Big six O for baby boomers

A total of 218,000 baby boomers celebrated their 60th birthday in 2006 – the highest number of 60th birthdays ever recorded in Australia.

Social researcher, Mark McCrindle, says they are displaying spending patterns and attitudes more like their children than their parents. He has released findings on the different age groups in ‘Seriously Cool – Marketing and Communicating to Diverse Generations’.

“It’s the psychological age – not the chronological one – that influences decisions,” he said. “Forget ‘old’ and ‘elderly’. Age is just a number.”

He says marketers have been slow to understand the generational distinctives and to effectively engage with the ever-young boomers, and the ever-changing X-ers. They have placed too much emphasis on Generation Y.

Generation Xers and baby boomers comprise the majority of Australia’s families. They have the majority of all dependent children and record the highest household spend.