Baby boomers are making up most of the US ageing population

West and her grandson Paul Quirk. She says young people lack the prospects her generation enjoyed. Photo: AP

The oldest baby boomers – once the vanguard of an American youth that revolutionised United States culture and politics – turn 80 this year.

The generation that twirled the first plastic hula hoops and dressed up the first Barbie dolls, embraced the TV age, blissed out at Woodstock and protested the Vietnam War – the cohort that didn’t trust anyone over age 30 – now is contributing to the overall ageing of America .