Seniors, Baby Boomers and Work
- Date
- Aug 15th, 2007 9:42am
- Author
- Eric Schubert
- Category
Quick note, the most e-mailed story of the last two days on
The New York Times web site was the
story we talked about yesterday, where people, nonprofits and others are working to enable seniors to stay in their neighborhoods and age in community.
Independence strikes a chord.
How Long Are You Going to Work?
Chances are you’re reading this from work. Will you be working into your 70s, 80s, 90s … Maybe you’ll be like Waldo McBurney … Recently declared America’s oldest worker, he’s a 104-year-old beekeeper in Kansas.
When we asked baby boomers about their future work plans in the
Ecumen Age Wave Study, "retirement" isn’t really in their vocabulary. Most plan to continue working. But there’s an important caveat. A bunch of them said they’re going to be switching jobs and doing something they enjoy. Many said pay is important, but just as important were social connections and mental engagement.
Senior Workforce Today
About 6.4 percent of Americans 75 or older, or slightly more than 1 million, were working last year. That’s up from 4.7 percent, or 634,000, a decade earlier, according to the
U.S. Department of Labor.
About 3.4 percent of Americans 80 or older, or 318,000, were in the work force last year, up from 2.7 percent or 188,000 a decade earlier, officials said.
That’s only going to grow and change the workplace and how people work. For example, could companies keep talent and people, and provide a flexible work schedule in exchange for health benefits rather than a full salary? Those are the types of questions Ecumen and other companies are asking as we enter this new world where there will be more seniors and fewer young people.
Are there any ideas you have or have seen elsewhere?
3 Comments
This is an interesting feature in light of my father's announcement this past week that he'll be retiring at the end of this year. He's 75 years old and still working full time+. As a physician in a rural community (& "workaholic"), it's a huge part of his identity. When I asked him if he has a plan for what he'll do with his time after this life changing event, he had no comment except to crack a joke about perhaps working as a greeter at WalMart (or maybe he WASN'T joking). Anyway, it seems like there are a lot of ways he could stay engaged in the community... and I hope will. Any words of wisdom from anyone who's been there????
Is this a matter of style, personality and individual choice, or is it a conclusion based on a lack of information about the choices available? One can't help thinking that the fiercely independent seniors have the wrong idea about continuing care retirement communities which are not the institutional environments they're being made out to be. You can live there and still go to the museum, the theater and anywhere else you desire. And you will have the peace of mind that comes from knowing the care and services you need are already available. If it is possible to organize lots of ad hco support service organizations, the ordinary daily tasks that aging-at-home seniors need help with can be addressed at least to a degree. And those who are making this happen are indeed remarkable innovators. As a niche solution for a select group the financially able, physically able, ambulatory, and independant-minded seniors who live close enough to each other to form an efficient service group, it's a great idea. Unfortunately, it is doubtful that these ad hoc efforts can be scaled either in the time dimension (meeting individual seniors' needs as each continues to age) or in terms of meeting the full scope of requirements that seniors will have (more than just daily assistance - home repairs beyond minor maintenance, two out of three assisted living criteria, etc.) Nor do they address the financial reallocation of assets (an orderly cashing in of home equity and reinvesting in purpose built continuing care housing). Obviously the ad hoc groups are designed to thwart and postpone as long as possible the entry into assisted living. That works as long as sudden death is in your future. Drop dead of a heart attack, get hit by a bus, and the like and the strategy works. Suffer a lingering illness or debilitating disease (dementia, alzheimers, some types of cancer, advanced diabetes, blindness, etc.) which requires a higher level of care than can be addressed by limited ad hoc services and you may have a problem. Home health care at this level approximates assisted living or nursing care, but at even more exhorbitant rates. Though one can presumably enter a nursing home at the appropriate time, the risk lies in two areas - the ability to pay for or raise the necessary funds either through savings or more likely through the sale of one's home, and the availability of assisted living accommodations or a nursing home bed. If the stars are not aligned exactly in your favor at the exact time you need them, you will be out of luck should the housing market not yield the desired value at the particular time you need to sell or should there be no room at the nursing home. Although today's 80 year olds may find ready access to nursing beds, that is due largely to the small number in their age cohort and there is no way that will be true for the much greater boomer population which will out consume all available capacity. Thus, in this additional time dimension, the ad hoc services groups also are not likely to scale.
Bob, you raise very good points about scale and prolonged care. In terms of the prolonged care piece, there clearly will be an essential role for caregiving, and it seems that it would be a mix of in-home and in a care center. Your comments also get to a larger point about how we fund such care in America. Financial planning needs to become "Lifetime Planning," and it can't end with the house payment or tuition. In cases of these neighborhood groups it might be that there are smaller care centers and/or partnerships with an existing care center. CCRCs (Continuing Care Retirement Communities) They are limited in Minnesota, but they're coming. That will be a whole new ballgame for many in this marketplace.
Name and email are required. We promise not to share your email address with anyone.