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Essay on Baby Boomers (born 1946 through 1964)
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Essay on Baby Boomers (born 1946 through 1964)
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Contribution to Canadian Society in the 1950s by the Baby Boom Generation
In Canada, over 400,000 babies were born annually from 1945 to 1965, which increased Canada’s population rate by 20% (“Canadian”). This period in Canadian history occurred after the Second World War when millions of men returned home to their families or immigrated to other countries with their war brides. Some ended up settling in Canada which dramatically increased the birth rate; their experience and survival of the war caused them to realize how important life is, instigating them to have as many children as they can support bringing about the group of people now referred to as the Baby Boom Generation. The baby boom generation significantly impacted Canada as it helped the young country to recover from the devastating Great Depression. Indeed, the baby boom generation had a positive contribution to Canadian society during the 1950s because it changed the face of Canada in the international stage, increased the Canadian living standard, and established and developed the suburban areas.
The baby boom generation’s first memorable contribution to Canada was to raise the Canadian economy to a higher stage with the emergence of greater number of people with varying abilities. With the sudden increase in the population, more demands for more products and services were undoubtedly created, helping the economy to strive forward and advance Canada to be competitive in the global market. Before the baby boom period, Canada was suffering from the aftermath of the Great Depression. There was a lack of jobs and people did not have the sufficient funds to spend on any extra luxuries and this created a vicious cycle of economic crisis. However, due to thou...
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... in the global market as a competitive nation, accomplished greater economic prosperity, and gave birth to the suburban regions. The baby boom generation clearly has had positive short term effects; however, a negative reaction loomed over the proceeding generations as it put a burden on Canadian government to build more retirement homes and to look for a new labour force to replace the old. In other words, some of the long term effects of baby boom generation are unfortunately frightening such as Canada having a huge old population to support with the urgent need to fill gaps that would be left by the baby boomers as they retire. Still, the society must recognize that the baby boom generation was crucial to the Canada in the 1950s. Nothing else would have created a strong economy through the huge number of job opportunities and development of suburban homes.
Soldiers returning from the war expected jobs, but were faced with unemployment, inflation and strikes. Inflation had doubled the cost of living where wages had not and those fortunate to be employed still faced immense financial difficulty. Many people joined unions for better pay and working conditions, 1919 saw the most strikes at a staggering three hundred and six, people were angry and discontented. The 1920s were a time of crime, corruption and extreme poverty, yet by mid era difficult conditions began to improve. Foreign investors gained confidence in Canada and as a result new industries were developed, The twenties really did 'roar' and with this boom of change Canada underwent the transformation that was the gateway to the future.
Parr, J. & Janovicek, N. (2003). Histories of Canadian Children and Youth. Canada: Oxford University Press.
Before the war, Canada’s most important sector in its economy was agriculture. However, this was changing drastically after and during the war as industry began to take over as being more important. Canadian production of war material, food supplies, and raw materials had been crucial during the war. After the war, it was only natural that big investments were being made in mining, production, transportation, and services industries. Canadian cities were becoming very important contributors to the economy. This was also bringing in waves of post-war immigration, the backbone of Canada’s multicultural society we know today.
Teenage life in Canada during the 1950’s is hard to understand unless having lived there. With this new demographic, many things had to be created in order to satisfy this demographic, such as clothing, music, rules, and schools. Unique aspects of teenage life in this era include a lot of rules, the movie theatre, rock n roll and the way they communicated to each other. Issues teenagers faces include marginalization, condemnation and disapproval. The new demographic helped Canada as it made the “children” demographic smaller, and it gave the teenagers more freedom, independence and they finally felt as they could have their own “stuff” as they would call their music, their clothes, their friends their social life etc.
Newman, Garfield et al. Canada A Nation Unfolding. Toronto: Mc Graw – Hill Ryerson Limited, 2000.
The post-war time was a period where major changes were occurring. After being involved in two international conflicts, Canada was ready to reestablish their economy. During this time, Canada had started working on ways to become stronger and reputable. It is evident that Canada had matured through the post-war era. Canada’s economic progress left a positive impact on the growth of the country as consumerism became popular, and economic ties with America became stronger. Moreover, the removal of racial and ethical barriers contributed to Canadian social affairs such as the huge wave of immigration and the baby boom. The Canadian government also had become more aware and involved in issues impacting Canadian citizens. Canada as a whole started identifying itself as an independent nation and participating in events that brought a positive reputation amongst them. These economical, social, and legal changes helped Canada mature into the country it is today.
