Cohort Effect

If you turned 14 after the turn of the century (2000 and beyond), go to http://news.yahoo.com/decade
to see what occured in the decade from 2000-2009.

Cohort Effect: An Explanation by Dwight Adams, 1998, Gerontology Department, University of Utah

University of Colorado: Dr Massey's "You are what you were when" is a theory of human development. He concentrates on the concept of human "value setting." It is his contention that, about age 14, American youth set their own personal "values." They do not automatically adopt someone else's values, and those personal values are influenced by more than peers, parents, schools, and social groups. They are also influenced by what was going on in the media and what the "talk of the town" was at the time. Massey claims that the "shared experiences and events" of age cohorts help set their attitudes...for life.

An example of this is tastes in music: The type of music enjoy by teenagers varies greatly due to their "place in time." Some like the Perry Como and some like "big band sound," others like jazz or rock or "heavy metal." Even dance preferences and dress & grooming standards alter according the history teenagers have lived through. Even medical differences exist, like the cohort that first took the Salk Polio vaccine, or the "tubes in the ears" (eardrum) that was so popular in the late 80s, early 90s.

Check out this cohort study. If you are over 40, find your own "age cohort group" (when you were about 14, including those as much as 5 years younger and 5 years older--10 year period of time). See if you agree with the songs that are listed as popular then. See if historical or political happenings at that time made a conscious impression on you.

If you are under 40, did you have your parents/grandparents do this exercise?

The Late 1800s: History that would have helped shape their parents and grandparents values and the world in which they were born:

- 1893-96 Depression

-Volunteer-run "Settlement Houses" in inner cities established for immigrants, adding education to help "Americanize" them.

By The Turn of the Century 1900-1909-Business: 1897-1904 4,227 firms merged into 257 corporate combinations

-Federal Regulations designed to break up these monopolies-USA had become world's largest producer of goods (twice that of Britain and Germany combined). As of yet USA NOT militarily or diplomatically strong. Army at 30,000 (way below other countries).

-"Containmentalism," within the North American continues considered the ideal.

-Christian missions to foreign lands-State government reform was to establish "direct democracy" and to protect the "public interest" from "special interests." William Allen White: "The voice of the people is indeed the will of God."

By The Turn of the Century 1900-1909-1900 Invention of the escalator

-Following assassination of President William McKinley, a relatively young (43) Theodore Roosevelt became President in 1901(Republican).

-Typical workweek is 10 hours per day and 6 days a week

-Roosevelt expands national forest land to 148 million acres

-"Walk softly but carry a big stick" was Roosevelt's motto

1901-1917 "The Progressive Era," but not a coherent, unified political movement. An era of reform.

-1902 Invention of air conditioning

-1903 Wright Brother's first flight

-1903 First important motion picture (silent) "The Great Train Robbery" Director Edwin Porter is credited as the first to use this media to tell a story

-1904-7 Invention of the radio vacuum tube

-1907 First working helicopter

-1909 White House Conference on Children -- focused on destitute families, "boarding out", etc.

-1909 William Howard Taft President, (very conservative Republican), stopped many of the reformsTeddy Roosevelt had started, including firing Roosevelt's "Chief Forester"

-1911 Reformation of our inner cities. "Rich flight" very apparent

-1911 National Urban League on Urban Conditions -- Social work was founded here, and the workers received some training.

-1912 U.S. Children's Bureau Act established a national agency to collect information on children

-Woodrow Wilson, President 1913. Created the Federal Reserve System. "A Southerner committed to white supremacy, he ordered racial segregation in federal agencies." Wilson Lowered tariffs on imports

-1913 17th Amendment: direct popular election of US Senators.

-1913 U.S. saw a significant internal "red scare," including domestic bombings in 1919 with tremendous labor unrest hroughout the U.S.

-1913 Henry Ford pioneered the assembly line

-1914 Invention & use of the tank

-1916 Federal Income Tax became mandatory. Passed Child Labor Act.

-1916 32 States regulate workmen's compensation, number of hours worked by children and women; 11 states had minimum wages for women.

