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Introduction Take a look at this population pyramid on the Stats Canada website.population pyramid Login: hwdsbstudent Password: oerbs What seems to happen to the pyramid by the late 1940s? Can you account for the shape of the pyramid in 2001? Does it look like a pyramid anymore? What shape do you think the population pyramid might resemble in 25 years? In 50 years?

Classifications There are 3 BROAD classifications for the present generations: a. Baby Boom – generation born post WWII b. Generation X (starts as early as 1960, definitely by 1965 or 1968) c. Generation Y (Millennials - usually begins by 1980 and definitely by 1985) For research purposes, a FAMILIAL generation is usually years (Why?)

The Baby Boom In 1945, Canadians celebrated the end of World War II. Thousands of soldiers returned home. The women who had taken the soldiers’ places in factories and offices gave up, or were forced to give up, their jobs in order to return to traditional careers Two years later, many Canadians had something else to celebrate. Babies. Hundreds of thousands of them. In Canada, the Baby Boom would last for nearly twenty years. In fact, one third of all Canadians living today were born between1947 to They are known as the Boomers, the children of the Baby Boom. Almost immediately Canadian society changed. Families moved into newly created suburbs on the outskirts of cities. There was a boom in housing and shopping malls. New schools were built as enrolment increased by nearly 50%.

Baby Boomers Grow In the 1950s, their sheer numbers forced the building of hundreds of new schools across Canada. In Hamilton at the end of WWII there were 3 high schools: Westdale, Central, & Delta) After WWII the following are built beginning in the 1950s: Hill Park, MacNab, Westmount, Glendale, Barton, Scott Park, Sherwood, Churchill, and SJAM (1971 – replaced Central) Where are all of these schools built? What is special about these areas (think about The End of Suburbia)

Boomers Growing Up They were the rebellious, college- educated dissenters from the 1960s and 1970s, promoting civil rights and protesting the Vietnam War.

Boomers Growing Up As the years passed, they redefined adulthood and old age. They even challenged gender roles. Where their mothers had walked away from their brief stints in the wartime workforce, the daughters of the Baby Boom chose careers over family, having few children and having them later in life. They also became known as the generation that would never grow old. They were intent on remaining fit and healthy.

Generation X -Born and grew as the children of Boomers through the late 1960s and 1970s and 1980s). -Term popularized by Canadian author Douglas Coupland

Agree? Disagree? What problems does this propose in terms of its usefulness? Questions that each type of social scientist might ask about each generation and how do those questions change with each generation?

Boom & Bust Read the article titled, By definition: Boom, bust, X and why The article mentions David Foot, an expert in the demography of the Baby Boom and subsequent generations, and the effect that these demographic developments have on the economy, on society, and on the individual. Take a look at the final quote from Mr. Foot in the Globe and Mail article. What do you think are some of the major effects on individuals who were born during the Baby Boom? What about those born into Generation X?

Boomers and Gen X Watch this clip from the CBC. As you watch it, try and answer the question:this clip Why is Generation X known as the Lost Generation? What are some of the problems facing Generation Xers?

Generation Y What defines Generation Y?

Gen X and Gen Y Watch this clip and answer the following question:this clip How do the members of Generation Y differ from the members of the Baby Boom and Generation X?

Comparisons and Classifications “Generations Organizer using the available History textbooks, and Canadiana Scrapbooks. When deciding on major events, etc., focus on the events, media, and the like that were most common in their late childhood and teen years. As we saw earlier in the course, most of your social values are formed by the time you are an adult. As a result, this is the years described are the years when much of your social values and ideas are formed. Thus, what was going on around you when these ideas were formed.