders in their chosen fields. Households were generally disciplined and children were taught to pay attention to all adults. Structure, hard work, and thrift were important values even in an economy that floated most boats for about 3 decades. Religion, generally Christianity, was a significant part of family life for most Americans.
Ours was not a perfect childhood or a seamless transition into adulthood and the working world with the backdrop of the Vietnam conflict and massive social upheavals, but for the large part we Boomers had family structure and an economy that worked for most Americans, enabling home ownership and a good shot at education.
Today’s working Americans, specifically Generations X and Y (Millennials), born between 1965-1980 and 1981-1996, respectively, are having a difficult go.
Both Xs and Ys are finding themselves caught between their Boomer parents and their own children—the so-called “sandwich generation,” with little time and often little money for themselves. The goal of work-life balance seems out of reach.
They also face significant financial pressures from paychecks that do not keep up with inflation, student loan debt, economic downturns over which they have no control, and the growing wealth gap between the haves and the have-nots. Both Xs and Ys have trouble saving for retirement, and at the same time, they face the possibility that Social Security, American retirees’ mainstay for the better part of a century, will not be there for them.
Layer on the rapid growth of technology and the necessity of adapting to it in both work and personal lives, and the pressure can feel overwhelming.
This is the national atmosphere in which Americans are approaching the 2026 midterm elections in a nation divided not only along strict party lines but also facing stark differences on both domestic and international issues. All of us vote based on our own experiences, ages, educational levels, where we live and many other factors. This year, perhaps more so than in the past, we should look at the broader picture, including the daunting situations facing not only ourselves but those coming behind us whose roads ahead look different from the ones we Boomers trod and perhaps even more difficult.
Just as I try to imagine what my grandparents and parents would think of life in 2026 America, I wonder what the lives of my children and grandchildren will be like in 2056 and what I can do to make them better.