Abstract
This chapter begins by outlining the transformations that have occurred to family life during the latter part of the twenty-first century. It details demographic and social trends such as the decline in fertility rates, the rise of divorce and the greater role of women in the labour force. The chapter places the generation of the baby boomers at the centre of these changes, and it presents the central theme of the book, i.e. the ways in which the baby boomers have contributed, directly or indirectly, to renewing the family. In particular, the chapter raises the question of whether the generations born after 1946 produced a new social sense and meaningful cultural model that set them apart from previous generations. The parameters of the research that forms the backbone of the book are presented, including the focus on the birth cohorts of 1946–1954 and the comparative French/English approach to the qualitative interviews undertaken with 60 participants.
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Notes
- 1.
With the exception of 1946–1947 (Pressat 1962).
- 2.
Ulrich Beck (2008) refers to this period as second modernity, whereas Anthony Giddens (1996) prefers the term late modernity.
- 3.
Especially in the English-speaking world, witness the far larger number of books and articles on the subject.
- 4.
According to Patrick Artus and Marie-Paule Virard (2006), baby boomer parents ruined their children, thus paving the way to a war between the spoiled grandpa-boom generation and their children.
- 5.
As Marie-Hélène Bacqué and Stéphanie Vermeersch remind us, “the literature of the 1970s referred to a new class, or alternative class, or everyday adventurers. Pioneers of transformation and culture, free from doubts about either their future or that of their children, these social groups were at the heart of a dynamics of social transformation” (Baqué and Vermeersch 2007, p. 7).
- 6.
For a discussion of Feuer’s, Bettelheim’s and Morin’s theses, see Granjon 1985.
- 7.
Examples include women’s suffrage, feminist movements and contraception.
- 8.
In Britain, a research project was conducted between 2005 and 2008 by the Institute of Lifecourse Studies at Keele University specifically to explore the baby boomers. It was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and the Arts and Humanities Research Council as part of the Cultures of Consumption programme. See Biggs et al. 2007.
- 9.
Even if France seems difficult to categorise. See Martin 1997.
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Bonvalet, C., Clément, C., Ogg, J. (2015). Introduction. In: Renewing the Family: A History of the Baby Boomers. INED Population Studies, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08545-6_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08545-6_1
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