If you were born between 1960-1964 do you consider yourself a boomer or generation Xer.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:My DH was born in 1958. He remembers Michael Jackson as being awesome.
My son is a millennial. He remembers Michael Jackson as being really weird.

And your husband was too young to be eligible for the draft, so his teen years were very different from those of the Boomers, for the simple fact that he didn’t have to think about fighting in Vietnam unless he chose to join the military.

People born in the late 50s and early 60s did not have to concern themselves with Vietnam the way those born from 1945-55 did. That’s one of the biggest defining characteristics of Boomers.

Not true. I was born in ‘62 and my father was in Vietnam for a year as an officer. We had a very difficult year without him and he came home to jeers and protests. We had to move from our house on the highway because the sounds would trigger my father’s PTSD. Our nanny’s father came home from Vietnam and killed himself ten years later. There were many repercussions from Vietnam besides being of age to be drafted to the war.

Yes, that is true and you are right that I worded that badly. I do realize that there were more repercussions from Vietnam than those caused by the draft and also experienced them in older family members whose lives were, sadly, never the same after their service there.

I was more specific in the first paragraph above and should have used the same phrase again in that I meant to indicate that young men born in the late 50s and early 60s didn’t need to worry about being drafted themselves. They and their female peers knew that they would not have to go to Vietnam unless they chose to serve. It made a huge difference to not have to think about being drafted as a teen.

One of the most defining characteristics of the Boomers is that the males were eligible for the draft. That eligibility had a huge effect on many of the choices they made about how they lived their lives and affected how they viewed the world around them. Those born after 1955 did not have to worry about being drafted and that fact made their lives very different from those born 1945-55. They just don’t qualify as Boomers in large part because they didn’t have the experience of having to think about the possibility of being drafted and plan accordingly.

I don't think that is necessarily true. Those boys born in 1956, 57, 58, 59 still grew up expecting that the draft would affect them. The Vietnam era draft ended in 1972, but until 1975, the selective service was still telling young men to expect to be drafted.
Of course, being told to expect to be drafted is very different than actually being drafted, but there was still that looming cloud over a teen boy's existence, even if they were born a few years after 1955.

DP- You have stretched the goalpost years. This discussion was about people born between 1961-1964, not people born in the 50's

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 1963 and 1964 parents are boomers. The 63 is more chill and laid back than the 64 but they had the leg up that boomers had of cheap housing, affordable college, etc and were able to easily build wealth which to me is the signifier of boomers.

Your parents may have had cheap housing and affordable college, but I did not. I guess it is all relative based on family help. I am sure there are college kids now receiving fully-paid college from their parents, so I guess it's affordable to them.

[Anonymous]

1972 so stereotypically Gen X. My brother born in 1964 is mostly Gen X. My SIL born in 1962 is a boomer. DH and I both have Silent Generation parents.

My kids were born in 1997 and 2001. Neither one identifies with Gen Z and they certainly aren't millenials. DS (b. 2001) swears that Gen Z begins in 2002.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 1963 and 1964 parents are boomers. The 63 is more chill and laid back than the 64 but they had the leg up that boomers had of cheap housing, affordable college, etc and were able to easily build wealth which to me is the signifier of boomers.

WTF? 64 here. Still paying student loans. Bought my first house at 39. I don't have any clue who you are referring to.

Dunno what to tell you. My dad was bought a $40,000 house in 1988 when he was 25 years old. The mortgage was mere hundreds of dollars. He was able to do that consistently through the 90s. Obviously your circumstances were different. But my dad isn’t the outlier of his cohort.

Where in the world did he buy a $40k house in '88? Serious question. I bought my first house not 3 yrs later, and it was 3x more.

Oklahoma City, OK LMAO which obviously is a pit but, they were available

Eh, you can still find $40,000 houses in pits in this country. That's not a big deal if that's your cup of tea.https://www.zillow.com/chicago-il/under-50000/?utm_content=289220577|15937968417|dsa-101220890457|342757771360|&semQue=null&k_clickid=_kenshoo_clickid_&gclid=Cj0KCQjwntCVBhDdARIsAMEwACl9R1F8217gqjjiIYT9EoCOtgUHBapVfG7b1mL6Zpv_2KgjLHyzU9MaArYhEALw_wcB

[Anonymous]

1964 here and oldest of 5, definitely fall in the Gen X. DH is 1956 and more of a boomer though not completely.

[Anonymous]

^ Houses for under $50k in Chicago area

https://www.zillow.com/chicago-il/under-50000/?utm_content=289220577|15937968417|dsa-101220890457|342757771360|&semQue=null&k_clickid=_kenshoo_clickid_&gclid=Cj0KCQjwntCVBhDdARIsAMEwACl9R1F8217gqjjiIYT9EoCOtgUHBapVfG7b1mL6Zpv_2KgjLHyzU9MaArYhEALw_wcB

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1964 here and oldest of 5, definitely fall in the Gen X. DH is 1956 and more of a boomer though not completely.

1956 is 100% a Boomer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 1963 and 1964 parents are boomers. The 63 is more chill and laid back than the 64 but they had the leg up that boomers had of cheap housing, affordable college, etc and were able to easily build wealth which to me is the signifier of boomers.

Your parents may have had cheap housing and affordable college, but I did not. I guess it is all relative based on family help. I am sure there are college kids now receiving fully-paid college from their parents, so I guess it's affordable to them.

This. My DH and I are both GenX who didn't have well of parents, but have paid K-12 private and college for 2 kids. They have no idea about the economic downturn of the mid 2000s, except what they learned in Econ class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1964 here and oldest of 5, definitely fall in the Gen X. DH is 1956 and more of a boomer though not completely.

He is completely and 100% a Boomer. You two might not like it, but that's another story.

[Anonymous]

'61 female. I feel I relate better to Gen X than Boomers, especially the Woodstock ones. I love the music from that era, but I barely can relate to the "hippy" aspects. I feel the Boomer range is too long, so much social change happened from the mid 1940s to mid-1960s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1964 here and oldest of 5, definitely fall in the Gen X. DH is 1956 and more of a boomer though not completely.

You are both Boomers. It’s not a question of how you feel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1964 here and oldest of 5, definitely fall in the Gen X. DH is 1956 and more of a boomer though not completely.

You are both Boomers. It’s not a question of how you feel.

GenX starts in 1965, you're splitting hairs. If PP was born in Nov of '64, it's pretty likely she much more in common with Gen X than with her parents' generation of Boomers born in '46. Her DH on the other hand, is squarely in the Boomer Generation.

[Anonymous]

Here's a really good explanation of the generations, their characteristivs, and those who are on the cusp of their generations:

https://jasondorsey.com/about-generations/generations-birth-years/

[Anonymous]

Mid 60s does not seem very Gen X. Can we call y’all Booxers?

[Anonymous]

Baby boomer equals anyone born between 1946-1964. Sorry- you can run but you cannot hide.