By Susan Klopfer,
Speaker and Author
Baby
Boomers reaching retirement age.
DO YOU HEAR a growing rumble in the distance? Chalk it up to the
coming the Baby Boomer Express, an enormous number of older folks in this
country getting ready to retire. Just three years ago, Boomers began turning
65, took their IRAs and pensions (if they had them), and started quitting their
jobs and drawing social security en
masse.
Who are these boomer-people, and why are they scaring so many
politicians and younger folks?
Add 65 years to January 1st, 1946 and you come up with January
1st, 2011 -- the moment when the first Baby Boomers started reaching retirement
age. According to a report by the Pew Research Institute, on that very day,
today, and for every day for the next 19 years, 10,000 baby boomers will reach
age 65.
What Are Boomers and Where Did They Come From?
So who invented the term Baby Boomers, and how are these Boomers
shaping the world to come?
When World War II ended, and after U.S. troops came home, they
quickly settled down and started having babies. You have seen the classic
advertisements and sit-coms: slender moms wearing aprons and tending to their
young children, while dad and his briefcase are on the job. You know, hat June
and Ward Cleaver look...
Boomers really have already changed America through every stage
of their lives - education, family planning, employment - and now, Baby Boomers
are Coming of Retirement Age,
and making a bigger impact than ever before.
Here are several statistical facts from the U.C. Census Bureau
to consider - facts that scare politicians and make younger people true
believers in the power of the Boomer generation:
·
Some 78 million people were born between 1946 and 1964, which is
defined as the Baby Boomer era, the largest in American history.
·
In 1957, alone, 4.3 million babies were born in the U.S. This is
more than any year before or since.
·
In 1965, 36% of the U.S. population was under 18 years of age;
today 18% is under 18.
Here is still more to consider from the U.S. Census Department
and other research organizations:
·
The first boomers turned 60 on January 1, 2006. (D'Vera Cohn
and Paul Taylor)
·
Every 7 seconds an American turns 50 -- more than 12,500 people
every day. (U.S. Census)
·
As of 2009, 48 is the largest age group in the United States.
(U.S. Census)
·
By 2015, those who are 50 and older will represent nearly half,
or 45% of the U.S. population. (Cohn
and Taylor)
·
By 2030, the 65-plus population will double to about 71.5 million,
and by 2050 will grow to 86.7 million people. (U.S. Census)
·
Of the 72 million family households in the U.S., 34 million of
them are baby boomer households. (MetLife Mature Market Institute)
·
A 50-year-old female can expect to live 82.5 years; a male 78.5
years. (The National Center for Health Statistics)
At first, this may seem like a lot of raw numbers and statistics
to make much sense of, but what do these numbers really tell us, and what do
Boomers think and want?
First of all, and perhaps even most important, is that the
United States is seriously about to change regarding its composition. For now,
just 13% of Americans are 65 years and older. But by 2030, only 18 years away
from now, when all members of the Boomer generation have reached that age,
fully 18% of the U.S. will be 65 years and older, according to Pew Research
Center population projections.
(Even if it appears that we are talking about old folks, let me
clarify - I am a 64-year-old Boomer, born in 1948, and like most of my cohorts,
I believe that old age does not even start until age 72, a fact backed up by
Pew. While about half of us might say we feel younger than our actual age,
fully 61% of Boomers are feeling more spry than their age might imply. Most
Boomers, in fact, feel nine years younger than their true age.)
Things
Are Seldom What They Seem
While the stereotyped image of a happy retired man on his way to
the fishing stream or joyful retired grandparents on a jaunt to Disney World
with grandchildren, this age group comes to mind when the word
"retirement" appears, in fact, this age group is not as upbeat as one
might think - even if most don't feel particularly old for their age.
"Baby Boomers are more downbeat than other age groups about
the trajectory of their own lives and about the direction of the nation as a
whole," report D'Vera Cohn and Paul Taylor, for Pew Research Center.
In fact, just two years ago (2010), Pew researchers found Baby
Boomers to be a "pretty glum" group of folks. Some 80 percent said
they were dissatisfaction with "the way things are going in the country
today, compared with 60% of those ages 18 to 29 (Millennials), 69% of those
ages 30 to 45 (Generation Xers) and 76% of those ages 65 and older (the Silent
and Greatest Generations), according to an additional 20120 Pew Research Center
survey.
Boomers
Both Gloomy and Hopeful
"Some of this pessimism is related to life cycle -- for
most people, middle age is the most demanding and stressful time of life,"
report Cohn and Taylor, citing psychological research (Stone, Arthur A. et al,
"A snapshot of the age distribution of psychological well-being in the
United States," PNAS, June 1, 2010, Vol. 107, No. 22.).
Yet, it was Baby Boomers, who in the 1960s expressed high hopes
for remaking society, while spending most of their adulthood "trailing
other age cohorts in overall life satisfaction." (We wanted desperately to
change the status quo, but this never happened.)
