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Resource Center Probe Ministries Disillusionment in the 1990's Kerby Anderson The changing social and economic conditions of the 1990s are turning this into the decade of disillusionment. Millions of baby boomers who grew u p in a world that fed and nurtured their expectations are facing a world much different than the one in which they were raised. This crisis of d isillusionment could also be called a crisis of "broken promises," since the boomers came to expect that they would in adulthood be privileged t o enjoy the fruits of the American dream. Instead, they are tasting the bitter fruit of despair and disillusionment. The seeds of these circumstances were sown in earlier decades. During the 1980s, they took root and grew, creating a different set of circumstanc es for this generation in the 1990s. Leading-Edge Versus Trailing-Edge Boomers Although these circumstances have affected all baby boomers, they have hi t one segment of the boom much harder than the others: the trailing edge . The members of this generation, born during the boom's later years (19 55-1964), have not fared as well as their older brothers and sisters. Psychologist Kevin Leman has written about the effects of birth- order in a single family. The oldest child tends to be serious, responsible, eve n driven. The youngest child tends to be more carefree--sometimes even t he family comic. The order of birth in a single family can often be a gr eat predictor of personality traits. Paul Light, in his book Baby Boomers, observes that "generations may be s ubject to the same kinds of birth-order effects that social psychologist s find in families." Just as the first-born in a family receives a dispr oportionate amount of parental attention and nurturance, so first-born b oomers received a disproportionate amount of societal attention and priv ilege. The leading edge boomers were the first to college, the first to the jobs , and the first to the houses. In the American "first come- first serve" economy, the leading edge found better jobs, better opportunities for c areer advancement, and better house prices. A couple that bought a house before infla tion and interest rates increased would be better off financially than a couple that bought a house with an inflated price. The leading edge bou ght houses before the prices went through the roof. By contrast, the trailing edge bought (or tried to b uy) houses that were already inflated. Often just coming up with the dow n payment was difficult if not impossible. In general, the earlier someone was born, the better are his or her chanc es of succeeding in the economy. Anyone who doubts the trend need only w atch the devastating impact these economic forces are having on the gene ration following the baby boom. Many "baby busters" cannot find a job th at pays them enough to enable them to leave their parents' home. Buying homes of their own seems like the impossible dream. Actually the seeds of this current disillusionment were sown in the 1960s and 1970s. These later-born boomers were not reared in the optimism of the Eisenhower and Kennedy years. Lead ing-edge boomers saw their idyllic visions unravel in the late 60s, but they still retained their childhood memories of a world of affluence and optimism. By contrast, trailing-edge boomers growing up in the 1960s sa w a different world--a world of shattered dreams and discordant images. While older boomers grew up in relatively stable families, younger boomer s saw the divorce rate climb to unprecedented levels. Television shows a bout traditional families like the Andersons and the Cleavers were repla ced by sitcoms about single parents like Julia and blended families like The Brady Bunch. By the time boomers hit the job market, wages had stagnated. National att ention on a potential energy crisis, an Arab oil embargo, and government al attempts to control inflation made a bad economy worse. Prime entry-l evel jobs were hard to find and chances for career advancement seemed sl im. Inflation peaked at 18 percent in 1979, and unemployment reached 11 percent in 1982--the highest level since before World War II. Yet through the 1980s, boomer optimism buoyed spirits that perhaps tomorr ow would be better, like it had been for their parents. Mom and Dad stru ggled through the Great Depression and survived World War II to build a better life. But, fo r many, better never came, and they are facing an impending crisis of di sillusionment in the 1990s. Yuppies and Yuffies Social commentators, always looking for new acronyms to describe portions of the population, dubbed these boomers "Yuffies": young, urban failure s Just as the name "yuppie" lacked demographic precision, so also the t erm "yuffie" is imprecise. Nevertheless, the term reinforces a point mad e in previous programs. Most baby boomers are coming face-to-face with disillusionment and downward mobility. Definitions used in 1985 to describe yuppies and yuff ies illustrate the point. Yuppies were defined as 25- to 39-year-olds wh o live in metropolitan areas, work in professional or managerial occupat ions, and earn at least $30,000 if living alone and $40,000 if married o r living with someone else. Using that definition, there were only four million yuppies in 1985--constituting just 5 percent of all baby boomers . Yuffies were defined as baby boomers making less than $10,000 a year. Alt hough that definition seemed much too restrictive in terms of income, it still defined a full 40 percent of the baby boom generation. In 1985, y uffies were roughly eight times as numerous as yuppies. A generation reared with great expe ctations must now come to grips with the reality of downward mobility. Home Bittersweet Home While the American dream has meant different things to different people, certainly one of the most universal, deeply-held parts of the dream has been owning a home. A Roper Organization survey in 1989 reported that ne arly nine out of ten adults listed "a home that you own" as part of the life they would like to have. This was nine percentage points ahead of a happy marriage and fourteen points ahead of a car or children. found that one out of ten Americans fantasizes about the "house of their dreams" every sin gle day. The dream house has four bedrooms, three bathrooms, two firepla ces, seven closets, three televisions, four telephones, and is a short s troll from the beach. Other amenities include a media/entertainment cent er, an exercise facility, a library, a spa/whirlpool, a home office, and an indoor/outdoor pool. If this characterization of American home fantasies is even close to accu rate, no wonder more and more boomers are facing a crisis of broken prom ises. The dream of owning y our own home is a relatively recent one. In 1946-- the year the baby boo m began--the majority of Americans were renters. Yet within one generati on, more than two-thirds of Americans became home owners. The boom gener ation, growing up in the midst of this significant transition, came to s ee home ownership as a right rather than a privilege. But the housing crunch in the 1970s began to change that perception. When the baby boom generation headed out into the world upon graduation, the y found stagnant wages and increasing house prices. Both phenomena were due to the size of the baby boom generation. American couples could crea te millions of babies every year during the baby boom, but the American economy could not create millions of new jobs and millions of new homes in the 1970s. The sheer size of the generation was only one reason for r ising home prices. The living patterns of this generation exacerbated th e problem. First, baby boomers left the nest earlier than any other generation. Many left for college and never returned home but instead began looking for homes of t heir own. Unlike their parents, wh o married early and then purchased houses, boomers in the 1970s often bo ught houses as singles, thereby creating an even greater demand on the h ousing market. This trend als o created more demand for housing than would have occurred if they had a ssumed the lifestyle of their parents. These three patterns converged t...
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