Who’s Faring Better

by: Akim DeShay Black Demograhics.com

Looking at the incredible achievements of African American Baby boomers makes me think of my parents. Both are boomers, children of World War II veterans, were once active in the late 60s, are educated, and accomplished. Being the editor of BlackDemographics.com, I was somewhat caught off guard when approached for statistics regarding this vitally important group of African Americans. A sense of shame came over me for neglecting to document the generation that is responsible for my very existence.

So I jumped head first into this adventure by going to my usual most trusted resources and found out very quickly that there is no official tracking for generations. However some large organizations have gone to great lengths to document the Baby Boomer generation for their own marketing purposes. Unfortunately African Americans are not represented in most of those studies.  

While continuing the struggle after the Civil Rights era African American baby boomers created a new “Black middle class” and achieved many first generation accomplishments in education, government, and business. Many of these accomplishments have yet to be topped by my generation of so called Xers. Black Boomers are probably responsible for so many ‘Black firsts’ that it would be ill advised to attempt to list them all in one sitting.

So how can we take a close look at this generation of movers and shakers today? Well by using age group reporting it is possible to get a closer look at some characteristics in the Black boomer age ranges. For beginners, in 2010 the population of African Americans ages 46-64 was just over 9.4 million.

Black Baby boomers have made incredible achievements in education. Today we have a generation that has a higher college completion rate than those 35-44yrs of age even though a slightly larger percentage had no education beyond High School. Also, a larger percentage of Black boomers hold doctoral and masters degrees than those in younger age groups.

This higher level of education has paid off literally. In 2010 thirty two percent of black baby boomers had household incomes of $55,000 or more compared to just 29% of those ages 25-44. This includes the 7 % of boomers who had annual incomes over $115,000 a year.

Despite all of the gains Black baby boomers have not been able to escape the economic problems of today. The unemployment rate for African Americans ages 55-64 was 11.1% in 2010 compared to 9% for all baby boomers in the same age group. The unemployment rate for Black female boomers faired better than Black men at 9.4% and 13.2% respectively.

Although Black boomers have excelled financially, circumstances in the Black community have resulted in unique living arrangements that may require the use of more income.  Only 44% of African Americans ages 50-64 are currently married compared to 68% of Whites and 58% of Hispanics in the same age range. One fifth of Black boomers ages 50-64 have never been married and another fifth are currently divorced. This is relevant due to the fact that married couples generally have higher household incomes than those who are single.

Also a higher rate of African Americans are responsible for their grandchildren than are White and Hispanic boomers. According to census information compiled by AARP twenty four percent of all grandparents in the United States with grandchildren living with them are African American. As a matter of fact, of the 1.2 million Black grandchildren living with their grandparents just over half a million are being raised solely by grandparents.

So what we have is a generation who through hard work created more prosperity than any other African American generation to date including my X Generation. However because of issues such as the suffering economy, low marriage rates, and a high percentage of caring for children and grandchildren Black boomers are still working just as hard. As a matter of fact many Black baby boomers find they are striving not only for themselves but in many cases for their children and grandchildren.

This simply means that the African American baby boomers are no where near finished. As a matter of fact in my next article I will discuss some changes that boomers are making to build a better future including issues of health, activism, and their participation in the new Black Migration. We will learn the top relocation destinations and why boomers are choosing to move in such large numbers.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey 2011 Annual Social and Economic Supplement, Current Population Survey 2010 Annual Social and Economic Supplement, Current Population Survey November 2010, 2010 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates, AARP http://www.aarp.org/giving-back/volunteering/info-04-2010/study-finds-boomers-older.html