Intergenerational conflict is at an all-time high, with millennials and Gen Z going up against the might of the baby boomers in stereotype-fueled slanging matches. However, as with all stereotypes, many of these are largely untrue generalizations. Here are 19 boomer stereotypes that just aren’t accurate.
A Wealthy Generation
While baby boomers do hold over half of the USA’s wealth and assets, this is largely accumulated wealth, which is inevitable for one of the older generations. In fact, a study by the University of Cambridge suggests that millennials in the US are not uniformly worse off than their baby boomer counterparts!
Terrible With Technology
There’s no doubt about it: technology isn’t the first language for baby boomers, as the generation didn’t grow up with it in their lives. However, most baby boomers are willing to learn and make an effort to fit into today’s technological world. So, give them a break!
Out of Touch With Modern Life
Although they may not be as overtly present on social media as the younger generations, that doesn’t mean that baby boomers are completely out of touch with modern life. Boomers still stay up to date through the news on television, and many do their best to integrate into modern life.
Big Spenders
Somehow, baby boomers have been touted as big spenders by many younger than them, likely due to their perceived economic strength. This isn’t actually true, as many baby boomers have an ingrained reluctance to overspend due to the tightness of resources in the post-war world when they grew up.
Anti-Liberal
The stereotype that all boomers are anti-liberal couldn’t be further from the truth. Young people seem to have forgotten that baby boomers were at the forefront of the hippie movements, spreading messages of peace and love throughout the ‘60s and ‘70s. Without them, who knows where we’d be today!?
Averse to Change
Baby boomers have witnessed enough change throughout their lifetimes to realize that it’s inevitable and that you just have to roll with it. They’ve overseen the civil rights breakthroughs of the 1960s, the big hair and synth-pop of the 1980s, and the technological revolution. So, how can you say they’re averse to change!?
Strict Parents
Parenting styles are not the same in the modern day as they were when the baby boomer generation was children. The silent generation often raised their children in a far stricter manner than today’s parents. Baby boomers were actually at the forefront of relaxing parenting styles despite millennials claiming they were too strict.
Believing That Millennials/Gen Z are Lazy
The stereotype that all baby boomers believe millennials and Gen Z are not willing to work for what they want is not true. In contrast, an Ipsos poll reveals that 48% of boomers disagree with this sentiment! In reality, they’re actually rather impressed with Gen Z’s adaptability to modern ways of working.
They’re Workaholics
Many people, including some boomers, believe that the baby boomer generation is characterized by workaholics. However, baby boomers were part of a generation that campaigned for lowered working hours and incorporated more leisure time into their lives, so it’s actually a false stereotype.
Unable to Learn
While it’s undeniably harder for older minds to absorb information than younger minds, baby boomers can still comprehend new information. For example, they’ve had to learn technology from scratch at an older age to keep up with society. Sadly, millennials and Gen Z don’t realize how tough this has been.
Dismissive of Mental Health
The mental health awareness revolution of the 2010s didn’t bypass the baby boomers, with many of them understanding the issues faced by those with OCD, depression, anxiety, and a host of other struggles. In fact, baby boomers played a huge part in destigmatizing mental health–it wasn’t all Gen Z!
They Had It Easy
Boomers may have grown up in peacetime following the conclusion of the Second World War, but they had the conflict in Vietnam around the corner, civil rights horrors, and various economic crises to navigate themselves through. Every generation throughout history has had major struggles to overcome, and boomers are no different.
Environmentally Unfriendly
Young people often complain that their efforts to help the environment are overshadowed by a lack of care on display from baby boomers. It turns out this is far from the truth, with The Guardian reminding us that boomers are the ‘greenest generation.’ Environmental campaigns were incredibly common in the ‘60s and ‘70s!
All Boomers are the Same
Categorizing generations and putting them all into the same bracket is easy but also lazy. The boomer generation spans almost two decades, from 1946 to 1964, meaning those born earlier will have vastly different upbringings to those born in the early ‘60s. They’re not all the same!
Houses Were Cheap
As it becomes increasingly difficult for young people to get on the property ladder, younger generations often jibe at boomers, as they were able to purchase their homes for what seems like next to nothing. However, economic inflation must be taken into account; that $1,000 deposit would be worth much more today!
Nothing to Offer
Rather harshly, a lot of younger people will write the older generations off as no longer having anything meaningful to contribute to society. However, with medical practice constantly improving and life expectancy creeping up, baby boomers are more capable in old age than any generation that has preceded them. Don’t underestimate them.
Living Offline
A common misconception surrounding baby boomers is that they live a life completely free of the internet. This is statistically untrue, with a study by Google proving that the internet has now become the main source of information for baby boomers. What are the youth talking about!?
In-Store Only Shopping
Boomers aren’t at risk of being unable to buy new things because manual shops are taking their business online. In the US, over a quarter of baby boomers regularly order items online, and that number is only likely to increase as the retail sector shifts even further online. This stereotype is, quite frankly, nonsense.
It’s All About Them
Finally, boomers are commonly unfairly labeled the ‘me generation’ because of their supposed leaning toward helping themselves and not others; baby boomers have been busy reversing this stereotype for many years. In fact, they’re famous for leaving their wealth to the younger generations of their families, so how can you call them self-centered!?
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