Who Are the Lucky Few?

The lucky few are those of us born between 1926 and 1945. If that includes you, WWI bypassed you, and you came of age just in time to miss WWII. But that’s only part of it. You were the first generation to be indulged as children, you became teenagers just as the western world was emerging from the depression, and later, from the privations of a devastating war.

As you were growing up, you were privy to an explosion of wealth and economic stability. Let’s say, for instance, you were born in 1930, and turned 18 in 1948—western economies had just started to boom. When you graduated, the world teemed with opportunities. You could have your pick of jobs. Like Woody Allen said several years later, all you had to do was “show up”.

And this trend didn’t stop. Because there were so few of you, labor markets competed for your labor, and rewarded you with higher wages. In his book, Birth and Fortune, Easterlin says that a typical young man’s wage by the time he was 30 was more than the average wage for men of all ages —and that he could live better than most retired elders.
Oh, my—tell that to the average beleaguered Generation X worker, who struggled for years under the shadow of the Boomers!

This blog is dedicated to the study and commentary of the Lucky Few, sometimes referred to as the Silent Generation. It covers issues that were relevant in those times, some of which affect us today. References are used extensively and are disclosed as accurately as possible. Links and citations are included whenever available.