-Second Term for Woodrow Wilson, 1917

-The "Great War" 1914-1918 (WWI) Germany sued for Peace: Nov 1918

-1917-1924 significant restrictions on immigration imposed in U.S. as racism took ontrol of governing bodies

-1917, Illinois, "bloodiest American racial conflict of this century

-1919-1921 agriculture depression

-1920 Women won the right to vote

-1921 Maternity and Infancy Act reduced infant mortality rate-Child Labor Act was not closely regulated until the 1920s

-1921 U.S. President Warren Harding died in office, was an editor

-1922-35 Invention of radar

-1923 U.S. President Calvin Coolidge, a lawyer by trade

-1925 Frozen Food Process invented

-In May, 1926 Lindberg across the Atlantic

-1926 Liquid-fuel rockets invented

-1928 "The Auto Age"

-1928 Invention of the "iron lung" for polio victims

-1929 Typical work week drops to 5 nine-hour days

-1929 Telephone growth in the U.S. hit 20 million phones

-1929 U.S. President Herbert Hoover was an engineer by trade

1929 The Great Depression - 522 banks closed; 34% of males out of work. By 1930, 6 million unemployed. Hoover did little to remedy the problem, relying on volunteers to care for needy.

-1930 to 1939-1930 almost 2/3rds U.S. farms have cars (or trucks) and half had telephones. 4 out of 5 Americans live within one hour's drive of a "big city" (population 25,000+)

-1930 Jet aircraft engine invented

-1930-42 mechanical cotton-picker invented

-1930s Less than 1 in 20 children now work for wages (1900 1:5)

-1930s, large increase in city population densities

-1933 U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) was a lawyer by trade-Hitler was appointed Chancellor in Germany

-1933 Federal Emergency Relief Administration (FERA) - emergency relief to states and communities. The National Recovery Act provided employment through public work projects.-US ceases to have Cuba as a "Protectorate."

-1935, 1936, 1937, 1939 all saw U. S. Neutrality Acts

-1935 National Labors Relations Act ("Wagner Act") spurred the greatest labor organizing drive in the history of the U.S. labor movement

-1935 Social Security - part of Franklin D. Roosevelt's "New Deal" to try to help spur a recovery from the Great Depression.

-1936 Strong resistance to the once-popular "New Deal" since very little promise or progress actually occurred.

-1938 Hitler announces his drive to consolidate all "German people" invasion of Austria begins the same year

-1940 British Prime Minister Churchill begins constant communication with FDR concerning the war

-1941 "Lend-Lease Act" allows Britain to benefit from U.S. Industry to help them fight the war

-Sunday Dec 7, 1941 Attack on Pearl Harbor. Draws U.S. into WWII

-1942 Japanese-Americans are moved to "resettlement camps"

-1942 Invention of the atomic reactor

-1944 The Allied Invasion of Normandy, Eisenhower Supreme Commander

-FDR dies while in office: 12 April 1945.

-May 1945 Germany surrenders (Japan still waging war)

-Jul 16, 1945 First test of "A-Bomb" in New Mexico

-1945 U.S. President Harry S. Truman, business man by trade

-August 6 & 9, 1945 A-Bombs dropped in Japan. It surrendered quickly

-August 14, 1945 V-J Day

-The "Cold War" begins after Yalta accord in 1945 and Truman's "distinctively combative temperament." History suggests that it would have started even if FDR had lived, as there were many clashes

-1947 transistors invented

-1947 first super-sonic airplane

-1948 Russia overthrew democratic government of Czechoslovakia

-1948 Berlin blockade. Massive U.S. airlift results

-1948 President issues orders to cease segregation in the military

-1949 Russia succeeds in building their first A-bomb

-1947-1950 U.S. "Marshall Plan" sends $12 billion to Western Europe

-Early in the 1950s, Senator McCarthey's "red scare" went til 1954

-1953 U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, soldier by trade

-July, 1953 Korean war ceases -no winner, but "peaceful coexistence"

