Silent Generation Explained

The Silent Generation, also known as the Traditionalist Generation, is the Western demographic cohort following the Greatest Generation and preceding the baby boomers. The generation is generally defined as people born from 1928 to 1945.[1] By this definition and U.S. Census data, there were 23 million Silents in the United States as of 2019.[2]

In the United States, the Great Depression of the 1930s and World War II in the early-to-mid 1940s caused people to have fewer children and as a result, the generation is comparatively small.[3] It includes most of those who fought during the Korean War. Upon coming of age in the postwar era, Silents were sometimes characterized as trending towards conformity and traditionalism, as well as comprising the "silent majority".[4] However, they have also been noted as forming the leadership of the civil rights movement and the 1960s counterculture, and creating the rock and roll music of the 1950s and 1960s.[5]

In the United Kingdom, the Silent Generation was also born during a period of relatively low birthrates for similar reasons to the United States and was quite traditional upon coming of age. They lived through times of prosperity as young adults, economic upheaval in middle age, and relative comfort in later life. The Sixtiers is a similar age group in the Soviet Union whose upbringings were also heavily influenced by the troubles of the mid-20th century. The term "the builders" has been used to describe a similar cohort in Australia. Most people of the Silent Generation are the parents of Baby Boomers and older Generation Xers. Their own parents most commonly belonged to either the Greatest Generation or the Lost Generation.

Terminology

Time magazine first used the term "Silent Generation" in a November 5, 1951, article titled "The Younger Generation", although the term appears to precede the publication:[6]

The Time article used birth dates of 1923 to 1933 for the generation, but the term somehow migrated to the later years currently in use.[7] A reason later proposed for this perceived silence is that as young adults during the McCarthy Era, many members of the Silent Generation felt it was unwise to speak out.[8]

The term "Silent Generation" is also used to describe a similar age group in the UK but has been at times described as a reference to strict childhood discipline which taught children to be "seen but not heard."[9] [10] In Canada, it has been used with the same meaning as in the United States.[11] The cohort is also known as the "Traditionalist Generation".[12]

Dates and age range definitions

The Pew Research Center uses 1928 to 1945 as birth years for this cohort. According to this definition, people of the Silent Generation are to years old in .[13] [14]

The Intergenerational Centre of the Resolution Foundation has used 1926 to 1945, while the Encyclopedia of Strategic Leadership and Management uses the range 1925 to 1945. This generation had reached maturity as early as 1946 and as late as 1963, but the majority of Silents had become of age in the 1950s, in the wake of the Civil rights movement, which was followed by older boomers in the 1960s.[15] [16] Authors William Strauss and Neil Howe use 1925 to 1942.[17] People born in the later years of World War II who were too young to have any direct recollections of the conflict are sometimes considered to be cultural, if not demographically, baby boomers.[18] [19] [20]

Characteristics

Australia

Australia's McCrindle Research uses the name "Builders" to describe the Australian members of this generation, born between 1925 and 1945, and coming of age to become the generation "who literally and metaphorically built [the] nation after the austerity years post-Depression and World War II".[21] [22] [23]

Soviet Union

See main article: Sixtiers. The Silent Generation in the Soviet Union is similar to Sixtiers. These people were born into Stalinism, raised during collectivization, and were witnesses of the Holodomor. So even though there was no Great Depression in the Soviet Union, they still experienced a lack of resources and food as children. In the 1930s and 1940s many of them lost their parents or close relatives during Stalinist repressions and later during battles and German occupation in WWII. Sometimes this generation is called the "Children of XX-th Congress".

United Kingdom

Childhood and youth

There was a slump in birth rates in the UK between the two major baby booms following each world war. This roughly correlated with the economic downturn in the 1930s and World War II.[24] The era of the Great Depression was a time of deprivation for many children, unemployment was high and slum housing was common. However, education was compulsory from the age of five to fourteen years old. Gaining a place at grammar school was a way for young people whose families could not afford them to be privately educated to gain full access to secondary schooling. In a time before widespread car use, children commonly played outside in the street and further afield without adult supervision. Toys of this era were quite simple but examples included dolls, model aeroplanes, and trains. Other popular activities included reading comics, playing board games, going to the cinema, and joining children's organizations such as the scouts.[25] It was estimated that more than 85% of British households owned a wireless (radio) by 1939.[26]

