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this post was submitted on 22 Oct 2023
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Birth control pills? Huh?
Baby Boomer: The generation is often defined as people born from 1946 to 1964 during the mid-20th century baby boom. 1962 the birth control pills came. The Food and Drug Administration approved the first oral contraceptive in 1960. Within 2 years of its initial distribution, 1.2 million American women were using the birth control pill, or the "pill," as it is popularly known. This was the end of the baby boom.
Perhaps part of the reason they seem... different... to younger generations is related to the fact that there would have been a higher percentage of unwanted pregnancies for their cohort than the ones that followed.
The Pill became available right as the first wave of Boomers came of age. They were the first generation to have it available when they were at that college/marriage age. The Pill didn't end Boomers. The Pill is why there are so many fewer Gen Xers; because Boomers used The Pill. There was slower uptake among the parents.
Similar baby booms happened in other parts of the world, though the exact dates differ.
So somebody on the internet referring to boomers might mean people born in the late 60s as well.
Boomers appeared because the war ended, not because there was a lack of pills.
Almost as if humans reproduce much faster during times of abundance and a pill specifically designed to stop human reproduction would cause a dramatic drop in human birth rates 🤔
Both can contribute to the cause.
Every generation before Gen X was conceived without The Pill being available. The fact that it did not exist has nothing to do with why there were more Boomers than there were Greatest Generation or Silent Generation.