The Generational Age Curve Will Have Huge Effects on Business and Markets.

A few weeks ago I read the book “The Age Curve” by Kenneth Gronbach. The book has a very simple premise- that demographic numbers (or the size of each successive generation) holds the key to marketing and your future business success.


The author breaks up today’s United States into 5 generations (each 20 years in duration) starting in 1905 (The GI Generation)- Followed by the Silent Generation (1925-1945)- Baby Boomers (1945-1965)- Generation X (1965-1985) and then the large Generation Y or Echo Boomers (1985-2010). He extends Generation Y to 25 years in length.

Each Generation has a different size in terms of number of live births and each generation has different tastes in terms of their spending habits and values and how they respond to marketing.


The number one key is that the Baby Boomers have peaked in terms of their spending (typical spending peaks at around age 48 and the Baby Boomer birthrate peaked in 1957). If you do the math, Baby Boomer consumption is on the downhill and that is not good for dozens of industries and systems.


Why? Because my generation, Generation X, is much smaller than the Baby Boomers (much of that because abortion was legalized in 1973 and because the Silent Generation was much smaller than the GI Generation). Generation Y is still 15-20 years away from their peak spending years.


Stay tuned for what that means to the value of your home or your real estate buying decision (hint- not good if you own a big house!)