The Second World War impacted the lives of children in various ways. Significant numbers of schoolchildren were evacuated without their parents to the countryside to avoid the threat of bombing throughout the war years.[27] The quality of education fell everywhere but particularly in urban areas for various reasons, including a shortage of teachers and supplies, the distress pupils suffered from air raids and the disruption caused by evacuations.[28] [29] [30] The degree of supervision children received also fell as fathers left to fight and mothers joined the workforce.[31] [32] However, rationing during World War II and the years after improved the health of the population overall with one study conducted in the early 2000s suggesting that a typical 1940s child ate a healthier diet than their counterpart at the start of the 21st century.[33] [34] Following the Second World War, the school-leaving age was raised to 15 with every child being allocated to one of three types of school based on a test taken at the age of 11 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland (selection between two types of school took place at age 12 in Scotland[35]).[36] [37]

The years after the Second World War saw a continuation of difficult social conditions, there was a serious housing shortage and rationing was at times more restrictive than it had been during the war. The late 1940s saw substantial social reforms and changes to the structure of the British economy.[38] [39] Economic conditions and living standards improved significantly during the 1950s and 60s.[40] [41] Unemployment rested at roughly two percent during this period, much lower than it had been during the depression or would be later in the 20th century.[42] Consumer goods such as Televisions and household labour saving devices became increasingly common. By the late 1950s, Britain was one of the most affluent societies anywhere in the world.[43] In 1957, 52% of the British population described themselves as "very happy" in comparison to 36% in 2005.[44] [45] That year, Prime Minister Harold Macmillan famously said:[46]

The idea of the "teenager" as a distinctive phase of life associated with rebellion against adult authority and older generations social norms became increasingly prominent in public discourse during the 1940s and 50s.[47] [48] [49] [50] Though in many ways those reaching maturity in the years after the Second World War were quite traditionally conservative in experience and attitudes. National service (military conscription) was reintroduced after the war and continued throughout the 1950s.[51] [52] Young people would often attend ballroom dances to socialise and find potential romantic partners.[53] The average age of first marriage in England and Wales fell reaching its lowest level in more than a hundred years by the late 1960s of 27.2 and 24.7 years for men and women respectively.[54] Cultural norms[55] [56] [57] [58] [59] and government policy[60] [61] [62] [63] encouraged marriage and women to focus on their role as homemaker, wife and mother whilst their husband acted as the household's primary breadwinner. The treatment of those who did not meet society's expectations in their personal lives was often quite unsympathetic. Abortion[64] and homosexuality[65] were illegal whilst later investigations suggest that many women who gave birth out of wedlock had their babies forcibly removed from them.[66] Laws were liberalised significantly in the late 1960s,[67] but change was slower in certain areas in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Mid and later life

Heavy industry had been troubled in the UK throughout the 1960s,[68] this combined with a global energy crisis and influx of cheap goods from Asia led to rapid deindustrialisation by the mid 1970s. New jobs were either low wage or too high-skilled for those laid off.[69] [70] This situation led to significant political instability and industrial unrest causing a great deal of frustration and inconvenience to the general public.[71] [72] Meanwhile, another set of problems was developing in Northern Ireland where politics had become increasingly tense and divided during the 1960s. This developed into a sectarian conflict with the British Army involved known as The Troubles which continued over several decades.[73] [74] This conflict caused more than 3,500 deaths.[75] In 1979, Margaret Thatcher became prime minister and brought about the end to some aspects of the Post-war consensus on economic policy.[76] For instance, her government created the right-to-buy scheme which allowed renters to buy up their council homes at a reduced prices.[77] Middle aged people were one of the social groups which particularly benefited from this policy.[78] Her policies have been described as giving millions of people direct ownership of capital through share or house ownership but have also been associated with high unemployment, rising poverty and social unrest.[79] [80]

For several decades prior to 2010, women received the State Pension from the age of 60 and men from the age of 65.[81] A 2019 report stated that Pensioner Poverty in the UK had increased rapidly during the 1970s and the 1980s but fell in the 1990s and early 21st century. According to the report 20% of the silent generation, which it described as individuals born from 1926 to 1945, had lived in poverty at the age of 70 in comparison to 45% of the Greatest Generation and 15% of Baby Boomers at similar ages. The report attributed the change to more private pensions, increased home ownership and government policy.[82] Commentators suggested that older people were somewhat insulated from the effects of the austerity programme in the 2010s.[83] [84] Though pensioner poverty was rising slightly by the mid to late 2010s and early 2020s, especially among women.[85] [86] The average life expectancy was around 80 years old, a few years older for women than men, in the late 2000s and 2010s.[87]

