generation

A look into the crystal ball reveals that the children's market will be healthy for a long time to come. How can you be so sure? Just take a look at the effect the Baby Boomer generation will have on spending within the children's market.

The approximate 76 million Baby Boomers born from 1946 to 1964 are now middle-aged adults with families. Sixty-two percent of adults aged 35 to 44 have children under age 18 at home, and 28 percent of those aged 45 to 59 have children under age 18 at home, according to an April 1995 issue of American Demographics.

In fact, second-generation Boomers—those age 18 and younger—hold a proportion of the total U.S. population that rivals the first. They account for 28 percent (72 million Americans), while the original Baby Boomers, now aged 31 to 49, represent 30 percent.

That means that, once again, the boomers are setting market trends. They have created the next generation of shoppers.