The "Baby Boom" Generation 2000 - Change in the Population Age 35-54 and 55-64 from 1990-2000
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By 2000 most of the "baby boom" generation had reached the 35-54 age range. It was the movement of the baby boom generation into the 35-54 age range that was responsible for the 29.6 percent increase in the size of that cohort during the 1990s. (Graph 1).
What is the Baby Boom Generation?
The "baby boom" generation has been a highly visible factor in the demographic and social history of the U.S. for the last half of the 20th century. The name "baby boom" derives from the very high birth rate which began with the end of World War II (1946) and continued through the mid 1960s. The depression of the 1930s and World War II of the 1940s had delayed family formation. Return of GIs from the war facilitated resumption of family life and a corresponding increase in birth rate.
Concurrently the economy was growing as industry was diverted from war production to satisfying the demand for consumer goods that had been postponed by the depression and war. A growing suburban middle class of young families accompanied the postwar era of significant economic growth and full employment with children. New suburbs and schools were mushrooming and their classrooms were filled to overflowing. Television had arrived and much of the programming featured middle class family sitcoms.
It was the baby boomers who, in the early 1960s, were beginning to arrive on the college and university campuses and they continued to arrive as the decade wore on, setting all time attendance records by the end of the 1960s. It was baby boomers also who were among the participants in the free speech, civil rights and anti-war movements of the last half of the 1960s and the early 1970s.
Things changed somewhat during the 1970s, as baby boomers were becoming parents. The elementary and secondary classrooms that were filled by baby boomers during the 1950s and 1960s were beginning to fill with their children by the 1970s. The children of baby boomers continued the trend of growing school and college and university enrollment through the 1980s and on into the 1990s.
As the baby boom generation continues to advance in years it is a cause of new and different kinds of demographic, social and economic consequences. By 2000 baby boomers were becoming middle aged. The children of the younger boomers are still in school (the 5-17 age group increased by 11.9 percent) but there was no growth in the population of pre-school children during the 1990s. By 2000 a majority of boomers had moved past child bearing years and the 25-34 age cohort that was following the boomers dropped dramatically (-13.3 percent) during the 1990s.
During the first decade of the 21st century the baby boomer generation will remain the core of the state and national workforce but there is growing public policy about how long boomers will continue to be the driving force in the economy.
Change in the 35-54 Age Cohort - 1990-2000
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As indicated in Table 1 population of Missouri’s 35-54 age cohort increased from 1,258,000 in 1990 to 1,630,000 in 2000 - an increase of 372,000. It was the baby boom generation who was responsible for increasing the size of that age cohort by 29.6 percent. In 1990 the 35-54 age cohort accounted for 24.5 percent of Missouri’s total population; in 2000 that age cohort accounted for 29.1 percent of total population. As indicated on Map 1, every Missouri County had an increase of 35-54 population during the 1990s. There were only three counties in which the increase was less than 10 percent (Atchison 7.2 percent; Mississippi 7.3 percent and Pemiscot 9.8 percent). The map also shows that 12 counties had an increase in the size of that cohort of greater than 50 percent. The greatest increases occurred in Christian County (88.0 percent) and neighboring Taney County (85.8 percent). DeKalb County (69.5 percent) had the third greatest percentage increase largely because of a state prison located there.
Regional Changes in 35-54 Age Cohort
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OSEDA Regional Grouping of Counties Many demographic factors vary by region within the state of Missouri. For the convenience of our user community, OSEDA prepares tables using three different regional groupings of counties: Extension, Economic Development and Transportation. For each of these groupings, one table summarizes the indicators by regional total and a second table shows values for each county grouped by region. Users may select the county grouping most helpful for their application and understanding. |
As indicated in Table 2 changes in the size of the 35-54 age cohort were relatively uniform throughout the state. Only two regions, the Bootheel (17.4 percent) and North Central (18.6 percent) had increases of less than 24 percent. Likewise only two regions, Springfield-Branson (46.9 percent) and Central (40.1 percent) had increases of greater than 36 percent.
As has been emphasized in discussion of change in the size of other age cohorts, change in the St. Louis MSA varies greatly within the region. In the St. Louis MSA St. Louis City had an increase of 14.2 percent in the size of the 35-54 age cohort and St. Louis County had an increase of 17.4 percent (Table 3). The remaining five St. Louis MSA counties all had increases of greater than 40 percent and three counties, Lincoln, Warren and St. Charles had increases of greater than 53 percent.