General trends

An analysis of British Election Study surveys for the 1964 to 2019 general elections suggested that the Silent Generation as a cohort became more likely to vote for the Conservative Party as they grew older. The results suggested that at 35 years old, people born from 1928 to 1945 were about 5 percentage points less likely to vote Conservative than the national average, but that by the time they were 70 years old, they were about ten percentage points more likely to do so than the national average. They were, however, by the end of the time period studied, less likely to vote for the Conservatives than the next youngest age group, baby boomers. An article on the analysis commented that it is conventional wisdom that people become more conservative as they get older but that isn't true of all the age groups the analysis covered and environmental factors are also important in influencing the development of voter behavior.[88]

United States

As children and adolescents

As a cultural narrative, the Silent Generation are described as children of the Great Depression whose parents, having revelled in the highs of the Roaring Twenties, now faced great economic hardship and struggled to provide for their families. Before reaching their teens, they shared with their parents the horrors of World War II but through children's eyes. Many lost their fathers or older siblings who were killed in the war. They saw the fall of Nazism and the catastrophic devastation made capable of the nuclear bomb. When the Silent Generation began coming of age after World War II, they were faced with a devastated social order within which they would spend their early adulthood and a new enemy in Communism via the betrayal of post-war agreements and rise of the Soviet Union. Unlike the previous generation who had fought for "changing the system," the Silent Generation was about "working within the system." They did this by keeping their heads down and working hard, thus earning themselves the "silent" label. Their attitudes leaned toward not being risk-takers and playing it safe. Fortune magazine's story on the College Class of '49 was subtitled "Taking No Chances".[89] This generation was also heavily influenced by the transformations brought about by the Golden Age of Radio, the rise of trade unions, the development of transatlantic flight and the discovery of penicillin during their formative years.[16]

In adulthood

From their childhood experiences during the Depression and the example of frugality set by their parents, Silents tended to be thrifty and even miserly, preferring to maximize a product's lifespan, i.e., "get their money's worth." This led some members of the Silent Generation to develop hoarding behaviors in the guise of "not being wasteful."[90] [91]

As with their own parents, Silents tended to marry and have children young. American Silents are noted as being the youngest of all American generations in the age of marriage and parenthood. As young parents, the older members of this generation primarily produced the later Baby Boomers, while younger members of the generation and older members who held off raising a family until later in life gave birth to Generation X. Whereas divorce in the eyes of the previous generation was considered aberrant behavior, the Silents were the generation that reformed marriage laws to allow for divorce and lessen the stigma. This led to a historically unprecedented wave of divorces among Silent Generation couples in the United States.[92]

Critics of the theory that Silents tend towards conformity and playing it safe note that, at least in the United States, leaders of 1960s-era rebellion/innovation/protest such as Muhammad Ali, Bob Dylan, Noam Chomsky, Martin Luther King Jr., and Jimi Hendrix were members of the Silent Generation, and not Baby Boomers, for whom these figures were heroes, although the majority of their followers were Boomers. While seven Presidents of the United States were members of the Greatest Generation (John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush), four presidents have been Baby boomers (Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, and Donald Trump), and two presidents were members of the Lost Generation (Harry S. Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower), only one President, Joe Biden, has been a member of the Silent Generation.

As a birth cohort, Silents never rose in protest as a unified political entity.[93] Widely seen as "following the rules" and benefiting from stable wealth creation, their Boomer and Gen X children would become estranged from them due to their different views regarding social issues of the day and their relatively decreased economic opportunity, creating a different generational zeitgeist. For example, the Boomer children were instrumental in bringing about the counterculture of the 1960s, and the rise of left wing, liberal views considered anti-establishment, which went directly against the "work within the system" approach that many Silents had practiced. Gen X children grew up in the 1970s and 1980s with the threat of nuclear annihilation hanging over them and a resultant bleak view of the future, contributing to their generational disaffection, in contrast to the optimistic outlook of their Silent Generation parents.[94]

The style of parenting from the Lost Generation or the Interbellum Generation (older members of the Greatest Generation), was known to the Silents and the generations before them originated in the late 1800s, when the Lost Gens were Children or Teenagers.[95] Representative of this was the idea that "children should be seen but not heard". These ideas were ultimately challenged following the 1946 publication of the book The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care by Benjamin Spock, which influenced some Boomers' views on parenting and family values when they became parents themselves.[96] The book also influenced how Baby Boomers were parented. These less-restrictive behavioral standards, seen as overly permissive by the Silents, further estranged those Boomers from their parents and, among other things, gave rise in the 1970s to the term generation gap. This was to describe the initial conflict of cultural values between the Silents and their Generation Joneser (younger Baby Boomers) and to a lesser extent, their Generation X'er children in the 1980s, although it wasn't quite as extreme as it was between the Greatest Generation and the "Leading Edge Boomers", (older Baby Boomers) in the 1960s.[97] [98]

Demographics

Data is from the Pew Research Center.[2] Recent cohort sizes are greater than the number born due to immigration.

