Kent Academic Repository Full text document (pdf) Citation for published version Bristow, Jennie (2015) The construction of the Baby Boomer generation as a social problem in Britain. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) thesis, University of Kent,. DOI Link to record in KAR https://kar.kent.ac.uk/47655/ Document Version UNSPECIFIED Copyright & reuse Content in the Kent Academic Repository is made available for research purposes. Unless otherwise stated all content is protected by copyright and in the absence of an open licence (eg Creative Commons), permissions for further reuse of content should be sought from the publisher, author or other copyright holder. Versions of research The version in the Kent Academic Repository may differ from the final published version. Users are advised to check http://kar.kent.ac.uk for the status of the paper. Users should always cite the published version of record. Enquiries For any further enquiries regarding the licence status of this document, please contact: [email protected] If you believe this document infringes copyright then please contact the KAR admin team with the take-down information provided at http://kar.kent.ac.uk/contact.html The construction of the Baby Boomer generation as a social problem in Britain. PhD Thesis Jennie Bristow School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research University of Kent Supervisors: Professor Frank Furedi Dr Ellie Lee 8 February 2015 1 Abstract The research presented in this thesis investigates how the ‘Baby Boomer generation’ has become constructed as a social problem in Britain. I begin by outlining the theoretical orientation of the research, which is grounded in Mannheim’s understanding that the problem of generations is to do with the interaction between generational location and wider social forces. The subsequent chapters present the results of a qualitative media analysis of the Baby Boomer problem, using a sample of British national newspaper articles published between 1986 and 2011 to examine the development of a cultural script. These chapters outline, first, the main features of the Baby Boomer problem as it is currently presented, before moving on to analyse how the cultural script has, over time, constructed the Boomer generation in two main ways: as an economic problem, and as a cultural problem. My findings indicate that both the attributes of the Baby Boomer generation, and the importance attached to generation as a political or social category, have changed over time, and are affected by wider political, social, and cultural shifts. This has a number of implications for how we think about the construction of the problem of generations in the present day. 2 Contents Abstract 2 List of Figures and Tables 5 Acknowledgements 6 Chapter 1 Introduction 7 1.1 Who are the Baby Boomers? 7 1.2 Defining the Baby Boomers 11 1.3 Theoretical orientation and structure of thesis 17 1.4 What the Baby Boomer problem means to me 21 Chapter 2 The sociology of generations – Review of the literature 26 2.1 Introduction 26 2.2 The range of generation theory 26 2.3 Conceiving of generations 30 2.4 Modernisation and generational disruption 33 2.5 Generation theory in the twentieth century 38 2.5.1 Mannheim’s Problem of Generations 40 2.5.2 Ortega and the ‘pulse-rate hypothesis’ 43 2.5.3 ‘The Generation of 1914’ 44 2.5.4 Focus on youth 46 2.6 Generation theory in the postwar period 50 2.6.1 The Fifties: ‘Silent’ generations and the problem of ‘over-conformity’ 51 2.6.2 The absence of a Cause 55 2.6.3 The Sixties: ‘Students Protest’ 57 2.7 Generation theory since the Sixties 63 2.8 Conclusion 69 Chapter 3 Theoretical orientation and methodology 71 3.1 Introduction 71 3.2 The sociology of knowledge and the construction of social problems 72 3.3 Six key enquiries about the problem of generations: Who, What, When, 73 Where, Why, How? 3.3.1 What is the sociology of knowledge? 74 3.3.2 Who is the subject/object of the sociology of knowledge? 77 3.3.3 When is the problem of generations developed? 84 3.3.4 Where is the problem of generations developed? 86 3.3.5 How is the problem constructed? 