However there was less variation among the counties in the Kansas City MSA. (Table 3). In the Kansas City Region all counties had an increase of at least 22.8 percent in size of the 35-54 age cohort and no county had an increase of greater than 48 percent.
Change in the 55-64 Age Cohort 1990-2000
Although people in the 55-64 age cohort in 2000 are not strictly members of the baby boom generation the number of people in that cohort and where they are living is playing a major role in Missouri’s economy. As indicated in Table 1 the size of the 55-64 age cohort increased from 457,385 in 1990 to 507,398 in 2000, an increase of 10.9 percent. That is a demographically and economically significant increase because the 55-64 population declined from 480,189 in 1980 to 457,385 in 1990. That loss was widespread throughout the state - the size of the 55-64 age cohort declined in 74 counties during the 1980s. A major reason was that the population in the 55-64 age range during the 1980s was the cohort that was born during the depression years when the birth rate declined significantly. The small size of that 55-64 cohort by 1990 was also a reason for the very small increase in the 65-84 population during the 1990s.
It is important that the increase in the 55-64 age cohort from 1990 to 2000 not only recovered the loss of the 1980s (22,804) but added a net increase of 27,209 above what that age cohort population had been in 1980.
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A significant factor about increases in the size of the 55-64 age cohort during the 1990s is that it varied greatly among counties and regions in the state. But while there were 74 counties in which the 55-64 cohort declined during the 1980s there were only 15 counties in which that cohort declined during the 1990s. An additional 16 counties had an increase of less than 5 percent. As indicated on Map 2 most of the declining counties and those with small increases are located in rural north Missouri and, to a lesser extent in rural southeast.
On the other hand there were 15 counties in which the size of the 55-64 age cohort increased by more than 30 percent. As shown on Map 2 the counties with large increases were either suburban (Lincoln, Warren, St. Charles and Jefferson in the St. Louis MSA), (Platte and Cass in the Kansas City MSA) or retirement-recreation in the Lake of the Ozarks and the Branson areas.
As indicated in Table 3 there was one region (North Central) in which the size of the 55-64 cohort declined and one region (Northwest) in which the cohort increased by only 1.9 percent. But there were two regions, Springfield-Branson and Lake Of Ozarks-Rolla in which the 55-64 age cohort increased by 32.6 and 25.7 percent respectively. The Central, South Central and Southwest Regions had increases of 19.3, 17.4 and 17.4 percent respectively. There were several counties in each of those regions in which the 55-64 cohort increased by more than 25 percent.
Observations about Pattern of Change in the 55-64 Age Cohort.
Although additional analysis will be completed and reported within the next couple of months it seems clear that counties with the greatest increases in size of the 55-64 age cohort were counties which had the greatest in-migration of population during the 1990s. This is important because it appears that a significant part of the population moving to Missouri during the 1990s were people in the 55-64 age range. This corroborates reports that people who are relocating at the time of retirement are increasingly persons who are retiring in their 50s after, for example, 30 years of service in military, civil service, etc. The fact that the most significant increases in the 55-64 age cohort during the 1990s occurred in suburban, small city and retirement recreation counties tends to confirm that pattern. Additional analysis will be completed regarding this trend because of its future importance for business, labor force, retirement, housing, health care, etc.
| Detailed Tables of Population Change | ||
The following links provide detailed tables of Baby Boomer Population in Missouri, 1990-2000. They are available in both HTML and Adobe Acrobat(PDF) formats. All Missouri Counties |
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| Missouri Population Age 35 to 54 Years and Age 55 to 64 Years, 1990-2000 - By County with State Totals | HTML | |
| Regional Tables | ||
| UO/E Regions | ||
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Missouri Population Age 35 to 54 Years and Age 55 to 64 Years, 1990-2000 - By UM Extension Region |
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| Missouri Population Age 35 to 54 Years and Age 55 to 64 Years, 1990-2000 - By County Within UM Extension Region | HTML | |
| DED Regions | ||
| Missouri Population Age 35 to 54 Years and Age 55 to 64 Years, 1990-2000 - By DED Region | HTML | |
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Missouri Population Age 35 to 54 Years and Age 55 to 64 Years, 1990-2000 - By County Within DED Region |
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| MoDOT Regions | ||
| Missouri Population Age 35 to 54 Years and Age 55 to 64 Years, 1990-2000 - By DOT District | HTML | |
| Missouri Population Age 35 to 54 Years and Age 55 to 64 Years, 1990-2000 - By County Within DOT District | HTML | |
This file last modified Thursday May 07, 2009, 14:37:05
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