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Is It Time to 'Pass the Torch?' The Generational Dilemma of the 2020 Democratic Primary . Time . December 22, 2019 . July 30, 2019 . December 22, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211222113500/https://time.com/5618238/democrats-age/ . live .
  2. Web site: Fry . Richard . Millennials overtake Baby Boomers as America's largest generation . . June 8, 2020 . April 28, 2020 . April 28, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200428233813/https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/28/millennials-overtake-baby-boomers-as-americas-largest-generation/ . live .
  3. News: Howe . Neil . July 13, 2014 . The Silent Generation, 'The Lucky Few' (Part 3 of 7) . y . . October 21, 2014 . September 23, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140923194131/http://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/2014/08/13/the-silent-generation-the-lucky-few-part-3-of-7/ . live .
  4. Web site: McLaughlin . Dan . February 16, 2016 . Closing The Book on the Silent Generation . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220323231419/https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/silent-generation-it-over/ . March 23, 2022 . April 23, 2018 . National Review.
  5. The Misconception About Baby Boomers and the Sixties . Menand . Louis . August 18, 2019 . . April 21, 2021 . April 19, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210419101400/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/the-misconception-about-baby-boomers-and-the-sixties . live .
  6. November 5, 1951 . People: THE YOUNGER GENERATION . . March 3, 2020 . April 15, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220415073957/http://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,856950,00.html . live .
  7. Menand . Louis . October 11, 2021 . It's Time to Stop Talking About 'Generations' . . November 11, 2021 . September 2, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220902110411/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/10/18/its-time-to-stop-talking-about-generations . live .
  8. Handbook to Life in America, Volume 8 Rodney P. Carlisle Infobase Publishing, 2009, p. 22
  9. Web site: October 18, 2019. From the silent generation to 'snowflakes': why you need friends of all ages. November 17, 2021. the Guardian. en. October 18, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191018065024/http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/oct/18/silent-generation-to-snowflakes-why-you-need-friends-all-ages. live.
  10. Web site: Millennials, baby boomers or Gen Z: Which one are you and what does it mean?. November 17, 2021. BBC Bitesize. en-GB. October 13, 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191013093015/https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/zf8j92p. live.
  11. Web site: Dangerfield . Katie . July 23, 2017 . From baby boomers to millennials: Which generation speaks to you? . live . https://archive.today/20220404210018/https://globalnews.ca/news/3587440/generation-traits-millennials-baby-boomer-generation-x/ . April 4, 2022 . November 18, 2021 . Global News . en-US .
  12. Book: Fineman, Stephen . Organising Age . Oxford . Oxford University Press . 2011 . 978-0-19957-804-7 . 45.
  13. News: March 1, 2018. Generations and Age. Pew Research. https://web.archive.org/web/20180331061858/https://www.pewresearch.org/topics/generations-and-age/. March 31, 2018.
  14. Web site: Definitions – Pew Research Center. www.pewresearch.org. September 25, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20170216215337/http://www.pewresearch.org/methodology/demographic-research/definitions/. February 16, 2017. dead.
  15. News: Rahman . Fahmida . Tomlinson . Daniel . February 2018 . Cross Countries: International comparisons of intergenerational trends . y . Intergenerational Commission . Resolution Foundation . May 26, 2018 . April 17, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180417202626/http://www.resolutionfoundation.org/app/uploads/2018/02/IC-international.pdf . live .
  16. Book: Sandra G. . Bowman . Sean W. . Mulvenon . Effective Government of Generational Dynamics in the Workplace . Victor C. X. . Wang . Encyclopedia of Strategic Leadership and Management . IGI Global . Hershey, PA . 2017 . 978-1-52251-050-5 . 835 . November 3, 2022 . January 19, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119150643/https://www.google.com/books/edition/Encyclopedia_of_Strategic_Leadership_and/KL_FDQAAQBAJ . live .
  17. Book: Strauss. William. The Fourth Turning. 2009. Three Rivers Press. B001RKFU4I.
  18. Web site: Howe . Neil . August 20, 2014 . The Boom Generation, "What a Long Strange Trip" (Part 4 of 7) . live . https://archive.today/20220404210359/https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilhowe/2014/08/20/the-boom-generation-what-a-long-strange-trip-part-4-of-7/?sh=22e46b8e6197 . April 4, 2022 . November 19, 2021 . Forbes . en .