89 3.3.6 Why has the problem been constructed as it has? 95 3.4 Study design and research methods 96 3.4.1 The cultural script of the Baby Boomer problem 98 3.4.2 Quantitative analysis of interest in the Baby Boomers over time 99 3.4.3 Qualitative analysis of newspaper articles 103 3.4.4 Claimsmaking, rhetoric and the social problems process 108 3.5 Conclusion 110 Chapter 4 The cultural script of the Baby Boomer problem in 2010-11 112 3 4.1 Introduction 112 4.2 The top five Boomer attributes 113 4.2.1 The lucky generation 113 4.2.2 The affluent generation 115 4.2.3 The large generation 116 4.2.4 The selfish generation 121 4.2.5 The reckless generation 127 4.3 Dispossession, infantilisation, and experimentation 131 4.4 Contesting the cultural script 133 4.5 Conclusion: Generation wars, and the ‘Boomer party’ 138 Chapter 5 The Baby Boomers as an economic problem 145 5.1 Introduction 145 5.2 Demographic consciousness, and ‘intergenerational equity’ 147 5.2.1 The diffusion of the ‘ageing problem’ 143 5.2.2 The politics of intergenerational equity 150 5.2.3 A note on claimsmakers and the social problems process 153 5.3 The shaping of the Boomers as an economic problem 159 5.3.1 ‘Empty nests lined with gold’: The Boomers as consumer group 159 5.3.2 ‘From dream to droop’: Living standards and personal debt 164 5.3.3 ‘From baby boom to retirement bust’: Pensions, health and social care 169 5.4 ‘Boomergeddon’: The Boomer ‘nightmare’ becomes a reality 174 5.5 Conclusion 184 Chapter 6 The construction of the Baby Boomers as a cultural problem 186 6.1 Introduction 186 6.2 The ‘Sixties generation’ 188 6.2.1 The politics of age 189 6.2.2 The emergence of the Sixties generation unit 193 6.3 From the Sixties to the Nineties 197 6.4 The Clinton election: Baby Boomers rule the world 199 6.4.1 A generational election 200 6.4.2 Diffusion to Britain 206 6.4.3 The radicals in charge 208 6.4.4 Convergence: ‘Mush-ism’, the Third Way, and demography 212 6.4.5 Sex, women and the family 218 6.4.6 A new character type 222 6.5 Conclusion 226 Chapter 7 Conclusion: Mannheim revisited – The problem 230 of generations today 7.1 Introduction 230 7.2 Focus of the study 230 7.3 The problem of generations today 235 7.4 Conclusion 240 References 242 Appendix 1 Complete list of articles reviewed using Qualitative 259 Media Analysis. 4 List of Figures and Tables Figures Figure 1 Total Fertility Rate, 1938 to 2004 14 Figure 2 Population pyramid for England and Wales, mid-2011 15 Figure 3 Number of articles mentioning ‘baby’ and ‘boomer’ 101 from the Times, 1985-2011 Figure 4 Search of books collated by Google, using the keywords 101 ‘baby boomer’ Figure 5 Number of articles mentioning ‘baby’ and ‘boomer’ from 102 the Times, Guardian, Mail and Mail on Sunday, Express, Mirror and Sunday Mirror, and the Sun, 2000-2011 Figure 6 The social problems process 110 Tables Table 1 Datasets used for Qualitative Media Analysis 108 Table 2 What makes the Boomers happy also makes them bad 135 5 Acknowledgements My thanks go, above all, to my supervisors Dr Ellie Lee and Professor Frank Furedi, who personify the spirit of intellectual enquiry at its best. Their encouragement and criticism has made conducting this research a thoroughly rewarding experience, and I am fortunate to have two mentors who are not only inspirational figures, but also great people. I am also grateful to my colleagues in SSPSSR at the University of Kent, in particular, Meher Basit, Kalli Glezakou, Paul Glover, and Professor Chris Shilling, for their help throughout my time as a postgraduate student, and their commitment to providing an environment conducive to, and passionate about, research. I have benefited enormously from the work of the Centre for Parenting Culture Studies (CPCS), and thanks to Jan Macvarish, Charlotte Faircloth, and the many CPCS Associates who have shared their own research and talked to me about mine. Outside of academia, many thanks go to Sally Millard, Beverley Marshall, Jane Sandeman, and the other parents (and children) who have spent their Easter holidays discussing parenting culture in very cold chalets. Research is a lonely pursuit, and I am deeply grateful to my friends, old and new, for encouraging me to do it while stopping me from disappearing into it. They know who they are. The support of my colleagues at British Pregnancy Advisory Service (particular thanks to Katherine, for her advice on making graphs!) has meant a great deal. And then there is my family, without whom none of it would be worthwhile. Thanks to Tony, for making sense of my ramblings and being the love of my life. Thanks to our parents, and our wider family, for their continual love, interest, and support. Last but (of course) not least, thanks to our daughters Emma and Annia, for being just who they are. As I was finishing the first draft, a close family friend, (Aunty) Jo Pattison, died suddenly at the age of 65. The fullness of her life is expressed by the hole she left behind, not only for her family and friends, but also for the countless others whose lives she touched through her belief in people and her tireless campaigning to make the world a better place.