BABY BOOM

Baby Boom is a term that describes the explosion of childbirths in the United States between 1946 and 1964. The annual birthrate jumped 13 percent in 1946 to 3.4 million, and then climbed fairly steadily to a peak of 4.3 million in 1957. Thereafter the national birth rate leveled to approximately 4 million per year through 1964. In 1965 America experienced its first year of a "baby bust," as births fell below 3.8 million. The national birth rate continued to decline until 1977 when Baby Boomers themselves started having children. Seventy-seven million children were born during the Baby Boom, as compared with 63 million during the previous generation (1909–1945) and 52 million in the subsequent generation (1965–1978). Several reasons have been proposed to explain the Baby Boom. First, millions of American servicemen returned home after World War II (1939–1945) ready to embrace life, settle down, and start families. Second, the U.S. to which these men came home was the most prosperous and powerful nation in the world, providing its citizens with an unprecedented degree of economic and physical security. Third, society traditionally encouraged American women to be homemakers. Fourth, both American men and women felt a sense of urgency in making the most of life, as they faced the uncertainties of the atomic age and recalled the painful memories of the Great Depression and World War II.

See also: Post-War Boom, Suburbs (Rise of)