  19. Book: Strauss . William . Generations the history of America's future, 1584 to 2069 . Howe . Neil . 1992 . Quill . 978-0-688-11912-6 . en-US . 1072494545.
  20. Book: Owram, Doug. December 31, 1997. Born at the Right Time. 10.3138/9781442657106. 978-1-4426-5710-6.
  21. http://mccrindle.com.au/resources/whitepapers/McCrindle-Research_ABC-01_Generations-Defined_Mark-McCrindle.pdf Generations Defined
  22. News: McCrindle. Mark. The ABC of XYZ Understanding the Global Generations. May 25, 2018. McCrindle Research. June 19, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180619132811/http://www.saspa.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/The-ABC-of-XYZ_Chapter-1.pdf. live.
  23. Web site: Generations defined: 50 years of change over 5 generations . McCrindle Research . August 30, 2018 . August 22, 2012 . December 22, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211222110751/https://mccrindle.com.au/insights/blog/generations-defined-50-years-change-5-generations-resource/ . dead .
  24. Web site: March 27, 2020. Our population – Where are we? How did we get here? Where are we going?. November 18, 2021. Office for National Statistics. November 18, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211118184424/https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/articles/ourpopulationwherearewehowdidwegetherewherearewegoing/2020-03-27#births-and-deaths-since-1901. live.
  25. Web site: Childhood in the 1920s and 1930s. November 18, 2021. Historic UK. en-GB. November 18, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211118184424/https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Childhood-In-The-1920s-And-1930s/. live.
  26. Book: Scott, Peter. The Market Makers: Creating Mass Markets for Consumer Durables in Inter-war Britain. Oxford University Press. 2017. 134.
  27. Web site: The Evacuated Children Of The Second World War. November 18, 2021. Imperial War Museums. en. November 18, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211118184422/https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/the-evacuated-children-of-the-second-world-war. live.
  28. Eric Hopkins, "Elementary education in Birmingham during the Second World War." History of education 18#3 (1989): 243–255.
  29. Emma Lautman, "Educating Children on the British Home Front, 1939–1945: Oral History, Memory and Personal Narratives." History of education researcher 95 (2015): 13–26.
  30. Roy Lowe, "Education in England during the Second World War." in Roy Lowe, ed., Education and the Second World War: studies in schooling and social change (1992) pp 4–16.
  31. News: Khatkar . Perminder . May 26, 2010 . What's it like to be a latchkey child? . en-GB . BBC Magazine . January 12, 2023 . January 12, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230112171956/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8704827.stm . live .
  32. Web site: Harris . Carol . February 17, 2011 . BBC – History – British History in depth: Women Under Fire in World War Two . January 12, 2023 . www.bbc.co.uk . en-GB . January 19, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119150630/https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/britain_wwtwo/women_at_war_01.shtml#:~:text=In%20December%201941,%20the%20National%20Service%20Act%20(no,employed%20in%20essential%20work%20for%20the%20war%20effort. . live .
  33. News: Stormont. Brian. July 16, 2020. Healthy eating: What can we learn from wartime food rationing?. November 18, 2021. The Courier. en-GB. November 18, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211118185926/https://www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/lifestyle/food-drink/1442540/healthy-eating-what-can-we-learn-from-wartime-food-rationing/. live.
  34. News: Townsend. Mark. January 4, 2004. Study shows wartime rations were better for children. November 18, 2021. The Guardian. en. November 18, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211118191211/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2004/jan/04/observerspecialbritainsschools.medicineandhealth. live.
  35. L. Patterson, "Schools and schooling: 3. Mass education 1872–present", in M. Lynch, ed., The Oxford Companion to Scottish History (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001),, pp. 566–9.
  36. Web site: The Education Act of 1944. November 18, 2021. www.parliament.uk. en. November 18, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20211118184422/https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/livinglearning/school/overview/educationact1944/. live.
  37. Web site: August 7, 2017 . The 1947 Education Act – a landmark in Northern Ireland's history . March 23, 2022 . Queen's Policy Engagement . en-GB . August 13, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220813222633/http://qpol.qub.ac.uk/1947-education-act/ . live .
  38. Web site: Brown . Derek . March 14, 2001 . 1945–51: Labour and the creation of the welfare state . January 13, 2023 . the Guardian . en . January 13, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230113090317/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2001/mar/14/past.education . live .