More Cohn and Taylor findings about Boomers helps others
understand who they are - and what they want. These stats particularly stand
out --
·
Baby Boomers are more accepting of changes in American culture
than adults ages 65 and older, though generally less tolerant than the young.
·
Regarding personal finances, economic security and retirement
expectations, Boomers feel more damaged by the Great Recession than do older
adults.
·
Late-comers to high tech, Boomers are beginning to close the
Internet and social media gap with younger generations. Fully half of the
younger Boomers (ages 46-55) now use social networks and than half (55%) of
older Boomers (ages 56-64) now watch online video.
·
Like most U.S. citizens, Boomers have done some partisan
switching in recent years, and narrowly favored Barack Obama for president in
200.
·
In their core political attitudes about the role of government,
they're more conservative than younger adults and more liberal than older
adults, according to a comprehensive 2010 Pew Research report.
·
But, a new Pew Research survey finds Boomers oppose legislations
that would take a bite out of their own pocketbooks...some 63% (compared with
58% of all adults) oppose raising the age for qualifying for full Social
Security benefits.
WHEN
RELIGION COMES INTO the picture, Boomers appear to be less religious that people
over 65, but more religious than younger adults. Less than half (43%) say the a
"strong" members of their religion - higher than younger adults and
lower than older folks. Less than half (40%) say they attend religious services
once a week. Some 13% report having no religious affiliation, again - less than
younger people but more than older adults.
*****
For myself, as I have quietly moved into this over-60 group, I
have been thinking a lot, recently about the quality of the rest of my days,
the consequences of the decisions I have made and a legacy - even if it is
unassuming, and am reminded of a quote by the philosopher Nietzsche, "The
consequences of our actions take hold of us, quite indifferent to our claim
that meanwhile we have improved."
We still have time to make a difference, to improve the world;
if our own gloom will not overtake us. I only hope that our last years are
filled once again with hope matched by action. Let us get going, and Occupy
Retirement!
*****
Susan Klopfer,
author and speaker, writes and speaks on civil rights and diversity. Her
newest books, Who Killed Emmett
Till?" "Where Rebels Roost: Mississippi Civil Rights Revisited"
and "The Emmett Till Book" are now in print and are carried in most
online bookstores including Amazon, Barnes & Noble and in eBook versions on
iBooks and Smashwords. "Where Rebels Roost" focuses on the
Mississippi Delta, with stories about Emmett Till, Fannie Lou Hamer, Aaron
Henry, Amzie Moore and many other civil rights foot soldiers. These books
emphasize unsolved murders of Delta blacks from mid 1950s on. She is also the
author of eBook, Cash In On Diversity, written especially for businesses and
their employees. Klopfer is an
award-winning journalist and former acquisitions and development editor for
Prentice-Hall. Her computer book, "Abort, Retry, Fail!" was an
alternate selection by the Book of-the-Month Club.
Baby Boomers: Explore
Pew Research Surveys and Reports
Below are hyperlinks to
Pew Research Center publications from recent years that include data
specifically about Baby Boomers.
Social Behaviors and
Values
- The Decline of
Marriage and Rise of New Families: Survey of attitudes on
whether marriage is becoming obsolete; single mothers, same-sex couples
and other non-traditional arrangements; importance of family; what's best
for children.
- The Return of the
Multi-Generational Family Household: Share living in
multi-generational households.
- Forty Years After
Woodstock, A Gentler Generation Gap: Views on the generation
gap, musical preferences, knowledge about Woodstock festival.
- Growing Old in
America: Expectations vs. Reality: Views by age group on what
constitutes old age and the signs of old age; do you feel younger or older
than your real age; has life turned out better or worse than expected;
happiness.
- As Marriage and
Parenthood Drift Apart, Public Is Concerned about Social Impact: Views about divorce, civil
unions, premarital sex, purpose and importance of marriage, children and
marriage; profile of parents and divorced adults.
- Public Support
for Legalizing Medical Marijuana: Support for legalization of
medical marijuana is as high among Boomers as among younger adults, and
higher than among older adults.
Economy and Personal
Finances
- How the Great
Recession Has Changed Life in America: Impact of recession on
current finances, financial behavior and employment; views on personal
financial future and national economy's future.
- Most Middle-Aged
Adults are Rethinking Retirement Plans: Impact of recession on
retirement plans of adults ages 50 to 64, which includes most Baby
Boomers.
- Different Age
Groups, Different Recessions: Recession-related changes in spending and
behavior, investment losses, investment confidence.
- Luxury or
Necessity: How the generations differ on what is a luxury or necessity,
including such possessions as cell phones and televisions.
- Inside the Middle
Class: Views
on personal finances, class, quality of life, comparisons with past and
projection into future, personal financial problems, priorities in life,
job satisfaction.