-1953 & 1954 CIA effects foreign government outcomes

-1954 Invention of hovercraft

-1954 Invention of the atomic-powered sub

-1954 U.S. had a "brief recession" -again in 1957-58 & 60-61

-1954 U.S. paying 80% of the cost of war in Indo China- France fighting

-1954 Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka Kansas - stuck down the "separate but equal" doctrine and forced school integration

-1956 Invention of Picture Phone

-1956 Beginning of the $26 Billion national freeway system (initially it was also for Civil Defence in case of an atomic attack)

-1956 Ku Klux Klan very visible after blacks boycott buses

-a decade of racial unrest. Murder claims many "workers"

-1958 laser invented

-1958-63 Measles vaccine

-1960 U-2 plane shot down over Russia; Cold War escalates

-1961 U.S. President John F Kennedy (JFK), author. Tried to build "Camelot;" Used media effectively. The "Bay of Pigs" disaster. Later the "Cuban Missile Crisis," which was considered a success.

-1961 First White House conference on Aging (Pres. Kennedy)

-November 1963 Dallas, Texas: JFK Assassinated

-1962 NASA uses satellite to relay tv

-1963 Invention of tape player

-1963 U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ), teacher by trade, begins his "Great Society"

-Viet Nam problems are on the rise

-1963 Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassinated

-1965 Major wave of race riots begin in Watts, Los Angeles, California.

-1965 Lyndon B. Johnson's Great Society (War on Poverty) made great strides in giving aid to the needy, many of which were designed to empower poor communities to help themselves.

MEDICARE - Title 18
When: 1965 - Lyndon B. Johnson's "War on Poverty"
What: Health Insurance (When started, 80% received, currently only 41% receive)
Who: Aged (65+), disabled (must be on Social Security for 2 years to qualify), those on kidney dialysis
Why: Provide humane care to the worthy poor
How: Part A (Universal) - payroll taxes, FICA
Part B (Optional) - individual pays part (withheld from Social Security check); general revenues (taxes) pays part

MEDICAID - Title 19 "The tail that wags the (Medicare) dog"
When: 1965
What: Medical Assistance - means test required
Who: Elderly, recipients of AFDC and SSI, low income
Why: Provide humane care to the worthy poor
How: Utah State (25%) and Federal (75%) funds

OLDER AMERICANS ACT - OAA "Cornerstone of aid to the elderly in America"
When: 1965 What: Community services for older Americans
Who: Older Americans (60+)
Why: Services, advocacy, politics
How: General revenues; "contributions" (the law prohibits means testing or charging of fees for services for older Americans, so the elderly are encouraged to "contribute". Many contribute because they want to pay for what they get.)

-1968 Great Society loses favor, due partly to cost of Vietnam War

-March, 1968 the "Tet Offensive" in Viet Nam escalates war

-1968 Senator Robert F Kennedy, running for president, was assassinated (he was the brother of JFK)

-1969 U.S. President Richard M Nixon. Begins to dismantle the Great Society; Although proposes a guaranteed annual income to poor with certain requirements (SSI).

1972 Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for poor.
When: Passed 1972; implemented 1974
What: Income floor for the worthy poor; is means tested
Who: Aged (65+), blind (vision 20/200), disabled of any age
Why: Provide cash assistance
How: General revenues

-Nixon claimed "peace with honor" in January 1973, pulling out the American troops in View Nam

-1973 Vice-President Agnew resigns (having taken bribes); "Watergate" came to light and is heavily investigated. Ford named Vice President

-March, 1974 Nixon resigns; given full pardon by President Ford.

-1974 Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act.

-1976 Regressive Tax - flat rate; rich & poor pay same percentage; detrimental to the poor, who have less discretionary income.

-1980 Ronald Reagan elected. This administration believed that federal social welfare output should be minimal, then only short-term. This contributed to increasing poverty. Benefits for the needy fell; homelessness grew at an alarming rate.

-1981 Revision in way unemployment tallied. Only those enrolled at Job Service are counted in unemployment rate. This doesn't provide for counting those without unemployment benefits or unemployed more than 6 months.

-1984 Diagnostic Related Groups (DRG's) developed under the Reagan administration to check rising costs to Medicare of hospital stays. Results in many patients go home "quicker and sicker."