  39. Burnett, A social history of housing: 1815–1985 (1985) pp 278–330
  40. Book: Black . Lawrence . An Affluent Society?: Britain's Post-War 'Golden Age' Revisited . Pemberton . Hugh . July 28, 2017 . Taylor & Francis . 978-1-351-95917-9 . January 19, 2023 . January 14, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230114013316/https://books.google.com/books?id=CJkuDwAAQBAJ . live .
  41. Gurney . Peter . 2005 . The Battle of the Consumer in Postwar Britain . Journal of Modern History . 77 . 4 . 956–987 . 10.1086/499831 . 10.1086/499831 . 145257014.
  42. Book: Sloman . John . [{{google books|plainurl=y|id=etWpBwAAQBAJ}|page=811}]. }
  43. Book: Hill, Charles Peter . British Economic and Social History, 1700–1982 . E. Arnold . 1985 . 978-0-7131-7382-6 . January 19, 2023 . January 14, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230114013319/https://books.google.com/books?id=jQyzQgAACAAJ . live .
  44. News: Easton . Mark . May 2, 2006 . Britain's happiness in decline . BBC . live . March 12, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090216012035/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/happiness_formula/4771908.stm . February 16, 2009.
  45. Book: Britain's Economic Miracle: Myth Or Reality? . September 26, 2002 . Routledge . 978-1-134-89226-6 . Healey . Nigel . January 19, 2023 . January 14, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230114013327/https://books.google.com/books?id=WzKIAgAAQBAJ . live .
  46. News: July 20, 1957 . 1957: Britons 'have never had it so good' . BBC . live . March 12, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20171107235938/http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/20/newsid_3728000/3728225.stm . November 7, 2017.
  47. David F. Smith, "Delinquency and welfare in London: 1939–1949". The London Journal 38#1 (2013): 67–87.
  48. Melanie Tebbutt, Making Youth: A History of Youth in Modern Britain (2016).
  49. David Fowler, Youth culture in modern Britain, c. 1920-c. 1970: from ivory tower to global movement-a new history (2008).
  50. Bill Osgerby, Youth in Britain since 1945 (1998).
  51. Web site: What was National Service? National Army Museum . January 14, 2023 . www.nam.ac.uk . en . June 18, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200618025554/https://www.nam.ac.uk/explore/what-was-national-service . live .
  52. Web site: National Service . UK Parliament . January 14, 2023 . January 14, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230114095948/https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/private-lives/yourcountry/overview/nationalservice/ . live .
  53. Web site: Jack . Ian . January 23, 2016 . Dance halls were the Tinder of their day . January 14, 2023 . the Guardian . en . January 14, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230114095950/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jan/23/dance-halls-were-the-tinder-of-their-day . live .
  54. Web site: Marriages in England and Wales . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200419083033/https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/marriagecohabitationandcivilpartnerships/bulletins/marriagesinenglandandwalesprovisional/2016 . April 19, 2020 . August 7, 2020 . www.ons.gov.uk . Office for National Statistics.
  55. Book: Simonton, Deborah . Women in European Culture and Society: Gender, Skill, and Identity from 1700 . Routledge . 2011 . 978-0-415-21308-0 . Abingdon, Oxon . 321–323.
  56. Web site: Marriages in England and Wales . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20200419083033/https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/marriagecohabitationandcivilpartnerships/bulletins/marriagesinenglandandwalesprovisional/2016 . April 19, 2020 . August 7, 2020 . www.ons.gov.uk . Office for National Statistics.
  57. Phyllis Whiteman, Speaking as a Woman (1953) p 67
  58. Book: The Practical Home Handywoman: A Book of Basic Principles for the Self-Reliant Woman Dealing with All the Problems of Home-Making and Housekeeping . Odhams Press . 1950 . London . 233.
  59. Book: Gillis . Stacy . Feminism, Domesticity and Popular Culture . Hollows . Joanne . September 7, 2008 . Routledge . 978-1-135-89426-9 . August 8, 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200820200620/https://books.google.com/books?id=aLeSAgAAQBAJ . August 20, 2020 . live.
  60. Book: Pugh, Martin . British feminism in the twentieth century . Elgar . 1990 . 978-1-85278-096-8 . Smith . Harold L. . 158 . Domesticity and the Decline of Feminism 1930–1950 . https://books.google.com/books?id=UmoFAQAAIAAJ . January 19, 2023 . January 14, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230114013318/https://books.google.com/books?id=UmoFAQAAIAAJ . live . .
  61. Martin Pugh, "Domesticity and the Decline of Feminism 1930–1950". p 158"
  62. Bruley, Women in Britain since 1900 p 118
