The headlines are getting more frequent — the language, more inflammatory. A war between the generations. The greedy boomers refusing to get out of the way. The hapless millennials struggling to find a footing. A crisis in pensions. A crisis in jobs. A crisis in health care ... But is that the true story? In this provocative new book, David Cravit, author of The New Old, dissects the apparent war — and comes to some surprising conclusions. "Some would have it that we're on the brink of a 'War of the Generations.' They read about soaring health-care costs and prepare to enlist. Well, I wish everyone would just calm down! Before we're dragged into some unnecessary nastiness, I advise us all to read David's book to get a better sense of how we're all in this together." —MOSES ZNAIMER, Founder and CEO, ZoomerMedia Limited, Toronto, Ontario "A must read for academics, business executives, political pundits, policy wonks — for anyone concerned about the future social health and economic viability of Western nations." —BRENT GREEN, author of Marketing to Leading-edge Baby Boomers and Generation Reinvention, Denver, Colorado http://davidcravit.com/

1. What’s going on here?

2. Some are calling it a ‘war of the generations’

3. And it’s true…if you believe the media

4. The war against
the young
Margaret Wente, Globe & Mail, February 2, 2012

5. War of the
generations
Training, October 10 , 2011

6. War of the
generations
Alan Mattich, Wall Street Journal, March 22, 2012

7. The war
between the
generations
Mary Ann Sieghart, The Independent, February 7, 2011

8. Voter generation gap
pits old against young
Reuters, October 9, 2008

9. Will the deficit
battle pit old
against young?
Mark Miller, Retirement Revisited, November 22, 2011

10. Are Baby Boomers
the greediest
generation?
Janet Novack, Forbes, November 12, 2010

11. The boomers agree:
the lazy millennials
want to be jobless
Maria Bustillos, The Awl, July 8, 2010

12. Millennials
generation
Y-so-lazy?
Alliance for an Idiot-Free America, February 12, 2012

13. The war against
the young
Walter Russell Mea, Via Meadia, September 16, 2011

14. OK, OK.
You get it.
But is it, in fact, true?

15. A new book argues
that it’s time to
take a second look.

16. So let’s try to move
from rhetoric…

17. …to reality.

18. Yes, there certainly are
some competing interests.

19. FACT:
More and more boomers are
not retiring at 65.
Reason? They can’t afford to.

20. FACT:
Only 20% of boomers have
savings of $250,000 or more.
Almost a third have
less than $100,000.

21. FACT:
The percentage of people 55+
who are still working
is the highest it’s been
in 50 years.

22. FACT:
Youth unemployment is sky high.
Just under 14% in Canada.
Almost 16% in the USA.
Over 30% in parts of Europe!

23. FACT:
The millennials are seriously in debt.
Outstanding student loans
in the USA approach $1 trillion.
That’s more than
all the credit card debt
in the country!

24. FACT:
Boomers and seniors dominate
the ballot box.
They account for almost 60%
of all votes cast in federal elections.
So much for the “youth vote.”

25. Add everything together,
and you might argue that, yes, there
really is a ‘war of the generations.’

26. The boomers and seniors have the
numbers and the political clout.
They are not stepping out of the way.
In a tough economy, they are
crowding out the millennials –
crowding them out of the job market
and out of the political arena where
public spending decision are made.

27. So why isn’t this a ‘war’?
For one simple reason…

28. The Boomers and seniors are
rescuing the millennials…
even as they
are competing with them.

29. FACT:
6 out of 10 Canadian boomers and
seniors are providing
significant financial help
to adult children or grandchildren.

30. FACT:
A survey in the USA found that
80% of boomer women
are paying more bills for adult children
than their parents paid for them.

31. FACT:
The number of adult children
living at home
is the highest it’s been in
over 50 years.

32. FACT:
When the boomers were 25-29,
only 12% of them lived at home.
For the millennials today, it’s 30%.

33. FACT:
There’s been a sharp increase
in the number of
multi-generational households.
“Grandfamilies” could be an
important new trend in home design.

34. FACT:
The boomers reinvented aging.
Now they’re reinventing parenting.
This is just one of the huge
implications of the apparent
‘war of the generations’.

35. www.davidcravit.com