BABY BOOMERS ARE WEALTHIEST RETIREES EVER
(26 January 2007)

The UK's Baby Boomers - among them David Bowie, Joanna Lumley, Mayor Ken Livingstone and Ozzy Osbourne - are turning 60 in a landmark socio-economic milestone of the 21st century. This significant population group is changing the meaning of retirement. UK Baby Boomers have more investments, disposable income and higher pension wealth in real terms than any other generation has had at retirement age, according to new research by Halifax Financial Services.

In the research, 41% of Baby Boomers described themselves as wealthy. 67% attribute this wealth to hard work all their lives and 9% said good investments were the key factor in their wealth. Two in three respondents said they felt they were better off than their parents' generation at retirement. The Family Resources Survey 2005 identifies that a greater proportion of Baby Boomers (aged 55-64) have equity investments, ISAs, premium bonds and unit trusts than any other generation, older or younger.

Head of Halifax Financial Services Paul Stanley said: "The huge baby boomer generation is a product of post-war optimism and economic hardship. Equally they have had a significant impact on the economy. They are the wealthiest generation of retirees in history and they have been responsible for enormous social, political and economic change."

THE BABY BOOMERS

Almost one in five people in the UK are aged over 65 and the ageing of the population will gain pace as the product of the post-World War II baby boom moves into their 60s.

• The UK's share of people aged 65 and over in the population has risen from 5 per cent in 1901 to 16 per cent now.
• Conversely, the proportion of people aged 0 to 14 has fallen from 33 per cent to 19 per cent over the same period .

At the end of World War II, more than two million babies were born in little more than two years (1.025 million born in 1947). The reality of this fertility peak and the subsequent decline is a population bulge; a large population of older Britons who are living longer with fewer children and grandchildren than any other generation in history.

THE BABY BOOMERS IN CHILDHOOD (1940s & 1950s)

British babies born in the aftermath of World War II lived in relative poverty. The Baby Boomers were the first generation to experience mass consumerism (from their teens) but their attitudes and behaviour towards consumption were influenced by the immediate post-World War II conditions of re-construction.

In 1955, when Winston Churchill resigned as Prime Minister at the age of 81 and the Baby Boomers were children living through the post-war rebuilding effort:

THE BABY BOOMERS IN THEIR TWENTIES, THIRTIES & FORTIES
(1960s - 1980s)

The 1970s were turbulent times for the Baby Boomers who were hitting their twenties, marrying, having families and moving into more senior roles in the workforce. House price inflation peaked in 1973 and dropped sharply in 1974 and 1975. Inflation in the UK continued to soar, the FT30 fell below the 150 level and 1975 saw the worst ever year for share performance as the index more than halved.

The economy in the UK took a new twist as the effects of North Sea Oil began to take effect. Inflation in 1976 was at 16% and continuing pay demands culminated in September of 1978 when a strike at Ford produced a pay settlement of 17%. The spiral continued, the engineering union asked for 33% and the miners for 40% - the public sector workers who were seeking parity on pay started their strike. The 'Winter of Discontent' had begun. During the 1970s and 80s 200 million work days were lost to strike action.

The force of their sheer numbers meant the Baby Boomers in young adulthood were having an impact:

• The third most significant population peak of the 20th century occurred when the Baby Boomers started having children (1.01 million born in 1964).
• Growing families needed homes and house building in twentieth century Britain peaked in 1968 when 413,700 new dwellings were completed.
• The Baby Boomers were instrumental in bringing the Sex Discrimination Act to the UK, paving the way for a focus on gender equality.

While parents of the Baby Boomers had experienced falling prices in the 1920s and 30s, the Boomers were born at the start of a continuous period of price rises, the largest rise for a calendar year being 24.2% in 1975.

Into the early 1980s as the Boomers were moving into their forties, unemployment continued to rise and was running at 10.5% in 1986 when more than three million people were out of work.

When the Baby Boomers were in their twenties and Harold Wilson was elected in 1974:

THE BABY BOOMERS IN MIDDLE AGE (1990s)

In the 1990s Margaret Thatcher resigned and John Major was ousted by Tony Blair who introduced New Labor to the UK. The FTSE 100 hit an all time high of 6939 in December 1999. When the Baby Boomers were in their forties and John Major came to power in November 1990:

THE BABY BOOMERS IN RETIREMENT (2000+)

The Boomers are changing the meaning of retirement. Halifax research shows 53% of those surveyed (ICM Research July 2006) said they think they will have to keep working to 65 or beyond. More than half said they see themselves having part-time work in retirement.

The Baby Boomers are turning sixty. In 2006/2007, as they move into retirement:

KEY EVENTS FOR BABY BOOMER GENERATION