  63. Beaumont . Caitríona . January 2, 2017 . What Do Women Want? Housewives' Associations, Activism and Changing Representations of Women in the 1950s . live . Women's History Review . 26 . 1 . 147–162 . 10.1080/09612025.2015.1123029 . 0961-2025 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170213190119/http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09612025.2015.1123029 . February 13, 2017 . August 8, 2020 . 148013595.
  64. News: October 22, 2019 . What are the UK's laws on abortion? . en-GB . BBC News . January 14, 2023 . December 20, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20221220160851/https://www.bbc.com/news/health-19856314 . live .
  65. Web site: A short history of LGBT rights in the UK . January 14, 2023 . British Library . May 13, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180513185442/https://www.bl.uk/lgbtq-histories/articles/a-short-history-of-lgbt-rights-in-the-uk . live .
  66. Web site: BBC News Channel – If You Love Your Baby… The Story of Forced Adoptions . January 14, 2023 . BBC . en-GB . January 14, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230114102645/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000whlm . live .
  67. Book: Thorpe . Andrew . A History of the British Labour Party . 2001 . Palgrave . 0-333-92908-X . 145–165.
  68. High . Steven . November 2013 . "The wounds of class": a historiographical reflection on the study of deindustrialization, 1973–2013 . . . 11 . 11 . 994–1007 . 10.1111/hic3.12099.
  69. Tim Strangleman, James Rhodes, and Sherry Linkon, "Introduction to crumbling cultures: Deindustrialization, class, and memory". International Labor and Working-Class History 84 (2013): 7–22. online
  70. Steven High, "' The Wounds of Class': A Historiographical Reflection on the Study of Deindustrialization, 1973–2013". History Compass 11.11 (2013): 994–1007
  71. Book: Turner, Alwyn W. . Crisis? What Crisis?: Britain in the 1970s . March 19, 2009 . Aurum Press . 978-1-84513-851-6 . January 19, 2023 . January 15, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230115031459/https://books.google.com/books?id=UK30AgAAQBAJ . live .
  72. Book: Beckett, Andy . When the Lights Went Out: Britain in the Seventies . May 7, 2009 . Faber & Faber . 978-0-571-25226-8 . January 15, 2023 . January 19, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119150629/https://books.google.com/books?id=-NURERF4hb8C . live .
  73. Book: Dixon, Paul . Northern Ireland: The Politics of War and Peace . September 26, 2008 . Palgrave Macmillan . 978-1-137-05424-1 . January 19, 2023 . August 16, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210816043314/https://books.google.com/books?id=IwQdBQAAQBAJ . live .
  74. Book: Farrington, C. . Ulster Unionism and the Peace Process in Northern Ireland . February 28, 2006 . Springer . 978-0-230-80072-4 . January 19, 2023 . January 15, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230115031458/https://books.google.com/books?id=s17NCwAAQBAJ . live .
  75. Web site: CAIN: Sutton Index of Deaths . cain.ulster.ac.uk . January 15, 2023 . November 18, 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20181118204006/http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/sutton/tables/Status_Summary.html . live .
  76. Rudolf Klein, "Why Britain's conservatives support a socialist health care system." Health Affairs 4#1 (1985): 41–58. online
  77. News: Beckett . Andy . August 26, 2015 . The right to buy: the housing crisis that Thatcher built . The Guardian . June 27, 2017 . July 6, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170706155821/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/aug/26/right-to-buy-margaret-thatcher-david-cameron-housing-crisis . live .
  78. Web site: Beckett . Andy . August 26, 2015 . The right to buy: the housing crisis that Thatcher built . January 15, 2023 . the Guardian . en . February 3, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230203081313/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/aug/26/right-to-buy-margaret-thatcher-david-cameron-housing-crisis . live .
  79. News: June 21, 2010 . Obituary: Margaret Thatcher . en-GB . BBC News . January 15, 2023 . January 17, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230117125558/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-10364876 . live .
  80. Web site: Rogers . Simon . April 8, 2013 . 15 ways that Britain changed under Margaret Thatcher . January 15, 2023 . the Guardian . en . January 15, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230115131515/https://www.theguardian.com/politics/datablog/2013/apr/08/britain-changed-margaret-thatcher-charts . live .
  81. News: October 3, 2019 . Waspi campaign: The fight against changes to women's state pension age . en-GB . BBC News . January 18, 2023 . January 19, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119150631/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-49919029 . live .
