“Baby Boomers are the only ones thinking about the future. The older and younger groups are all stuck in the present.”
That is the conclusion reached by Judy Schriener, who is writing a book about housing design trends driven by the 76 million Americans born between 1946 and 1964
What do Boomers want? Everything, she says.
“We’re the Woodstock generation. Our houses must be designed to fit healthy, active lifestyles; the needs of the elderly and disabled plus those of our kids and grandkids, too. We’re the first generation willing to pay for environmental building. We want to make things better for everyone.”
“Three years ago I couldn’t get any attention for this subject,” Ms. Schreiner told a recent gathering of Washington Independent Writers. “But now there are a lot of chances to write about Boomer-friendly housing and many related topics, ” including finance, health care, and fitness. She cites a growing stream of articles from Newsweek, Business Week, and The Wall Street Journal on the interests of Baby Boomers, who comprise more than 25 percent of the U.S. population and control an outsized proportion of America’s wealth.
If your publication targets a Baby Boomer audience, Ms. Schreiner has these observations for you, based on her research:
- Many Boomers don’t want to retire. Instead, they plan to take new jobs, start businesses, or involve themselves in volunteer work.
- Many want to stay in town, close to transportation. Ms. Schreiner found that 60 percent of Baby Boomers who move stay within their county of residence.
- There’s a clear aging-in-place movement, in which over-50s remodel their homes instead of moving.
- A growing number of university-affiliated retirement communities promise a rich cultural and intellectual environment.
- Also on the rise are special-interest communities devoted to pursuits such as music, theater, fishing, or fitness.
How should publishers characterize Baby Boomers? Not by their age, says Ms. Schreiner, but by their lifestyle. “People in their 60s with kids are different from those with grandchildren. And single mothers of similar age are different from empty-nesters. It’s not a homogenous group.
”It takes a Boomer to talk to a Boomer,” she adds.
Michael Chotiner Publishing Services (MCPS) offers writing, editing and expert consultation on print-to-Web conversion, information architecture and content management. michael.chotiner@gmail.com
2 Comments
You’re so right about it takes a boomer to talk to a boomer.
It also takes a boomer to sell to a boomer.
TV and print ads miss it completely. The few ads that aren’t promoting 20 yr. olds in skinny jeans still miss the mark and are insulting by stereotyping boomers. Boomers are complex–not all intellectuals, not all Nascar fans.
Boomers are savvy, they’ve educated themselves, have gone through their selfish phase and many are sandwich generation/caregivers to multi-generational households.
I’m a young-er boomer and am nowhere near ready to “settle” into old age. I plan to reinvent myself and my life many times over.
~Carol D. O’Dell
Author of Mothering Mother: A Daughter’s Humorous and Heartbreaking Memoir
available on Amazon
http://www.mothering-mother.com
The demographic is so enormous that it is difficult to address all baby boomers with one message. For example, my older sister (age 55) was more the James Taylor generation. Me? I was into the Monkees. I have few memories of the 1960s anti-war movement. Etc.
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[...] “Reaching Baby Boomers Where They Live” reports on a talk given by Judy Schreiner, author of Building for Boomers, McGraw-Hill, scheduled for publication in 2010. magpub.com/reaching-baby-boomers-where-they-live/ [...]