baby boomlet

baby boomlet (plural baby boomlets)

1. (singular only) An increase in birth rate that occurred when the baby boomers reached childbearing age.
   • 2002, Laura E. Hill, Hans P. Johnson, Understanding the Future of Californians' Fertility, page 87:

     The baby boomlet was a period marked by increases in the number of women of childbearing age and increases in fertility rates of those women.

   • 2011, Entrepreneur Press, Start Your Own Clothing Store and More:

     Cashing in on the baby boomers' baby boomlet of the '80s and '90s, the children's apparel market saw a significant increase and was among the fastest-growing segments of the overall retail market.

   • 2013, M. Babula, Motivation, Altruism, Personality and Social Psychology:

     We can estimate three separate US generations based on census data as follows: baby boomers (born between 1946 and 1964), Generations X'ers (born between 1965 and 1976), and the baby boomlet (born between 1977 and 1994) (Edmondson, 1995).

2. A child of a baby boomer, born during the baby boomlet.

   Synonym: echo boomer

   • 2000, Washington State Labor Area Summaries - Volume 15, page 12:

     Over a long-term period, population growth would be affected by changing birth rates due to shifts in social values and movement of age cohorts such as baby-boomers and baby-boomlets through the child-bearing years.

   • 2002, Journal of Retailing - Volume 78, page 78:

     Baby boomlets (consumers born between 1977 and 1997 and also known as "Gen Y") have emerged as the next cohort since the baby boomers to receive the close attention of retailers (Bounds, 2000).

   • 2013, M. Babula, Motivation, Altruism, Personality and Social Psychology:

     My fellow baby boomlets also engaged in strong civic engagement.

   • 2014, Rev. Roger W. Baker, Who Authorized You to Quit?::

     Baby boomers, baby busters, and baby boomlets view God in action differently than the generations of slavery, convict leasing, the civil rights movement, and the War on Drugs.

3. Any spike in birth rate that is smaller than the baby boom.
   • 1992, Gary R. Collins, Baby Boomer Blues, page 6:

     Following the Second World War there were "baby boomlets" in Europe, but these lasted for only a year or two, unlike the prolonged birth rise in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and the United States.

   • 2000, Catherine Frey Murphy, Vicki Hambleton, Joan Broerman, Children's Writer Guide To 2000, page 20:

     "There've been two baby boomlets, one now going into middle school or junior high, and a new one that has just come, ages one, two, or three," says Donovan.

   • 2002, Adam Lashinsky, Fortune - Volume 145, page 174:

     Popular wisdom has it that baby boomlets spring from tragedy — earthquakes, hurricanes, and the like.