The 80s

The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. Particularly in Canada, the United Kingdom and United States, it was a period of renewed optimism and economic liberalization. During this time the word "yuppie" entered the lexicon in the United States and UK, referring to the well-publicized rise of a new middle class. College graduates in their late 20s, early 30s were entering the workplace in prestigious office professions, holding more purchasing power with which they purchased trendy, luxurious goods. The decade witnessed a religious revival and the rise of conservatism, which began with a backlash against disco music late in 1979.

The decade saw the withdrawal of Soviet troops at the conclusion of the Soviet-Afghan War, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. The era was characterized by a period of increased telecommunications, a shift towards liberal market economies and the new openness of perestroika and glasnost in the USSR, and the onset of the "Family values" iniative. This transitional period also saw massive democratic revolutions such as the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in China, the Czechoslovak velvet revolution, and the overthrow of the dictatorial regime in Romania and other communist Warsaw Pact states in Central and Eastern Europe. These changes continued to be felt in the 1990s and into the 21st century.

The eighties are also well known (and often ridiculed) for the popular culture of the time such as the over-the-top fashion, big hair styles and the commercialization of music and film.

The 1980s was also an era of tremendous population growth around the world which, along with the 1970s and 1990s, was among the largest in human history. This growth occurred not only in developing regions but also developed western nations, where many newborns were the offspring of Baby Boomers.