The Great Depression in Canada posed many problems for Canadians. During this period the economy suffered, unemployment rates raised, and farmers struggled through the drought of the Dirty Thirties. The Great Depression truly was an uncontrollable force assisting the shape of present day Canada.
Between 1900 and 1929, Canada had the world’s fastest growing economy with only a sharp but brief recession during world war one. The 1920’s had been a successful period of growth. The living standards were improving remarkably. Before the First World War, the American stock market was small and a relatively unimportant part of Canada’s economy. This suddenly changed bringing the onset of the great depression in the late 1920’s when the economy took a severe and devastating turn; affecting the lives of Canadians for nearly a decade.
The Great Depression was not just a little event in history, hence the word “great”, but a major economical setback that would change Canada, and the world, forever. The word “great” may not mean the same thing it does now; an example of this is the ‘Great’ War. These events were not ‘good’ or ‘accomplishing’ in any way, quite the opposite, but in those times it most likely meant ‘big’. What made it big are many factors, both in the 20’s and 30’s, which can be categorized into three main points: economics, politics and society. With all these events, compressed into ten years, this period of economic hardship of the 1930’s truly deserves the title the “Great Depression”.
But during the war, it prevented many Canadians from having a child since there were limited jobs and homes, which made it hard to provide an income to support their family. But after the war had ended, everything suddenly went right. Thousands of young men returned home to return to their jobs and start a family. By 1950, its population went up by nearly 30% due to young people having a lot of babies which resulted in the “Baby Boom”.
An aging population is indeed a problem for the society and will possibly cause many social and economic difficulties in the future. According to David Foot (2003), professor of Economics at University of Toronto, an effective birth rate of 2.2% against current 1.75% will be necessary to replace the current work force in the near future and the government’s policy of bringing in more immigrants will eventually fail (Foot, 2003, 2). However some people predict that the increased size of an aging population will drive growth in the home, health care, and many other industries resulting in job creation and economic growth (Marketwire, 2013, 1). Majority of the people are of the opinion that the issue will be mainly in the health care and economic activity. As humans age, they start to develop health problems, leading to more visits to a medical clinic putting extra burden on health care system.
The Canadian economy in the 1920’s had a rough start because of the post war problems, but it gradually began to pick up, it made a positive turn by developing new industries, as well, the average consumer income increased, which in the end allowed for a more optimistic country. First, the development of industries allows Canada to have a wider range of opportunities, and money entering the country. For example, it has been stated that: “Though the early 1920's were difficult conditions did improve by the mid 1920's. Foreign investors gained confidence in Canada and as a result new industries were developed. Canada had become the largest wheat exporter in the world” (Economy on the upswing). This shows that Canada had not only started off at a low point and moved forward, but they went above the needed and became number one in the world for a positive economic situation. Therefore this event was very beneficial and made a huge contribution towards a positive turn and optimism in Canada. The positive turn in economy was also created by the increased consumer income, this allowed Canada as a country to become more developed and maintain even more money. For example, in the mid 1920’s there was an economy boom which started to increa...
containment and the cold war. Presumably baby-boom children will in the end be more fruitful
...ame needs as an effect of consumerism on the baby boom generation. The same materialism of the 1950s conceived a new consciousness in the 1960s, equating to new values for the baby boom generation, such as self-actualization, social consciousness and tolerance. During the 1950s, the U.S. achieved the highest standard of living in the world, metamorphosing the working class into the new middle class (Monhollon xvi). The richest generation in North American history and the 21st century has left behind a plethora of valuable lessons that will not be forgotten soon. In conclusion, the baby boom, which lead to a long cycle of prosperity and growth in the post-WWII years is crucial because it redefined the traditional and rigid values people wrongfully harbored in the past and spearheaded dramatic change on a global level, bringing the West and the World closer than ever.
it created a mini boom from 1980 to 1995 called the Baby Boom Echo. A