The Social Security crisis of the early 1980s brought into focus the concept of intergenerational conflict, frequently referred to in the media as "age wars" or "the war between the generations." The 1960s had popularized the idea of a "generation gap," referring to the difference in values between the parents and children of that era. The 1980s took the seed of this idea and cultivated it into something markedly different. The idea gained increasing currency that the relationship between the older and the younger generations was being transformed by economic and demographic trends, trends that would continue to impact with rising urgency for at least the next fifty years Specifically, older Americans in the 1980s were charged with claiming an unduly large share of federal resources through the Social Security system. Not only were Baby Boomers paying high taxes to support benefits for the elderly, but they were doing it at.....
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