'When we got out of college, we had a job waiting for us': 80-year-old boomer says her generation left behind a different economy for her grandkids | Fortune

The oldest baby boomers - once the vanguard of an American youth that revolutionized U.S. culture and politics - turn 80 in 2026. The generation that twirled the first plastic hula hoops and dressed up the first Barbie dolls, embraced the TV age , blissed out at Woodstock and protested the Vietnam War - the cohort that didn’t trust anyone over age 30 - now is contributing to the overall aging of America . Boomers becoming octogenarians in 2026 include actor Henry Winkler and baseball Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson, singers Cher and Dolly Parton and presidents Donald Trump , George W. Bush and Bill Clinton . The aging and shrinking youth of America America’s population swelled with around 76 million births from 1946 to 1964, a spike magnified by couples reuniting after World War Two and enjoying postwar prosperity. Boomers were better educated and richer than previous generations, and they helped grow a consumer-driven economy. In their youth, they pushed for social change through the Civil Rights Movement, the women’s rights movement and efforts to end the Vietnam War. “We had rock ‘n’ roll. We were the first generation to get out and demonstrate in the streets. We were the first generation, that was, you know, a socially conscious generation,” said Diane West, a metro Atlanta resident who turns 80 in January. “Our parents played by the rules. We didn’t necessarily play by the rules, and there were lots of us.” As they got older they became known as the “me” generation, a pejorative term coined by writer Tom Wolfe to reflect what some regarded as their self-absorption and consumerism. “The thing about baby boomers is they’ve always had a spotlight on them, no matter what age they were,” Brookings demographer William Frey said. “They were a big generation, but they also did important things.” By the end of this decade, all baby boomers will be 65 and older, and the number of people 80 and over will double in 20 years, Frey said. The share of senior citizens in the U.S. population is projected to grow from 18.7% in 2025 to nearly 23% by 2050, while children under 18 decline from almost 21% to a projected 18.4%. Without any immigration , the U.S. population will start shrinking in five years. That’s when deaths will surpass births, according to projections from the Congressional Budget Office , which were revised in September to account for the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Population growth comes from immigration as well as births outpacing deaths. The aging of America is being compounded by longer lives due to better health care and lower birth rates . The projected average U.S. life expectancy at birth rises from 78.9 years in 2025 to 82.2 years in 2055, according to the CBO. And since the Great Recession in 2008, when the fertility rate was 2.08, around the 2.1 rate needed for children to numerically replace their parents, it has been on a steady decline, hitting 1.6 in 2025....

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