Just after I wrote about an upcoming TV special on CNBC about baby boomers, “Tom Brokaw Reports: Baby Boomer$,” I received an e-mail from the Latinos & Economic Security project.
Fernando Torres-Gil, Ph.D., director of the organization and a professor at the UCLA School of Public Affairs, said in a statement about Brokaw’s program:
The news release announcing the Brokaw special says that the members of this influential generation ‘wore Buster Browns, played with hula-hoops, ate at the drive-thru, and watched the Beatles play on ‘The Ed Sullivan Show.’
Many Latino baby boomers had these experiences, too, but they also grew up fluent in two cultures, and now represent the fastest growing population in the United States. They also watched Mexican comedia rancheras, made tamales for Christmas, watched TV in both English and Spanish, fought in the Vietnam War in high numbers, supported the Civil Rights movement, and marched alongside Cesar Chavez.
Latinos & Economic Security also wants the public to know:
- Latinos make up 10 percent of all baby boomers – 8 million people.
- Latinos are expected to increase to 30 percent of U.S. residents by 2050.
- Latinos have a longer life expectancy than the general population, and the older Latino population is expected to triple, growing from 6 percent of older adults in 2003 to 18 percent in 2050.
- Many aging Latinos have minimal pension and health care benefits or no benefits at all: only 25 percent participated in an employer-provided pension plan, compared to 50 percent of the overall workforce.
“The U.S. population as a whole faces critical questions raised by the retirement of the baby boomers and the growth of the Latino population – the two great demographic shifts that the nation is currently experiencing,” Torres-Gil said.
Latinos & Economic Security, funded by the Ford Foundation, works on the issues of aging Latinos with an emphasis on baby boomers. It provides information to policy makers to help them as they make decisions to prepare for the retirement of the baby boom generation, including its Latino members.
![Brokaw 300x250-March[1] (2)](https://ritarrobison.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/TPImport/6a00e55008157688340120a9000c5f970b.jpg "What’s next for baby boomers?")
Interesting post, Rita. I have a different objection to Brokaw’s Boomer$: by ignoring the growing consensus among actual experts that there were two distinct generations born in the post-WWII boom in births, the show was a mess of confusion and inaccuracy.
Most people born 1946-1964 (which the show defines as the Baby Boom Generation) who watched this show would not have related to it. This is because practically the whole show described those born in the first half of that period (the real Boomer Generation) while almost completely ignoring those born in the second half (Generation Jones). And far more babies were born during the GenJones years, which makes the fundamental idiocy of this show that much more pronounced.
The images of childhood presented were almost all those of the real Boomers: Coonskin hats, hula hoops, Howdy Doody, school bomb drills, ovaltine, etc., etc. Most Jonesers weren’t even born then. Where was the Brady Bunch and Partridge Family, Easy Bake Ovens and Beany Coptors, etc. etc. which Jonesers grew up with? The teen/young adult years presented were those of the real Boomers: Vietnam and anti-war protests, Woodstock and hippy counterculture. But Jonesers were just little kids then, not a part of any of that. Where were GenJones teen cultural touchstones like disco and heavy metal, Farah Fawcett and David Cassidy posters?
The show was filled with contradictions. It referred to Obama as a Boomer. But this was the same network that kept talking about the generational change at last year’s Inaugural. So the Boomers were passing the generational torch to the…Boomers?! The show repeatedly stated that the Boomers were the offspring of the Greatest (WWII) Generation. Does that mean the Silent Generation (between the WWII Gen and Boomers) didn’t have any children? In reality, most Jonesers were born to Silent Gen parents. This is one of many reasons why Jonesers are so different than Boomers, since experts emphzsize the big contrast between the Silent gen vs. the WWII Gen and parental influences are so crucial to the formation of generational personalities.
For our entire life cycle, we Jonesers have been mistakenly lumped in with the Boomers (and blamed for their excesses), while getting very few of the benefits. We are not Boomers. Every national poll on this question confirms that we don’t believe we are Boomers. Mountains of data confirm the clear differences in values, attitudes, etc. between Boomers and Jonesers. Most actual experts believe GenJones exists. Yet, CNBC ignores this and puts out this show using that old widely-discredited 1946-1964 Boomer definition.
Generations are a function of the common formative experiences of its members, not the fertility rates of its parents. There was a demographic baby boom 1946-1964, but the Boomer Generation was born around 1942-1953, while GenJones was born around 1954-1965. This is what actual experts say, as opposed to clueless media companies who don’t bother to research current expert opinion.
Thankfully, many in the media have paid attention to the experts, and GenJones has been getting lots of media attention. Many major mainstream media companies now use the term; in fact, the Associated Press’ annual Trend Report chose the Rise of Generation Jones as the #1 trend of 2009. We Jonesers need to help spread awareness about our long-lost generation to help avoid the imbecility of shows like Brokaw’s Boomer$.
Here are some of the good links about GenJones I found:
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20090127/column27_st.art.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ta_Du5K0jk
http://generationjones.com/2009latest.html
Thanks for your long and passionate comment about Generation Jones.
I’ve been writing for baby boomer consumers for more than two years now. I’ve heard a lot about Generation Jones. However, I go by what the U.S. Census uses as a definition for baby boomers. I’ll continue to do so unless the federal government definition changes.
Did you contact CNBC about your comments? Maybe they’d be willing to do another show with more information on younger baby boomers.
Rita
Rita, thank you for your thoughts. Let me clarify a couple of things. First, the Census Bureau has absolutely nothing to do with defining generations. The 1946-1964 definition to which you refer is purely about demographics, not psychographics. The Bureau is simply referencing a demographic boom in babies during those 19 years. No cultural generation has ever, before or since, the so-called Baby Boom “Generation” been based at all on birth rates. Generations are about shared formative experiences.
The “federal government definition” of generations to which you refer does not exist at all. The government has never been the definer of generations. Generational definitions are based on the subjective opinions of experts. If you study recent books and articles in academic journals by actual experts, you’ll find that a consensus is emerging that there is a Generation Jones between the Boomers and Xers. If you have access to cross-tabbed data, and you compare those born in the mid-1940s to mid-1950s vs. those born in the mid-1950s to mid-1960s, you’ll see that the differences are stark across a wide range of categories, which is partly why so few actual experts still use that widely-discredited 1946-1964 definition.
You, of course, have every right to use any definition you want. But I think for those of us who watch this closely, there is an obvious inevitability to the GenJones movement. I, and quite a few credible others, think it will be relatively soon that there will be a clear consensus on this issue. Those in this field who are late adopters of GenJones will look out-of-touch and behind-the-curve, and lose credibility and business. If you continue to wait for the “federal government definition” to change, you’ll have a long wait…there isn’t, hasn’t been, and won’t be, such a definition.
Thanks for writing again.
The U.S. Census Bureau does keep statistics and do reports on baby boomers. Here’s the link to one: http://blog.boomer411.com/2009/11/19/who-are-baby-boomers/
Rita