Bureaucrats at the Census Bureau decided upon the years 1946 through 1964. Most others peg the years between 1943 and 1960.
Rightly, any period marked by a greatly increased birth rate can get the moniker "a baby boom." A birth boom gets measured by an increase in the rate of births per 1,000.
A look at the stats reveals the false belief of the "baby boom" happening between the years 1946 and 1960 (or 1964). In short, a baby boom never happened between 1946 through 1964.
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| United States birth rate (births per 1000 population) |
The red segment demarcates the years 1946 to 1964, the supposed postwar baby boom. Clearly, through the years, Americans have created baby booms. Yet, no continuous boom happened between 1946 and 1964.
The first boom began in 1933, stalled and then resumed in 1937. That boom lasted until 1944. The first boom stalled in 1944 and resumed in 1945 hitting a peak in 1948. The first boom began its decline after hitting a peak in 1948, a peak that had fallen 11.7% from the 1909 peak of 30 births each 1,000.
The Great Baby Bust began in 1957 and lasted 20 years. Interestingly, the birth rate fell an insignificant 1.7% after U.S. Supreme Court robes ruled abortion legal in their 1973 Roe v. Wade decision.
By 1977, American men and women decided having sex and birthing babies was fun. Thus, they kicked off a second baby boom. As their fun petered out by 1991, the boomlet didn't last.
I blame the music between '77 and '91.
Gab It