  82. Web site: May 22, 2019 . Pensioner poverty rates have fallen by two-thirds since 1980s peak • Resolution Foundation . January 18, 2023 . Resolution Foundation . en-US . January 19, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119150635/https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/press-releases/pensioner-poverty-rates-have-fallen-by-two-thirds-since-1980s-peak/ . live .
  83. Web site: Stewart . Heather . March 11, 2015 . Pensioners escaped effects of austerity while young suffered most, says report . January 18, 2023 . the Guardian . en . January 19, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119150635/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/mar/11/pensioners-escaped-effects-austerity-young-suffered-most-resolution . live .
  84. News: August 11, 2022 . Rising interest rates will split the Conservatives' electoral coalition . The Economist . live . January 18, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119150631/https://www.economist.com/britain/2022/08/11/rising-interest-rates-will-split-the-conservatives-electoral-coalition . January 19, 2023 . 0013-0613 . Since 2010 a combination of tight fiscal policy (for everyone bar pensioners) and loose monetary policy has created an effective electoral coalition. Older voters, who overwhelmingly vote Conservative, avoided the worst of austerity. Pensioners were protected by a “triple-lock” rule that kept the state pension rising inexorably, regardless of the wider economy or the state of government finances. The National Health Service, the public service that older people use most, was ring-fenced..
  85. Web site: January 20, 2022 . Pensioner poverty rates . January 18, 2023 . JRF . en . January 19, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119150652/https://www.jrf.org.uk/data/pensioner-poverty-rates . live .
  86. Web site: Youssef . Anna . March 24, 2022 . Why is pensioner poverty on the rise? . January 18, 2023 . ITV News . en.
  87. Web site: National life tables – life expectancy in the UK – Office for National Statistics . January 18, 2023 . www.ons.gov.uk . February 3, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230203081314/https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/lifeexpectancies/bulletins/nationallifetablesunitedkingdom/2018to2020 . live .
  88. News: Burn-Murdoch . John . December 30, 2022 . Millennials are shattering the oldest rule in politics . Financial Times . January 17, 2023 . January 15, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230115233549/https://www.ft.com/content/c361e372-769e-45cd-a063-f5c0a7767cf4 . live .
  89. Web site: The Class of '49 . Fortune. June 1949 .
  90. Web site: Kane . Sally . April 4, 2022 . Common Workplace Characteristics of the Traditionalist Generation . live . https://archive.today/20220404210709/https://www.thebalancecareers.com/workplace-characteristics-silent-generation-2164692 . April 4, 2022 . April 4, 2022 . The Balance Careers .
  91. Web site: Abramson . Alexis . Alexis Abramson . July 3, 2018 . The Silent Generation Characteristics and Facts You Need to Know . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20191230084213/https://www.alexisabramson.com/the-silent-generation-characteristics-and-facts-you-need-to-know/ . December 30, 2019 . April 4, 2022 . Dr.Alexis.
  92. Web site: Divorce In The Silent Generation. rocketswag. June 29, 2020. September 26, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200926123836/http://rocketswag.com/elderly/generation/silent-generation/Divorce-In-The-Silent-Generation.html. live.
  93. Web site: Closing The Book On The Silent Generation. National Review. February 15, 2016. April 15, 2018. March 23, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220323231419/https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/silent-generation-it-over/. live.
  94. Generation X, the Cold War and faith . Jenkins . Paula . catapult magazine . July 7, 2011 . 10 . 12 . January 19, 2023 . January 19, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230119150626/http://www.catapultmagazine.com/my-generation/article/generation-x-the-cold-war-and-faith/ . live .
  95. Web site: Child-Rearing Practices in the 1800s . O'Driscoll . Nicole . How To Adult . April 18, 2017 . January 19, 2023 . September 30, 2022 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220930012116/https://howtoadult.com/childrearing-practices-1800s-8084427.html . live .
  96. Web site: This is How the Greatest Generation Ruined the Baby Boomers. April 28, 2018. Fatherly. January 19, 2023. January 19, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230119150629/https://www.fatherly.com/love-money/baby-boomer-parents. live.
  97. Web site: Definition of generation gap | Dictionary.com. www.dictionary.com. January 19, 2023. February 5, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210205212026/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/generation-gap. live.
  98. Book: Furlong. Andy. Youth Studies: An Introduction. 2013. Routledge. New York. 978-0-415-56479-3. 12.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Silent Generation".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.