There’s a famous political science theory positing that the invention of air conditioning constituted the single most important event in American political life in the latter half of the 20th century. The thinking goes that climate control concentrated conservative opinions by enabling older folks to comfortably move south, specifically to historically liberal and latin Florida. A/C got credit for Ronald Reagan’s presidential win and probably deserved it as much as Justice Scalia for George W. Bush’s squeaker against Al Gore. But air conditioning didn’t just shift the Electoral College, it altered family norms. Air conditioning is why the boomer generation had less child rearing help from their parents and had to buy all those tickets to Fort Lauderdale. The migration of older people to Florida (also Arizona) altered the course of millions of working parents’ financial and social lives.
But will the children of millennials visit their Baby Boomer grandparents in the Sunshine State? Unlike crocodiles eating Havaneses and horrifying “Florida Man” new clippings, it’s not a given. The choice–millions of choices really–is high stakes for young parents, given the potential value of caretaking work done by retirees, and for Floridians, who stand at a swampy crossroads.
Source: Will Baby Boomers Retire to Florida? It’s a Problem for Families if They Do.
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