Aging and the Elderly - Baby Boomers

Aging and the Elderly SOCI 1306 Baby Boomers Gerontologists are particularly interested in the Baby Boomer generation, which is currently in their 60s and 70s and was born between 1946 and 1964. The baby boom generation, which came of age in the 1960s and early 1970s, was the first generation of kids and teens to have their own purchasing power and, consequently, their own marketing power (Macunovich 2000). This group has reinvented what it means to be youthful, middle-aged, and now elderly as it has become older. Due to the desire of the Baby Boomer generation not to age in the same manner as their grandparents, a plethora of products have been created to prevent the affects or indications of ageing. People older than 65 were considered "old" in previous generations. "Later life" or "the third age" refers to Baby Boomers (Gilleard and Higgs 2007). The majority of the population's sharp rise in those over 65 is being driven by the baby boom generation. Over the course of a decade, the greatest demographic group, represented by the pyramid's biggest bulge, climbs up the pyramid; in 2000, that group was made up primarily of people between the ages of 35 and 55. Those in the 40–65 age range in 2010 were the oldest baby boomers, indicating they were just about to become old enough for the US Census to classify them as such. All Baby Boomers will be 65 years of age or older by 2030, making them the largest generation of senior citizens. The Baby Boom generation's ageing has significant effects on our society. One of the industries most affected by this trend is healthcare. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services projects that, between now and 2027, healthcare spending will increase by 5.5% annually. According to CMS (2018), the share of government expenditure on Medicare, a programme that reimburses the government for a part of the expenses associated with providing healthcare to the aged, is projected to rise from 3 percent of GDP in 2009 to 8 percent in 2030 and 15 percent in 2080. Undoubtedly, as Baby Boomers become older, they will want more and more from the American healthcare system as a whole. According to the American Geriatrics Society, the need for geriatrician physicians would rise by 45% between 2013 and 2025. Consequently, in 2025, more than 33,000 experts would be required to meet the demand for healthcare. Furthermore, the number of these professionals in the US was just 6,320 in 2020 (AGS 2021). Boomers, in contrast to older members of earlier generations, do not anticipate that reaching 65 will spell the end of their active life. They may require further medical help to continue leading active lifestyles, but they are unwilling to give up their jobs or hobbies. Innovation in the medical field is being driven by the desire of a sizable population of over 65-year-olds to maintain a high level of activity (Shaw n.d.). Another area of worry for many observers is the economic impact of the ageing Boomers. Despite having a greater quality of life and earning more than prior generations, the baby boom generation did not sufficiently save for retirement. The majority of retirement and financial experts say that before retiring, people should save 10 times their yearly salary in order to maintain their standard of living. (Note: That is income, not a pay cheque.) Thus, someone with an annual salary of $60,000 ought to have saved $600,000. They ought to have saved $1 million if their annual income had been $100,000. However, just 40% of Baby Boomers have saved more than $250,000, with the majority having only saved an estimated $144,000 (Gravier 2021). There are many different reasons for these deficits, ranging from excessive spending to the recession to business closures and pension payment reductions. The expense of higher education rose dramatically as a large number of Baby Boomers were sending their kids to college. Regardless of the reason, a lot of retirees express intense anxiety about running out of money. Social Security is regarded as in jeopardy, just as some analysts worry that Medicare may become overwhelmed. The main source of funding for Social Security, a government-managed retirement programme, is payroll taxes. Retirees should be able to withdraw enough money from the programme if enough individuals are contributing to it. However, experts predict that the system will fail by 2037 when the older Baby Boomer generation begins to collect Social Security payments and fewer workers contribute to the Social Security trust fund. A similar warning was issued in the 1980s when the payroll tax was raised and the retirement age (the age at which an individual may begin receiving Social Security benefits) was raised from sixty-two to sixty-seven in accordance to recommendations made by the Greenspan Commission. One way to address the current danger to Social Security would be to raise the retirement age to something like seventy.