Assignment
Read the following text, then answer the following questions.
Baby-boomers
From WW2 to Woodstock to Woodstoves to the World Wide Web, what a long, strange trip it's been. Born in that baby-making bonanza which took place between 1945 and 1964 and now aged 39-58, the arrival of this generation has been a most predictable of demographic events. Yet few in our leisure-and-hospitality world are repositioning themselves to meet the unprecedented opportunities presented by this age cohort. The baby-boomers concept first emerged in the US. Most American marketing texts agree that the baby-boom ran for a 20-year period following the end of WW2 - 1945 to 1964; during these 20 years some 77 million Americans were born. Many in the UK and Europe regard the ten years from 1945 to 1954 as the boomer decade. Let's look at a few baby-boomer facts:
- The over-50s possess 80% of the UK's wealth and 40% of its spending - worth £145bn per year.
- This is the only population group set to increase - from 20 to 27 million by 2025. Therefore the 50-plus age group is the only expanding market segment in the UK - indeed, as it is in all of Western Europe and North America. They have more disposable income or discretionary spend than all other consumer groups combined. For many, substantial inheritance from their property-owning parents, completion on their mortgages and liberation from the costs of children as they in turn graduate to achieve empty-nester status has left them with significant capital and - for the first time - a very positive balance of income over expenditure. In the US, Alisor McGuire of Elderflower Ltd found a complete turnaround in boomer attitudes compared with those of their parents, who were parsimonious, prudent and deferred gratification by continually saving for a rainy day. Her research exposed an outlook in the US which ‘forgot saving for the future - making the most of the present is the priority'. This generation has coined a new cluster: SKINS - ‘Spend the Kids' Inheritance ... Now!' For them, ‘Pleasure rather than duty is the order of the day.' As one boomer put it succinctly to an interviewer: ‘I've written a will and if there's anything left my kids will get it: if there isn't, tough!' Most estimates put the UK some 5-10 years behind the US.
Questions
a) Consider some of the implications of this ‘baby-boomer' analysis for households, businesses and governments.
b) If the UK is some ‘5 to 10 years behind the US', what might this imply?
The response should include a reference list. Double-space, using Times New Roman 12 pnt font, one-inch margins, and APA style of writing and citations.