After World War II had drawn to a close, the United States experienced unprecedented population growth that to this day has shaped the social and political landscape of the country, and changed how and where many Americans live. Known as the "baby boom," this population expansion took place between the years 1946 and 1964, with the peak occurring in 1957. The elevated birthrate, unparalleled in American history, added more than 50 million babies by the end of the 1950s.

During the Great Depression in the 1930s, the population growth dropped to a meager nine million. Economic pressures dissuaded many Americans from having children, since they would have added to the financial stress experienced by many households. The postwar economy proved to be more robust, which encouraged families to have more children. During the 1940s, particularly in the time after the end of World War II, the population saw an increase of 19 million.

The dramatic increase in the U.S. population after the war can be attributed to several factors. Though many feared a postwar depression, earlier legislation helped to smooth the transition from a wartime economy to a peacetime economy. In 1944, the Servicemen's Readjustment Act, known as the GI Bill of Rights, was signed into law. The act allocated $13 billion to help soldiers returning home pay for higher education, vocational training, medical treatment, unemployment insurance, and loans for building new houses. Social Security benefits also helped Veterans transition into the commercial sector. Pent up demand for consumer goods, caused by years of wartime self-deprivation, also fueled the economy.

As the baby boomers aged, their presence was, and still is, felt by virtually all aspects of American institutions and businesses. In the 1950s, manufacturers of baby products reaped huge profits due to the exceptionally high demand. Baby food, furniture, and toys were flying off store shelves at a record pace. Home construction saw unprecedented growth, as new and growing families sought better living conditions. New schools were required to accommodate swelling enrollments, which in turn led to a record number of new teaching positions.

During the 1960s, the baby boomer's economic influence continued. As teenagers, the boomers dumped approximately $20 billion into the U.S. economy every year. Clothing, food, and recorded music were popular items, and businesses were more than happy to meet consumer demands. In the 1970s, industries began to change to accommodate the aging taste of the baby boomers. Blue jeans makers, for example, began to market larger, more flexible pants for the "growing" population.

The postwar baby boom also spurred suburban expansion, as families tried to escape crowded cities and urban areas. The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Veterans Administration offered guaranteed home loans, making home ownership more economically advantageous than renting an inner-city apartment. Tax deductions also made the move from urban areas to the suburbs easier. To meet the overwhelming demand for new homes, the construction industry grew rapidly during the 1950s and 60s. By 1960, one out of every four Americans lived in the suburbs, and by 2000, nearly one-half did.

Most of those moving from the inner-city areas to suburban communities were white families, leading the relocation to be called the "white flight." Filling the newly available space within the cities, especially in the northwest, were minorities from southern states. Many of those who did move into the cities to fill the void left by those leaving for the suburbs found the same poverty that was all too common in rural southern states.

Businesses, seeking to maintain their customers, left the city to establish suburban shopping malls. Suburban families began to buy second automobiles to help manage suburban living. Work, school, and shopping malls spread out over greater distances than in the inner-city communities, and this "urban sprawl" was a favorable situation for the auto industry. Car companies began to market the advantages of families owning more than one automobile, and the suburbanites were quick to agree.

Copyright 2006 The Regents of the University of California and Monterey Institute for Technology and Education