The grim results arrive before next month's milestone, when the oldest baby boomers will turn 65. America's baby boomer generation of 79 million people adds up to a little more than a quarter of the U.S. population, the center reports.

Over the next 19 years, about 10,000 people will turn 65 each day, the survey reports, resulting in a grayer America by 2030. By that year, 18% of the nation's population will be over the age of 65, compared with 13% now.

The Pew survey did not examine why the baby boomer generation has a gloomy outlook. Some believe it's a result of being middle-aged, a time when people experience more psychological stresses and demands. Others experts blame the lackluster economy.

Taylor said there were two other theories posed by outside experts. First, some experts blame challenges to baby boomers that other generations have not had to face. Because the boomer generation is so large, members have historically faced tremendous competition in the workplace from their peers.

"They had a tougher fight to get jobs and crawl up the ladder," he said.

Another theory is that the idealistic boomers experienced their prime during their youth in 1960s when they fought for civil and women's rights. Now, they may be finding they were unable to complete the societal reforms they had envisioned.