Baby Boomer Fun and Facts

Remember when we used to watch The Patty Duke Show in the 1960's? It didn't seem that long ago when the perky Brooklyn Heights teen Patty and her sophisticated 'identical cousin', a world traveler from England, Cathy Lane, came into our living rooms every day after school to entertain us with their adventures.

Today, Patty Duke and the surviving members of the original cast of The Patty Duke Show (William Schallert, Paul O'Keefe, and Eddie Applegate) have made several 60-second video spots for The Social Security Administration.

Yes, the identical cousins are now senior baby boomers on Social Security! Hard to believe? Well, here are some other startling facts.

1. The first baby boomer was born in Philadelphia on January 1, 1946.

2. 80 million Americans were born from 1946 to 1964. These are the infamous baby boomers.

3. In 2011, 3.2 million boomers turn 65 and will be collecting Medicare. That figures out to about 365 individuals per hour!

4. In 2030, there will be 84 million people on Medicare.

Patty (with help from Cathy!) have done the commercials for The Social Security Administration to help get the word out that now it is possible to file for Social Security 'on line' in less than 10 minutes.

What's in a Name...

Think back to your grade school days. What names do you remember your fellow students having? I know no one had my name. I was always envious of all the Susan's and Linda's. which were such popular names then. I wanted a more 'common' name too! Here are the most popular baby boomer names:

1950's Girls: Mary, Linda, Patricia/Pat/Patty, Susan/Sue, Susie, Barbara and Deborah/Debbie

1950's Boys: James/Jim, Michael,/Mike, Robert/Bob/Bobby, John, David/Dave, William/Bill, Richard/Dick

1960's Girls: Lisa, Mary, Susan, Karen, Kimberly/Kim, Linda, Donna,

Michelle/Shelly, Patricia, Cynthia/Cindy.

1960's Boys: Michael, David, John, James, Mark, Robert, Richard,

Thomas/Tom, Jeffrey/Jeff, William

Aches and Pains...

One of the most common physical ailments baby boomers suffer today is hearing loss. The main cause of baby boomer hearing loss is listening to loud music as teens.

Here are some famous boomers who suffer from hearing loss and/or tinnitus:

Bill Clinton, Barbra Streisand, William Shatner, David Letterman, Phil Collins, Cher, Sting, Eric Clapton, Bono, Steve Martin, Richard Thomas, Sylvester Stallone. Huh?

The baby boomer generation appears to be the first generation to enter their golden years in poorer health than our parents. In a few ways boomers are healthier. They smoke less but they have more problems such as diabetes, hypertension (high blood pressure) and high cholesterol.

Another concerning statistic is that it is estimated that Alzheimer's will claim 10 million baby boomers. That breaks down to one in eight baby boomers will die of Alzheimer complications.

Sources:

http://tvseriesfinale.com/tv-show/patty-duke-show-social-security-13908/

http://www.census.gov/