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On January 1, 2011, the oldest Baby Boomers turned 65. Every day, for the next 19 years, about 10,000 more will cross that threshold. The Baby Boomer generation consists of 77 million people who were born between 1946 and 1964. This generation is said to be the wealthiest, best educated and most sophisticated consumers in the market.

• Baby Boomers, ages 55 to 64, make up 26 percent of the total U.S. population.
• According to the 2010 Census, there are 40.3 million people 65 and older, representing 13 percent of the total population.
* In thousands (310,233 represents 310,233,000). * Projections are based on assumptions about future births and deaths. * Source: U.S. Census Bureau Statistical Abstract of the United States 2012.
• Over one in every eight or 13.1 percent of the population is an older American.
• Persons reaching age 65 have an average life expectancy of an additional 18.8 years; 20 years for females and 17.3 years for males.

Boomers are Online:

• According to eMarketer, Baby Boomer spends more time and money online than any other generation in the U.S.
• Around 78.2% of Baby Boomers are currently online and this percentage is expected to stay the same throughout 2015.
• Boomers spend more than $2 trillion annually, and a significant amount of their time online is spent on shopping.
• In 2010, younger Boomers, ages 47 to 55, spent an average of 39.3 hours online per month and older Boomers, ages 56 to 65, averaged 36.5 hours per month.
• Boomers spent an average of about $650 online over a three-month period in 2010 – much higher than the $581 spent online by Generation X, ages 35 to 46, Internet users and the $429 spent by Millennials, ages 18 to 34.
• Online mature adult’s main activities are email and searches for useful and age appropriate topics. Marketers targeting mature adults online will have the most success with email marketing and targeted search and display ads around popular topic such as politics, healthcare, financial and travel (eMarketer, February 2011).
• Between 2008 and 2010, social networking increased nearly six fold among mature adults, from 4.7 percent to 28 percent. eMarketer forecast penetration will rise from 31 percent of mature internet users this year to 36 percent by 2013.

Healthcare/Prescription Drugs:

• The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that by the year 2030, over 70 million Americans will be over the age of 65. According to Time Magazine, this demographic shift will increase the senior care industry from $86 billion in 1996 to nearly $500 billion by 2030.
• In 2010, older consumers averaged out-of-pocket health care expenditures of $4,843, an increase of 49 percent since 2000. In contrast, the total population spent considerably less, averaging $3,157 in out-of-pocket costs.
• Older Americans spent 13.2 percent of their total expenditures on health, more than twice the proportion spent by all consumers (6.6 percent).
• Health costs incurred on average by older consumers in 2010 consisted of $3,085 (65 percent) for insurance, $795 (18 percent) for medical services, $805 (17 percent) for drugs and $158 (3 percent) for medical supplies.
• In order of number of prescriptions written in 2010, the 10 most-prescribed drugs in the U.S. are:

  10 Most-Prescribed Drugs in the U.S. in 2010

  Drug Name	Function	Prescription Figure
  1. Hydrocodone (combined with acetaminophen)	To relieve moderate to severe pain	131.2 million prescriptions
  2. Generic Zocor	A cholesterol-lowering statin drug	94.1 million prescriptions
  3. Lisinopril	A blood pressure drug	87.4 million prescriptions
  4. Generic Synthroid	Synthetic thyroid hormone	70.5 million prescriptions
  5. Generic Norvasc	An angina / blood pressure drug	57.2 million prescriptions
  6. Generic Prilosec	An antacid drug	53.4 million prescriptions (not inclusive of OTC sales)
  7. Azithromycin	Antibiotic	52.6 million prescriptions
  8. Amoxicillin	Antibiotic	52.3 million prescriptions
  9. Generic Glucophage	Diabetes drug	48.3 million prescriptions
  10. Hydrochlorothiazide	A water pill used to lower blood pressure	47.8 million prescriptions

• Purchases of cholesterol and diabetes prescription drugs by elderly Medicare beneficiaries reached nearly $19 billion in 2007; about ¼ of the approximately $82 billion spent for medications for the elderly, according to the latest AHRQ News and Numbers.
• The number of U.S. prescription purchasers has increased from 2 billion to 3.2 billion in the past decade. This can be attributed to the growing mature segment of the U.S. population.
• Drug store patrons aged 55+ generate approximately 47 percent of all drug store purchases.

Packaged Goods:

• Baby Boomers dominate 94 percent of all consumer packaged goods categories. However, only 5 percent of advertising is aimed at them. Marketers are roughly missing out on $230 million in Boomer sales of consumer packaged goods; approximately 55 percent of the overall sales in this country.
• 50 to 64 year old demographic is leading the way in online consumer packaged goods sales. According to Integer Group and M/A/R/C Research, 73 percent of respondents of are doing more of their shopping online.
• Nielsen’s Research says Baby Boomers dominate 1,023 out of 1,083 consumer packaged goods categories.
• In 2011, The Checkout Research showed that Boomers were the largest group of shoppers purchasing consumer packaged goods and products online.

Travel:

• Mature travelers (those born before 1946) represent 21 percent of all leisure travelers and those who travel in this group take an average of 4.1 leisure trips each year. The Mature group also comprises 14 percent of business travelers; an average of 6.7 business trips each year. (Source: U.S. Travel Association)
• Older Boomers (those born from 1946 through 1954) make up 15 percent of leisure travelers and take an average of 4.4 trips each year. Older Boomers also represent 16 percent of all business travelers; an average of 10.1 business trips each year. (Source: U.S. Travel Association)
• Young Boomers (those born from 1955 through 1964) represent 21 percent of all U.S. leisure travelers and 22 percent of business travelers; an average of 4.1 leisure trips and 5.6 business trips per year. (Source: U.S. Travel Association)
• The cruise industry is the fastest-growing category in the leisure travel market. Since 1980, the industry has experienced an average of annual passenger growth rate of approximately 7.4 percent per annum. (Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association 2011)
• Cruisers average age is 50 years of age with a household income of $109,000. ¬¬69 percent are college graduates and post-graduates. 86 percent are married and 62 percent work full-time.

Politics:

• The 2010 electorate turned out to be significantly older and more conservative than in previous elections. The data indicate that 23 percent of the electorate was age 65 and over, a big jump from the 2008 election when only 15 percent of the electorate was age 65 and over.
• Concern about President Barack Obama's healthcare reform turned many seniors Republican; with 59 percent of those 65 or older voting Republican compared to 51 percent for those 60-64.
• 65 percent of Americans oppose changing Medicare to a system in which the government would give seniors vouchers with which to buy private insurance. (ABC News - Washington Post Poll 2011)
• President Obama continues to hold a substantial edge among 18 to 29 year old voters, while voters age 65 and older currently favor Romney by a slightly larger margin than they backed McCain. (Source: PEW Research – The Generation Gap and the 2012 Election)
• Silent voters (ages 66 to 83) favor Romney 54 percent to 41 percent (President Obama). (Source: PEW Research – The Generation Gap and the 2012 Election)
• Baby Boomers (ages 47 to 65) split their vote evenly between President Obama and McCain in 2008, but Romney now holds a six-point edge among those voters today. (Source: PEW Research – The Generation Gap and the 2012 Election)
• Silent (ages 66 to 83) voters have given a lot of thought to the candidates running for president, up 10 points from four years ago. The silent generation is also following election news more closely than in 2007; 36 percent are following very closely now, up from 28 percent in 2007. (Source: PEW Research – The Generation Gap and the 2012 Election)