2013/03/01 by Rebecca Leach, Chris Phillipson, Simon Biggs +1
Social Sciences · #Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving #Migration, Aging, and Tourism Studies #Youth Education and Societal Dynamics
paper · doi:10.1080/03906701.2013.771053
openalex publication_date 2013/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
This paper outlines the ways in which the cohort born immediately following the Second World War illustrates changes in consumption patterns within their lives. The paper suggests that this cohort (often known as baby boomers) view themselves to be a ‘bridging’ generation between the ‘old’ ways of their own parents and the radically different views of the next generation. Now nearing or entering retirement and later life, the discussion considers the accounts of boomers themselves having experienced post-war consumer culture and shifting family relations. This paper focuses primarily on qualitative accounts from 150 detailed interviews followed by 30 in-depth interviews, and is framed by analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. It explores central emergent themes in the accounts of respondents which demonstrate evidence for a ‘bridging’ identity maintained by baby boomers in relation to their consumption practices.