Longer Lives
The post-World War II baby boomer generation is aging…and aging… and aging. The 2015 Census data shows Frederick County’s 65 and over population to be 32,627, an increase of 25% increase from 2010.[1] “Older boomers,” those born in the first few years after WWII, are now in or about to enter their 70’s. The number of those 60 and over in Frederick County is growing at a rate 3 times that of the overall population.[2] By 2020, the number of adults 60 and over in the county will surpass the number of school age children.[3]
Greater numbers of people living much longer has created a “new old age” that is rewriting the playbook for everything from housing and transportation to health care, recreation and work.
We’re living longer, and there are more of us, but we don’t really know what to do about it.
Frail Elders
By 2050, the number of people over 85 in the country is projected to grow 231%, making it the fastest growing segment of the population.[4] In Frederick County, the 2016 population of those 85 and over was 2,134, and over the next 25 years, that number is expected to exceed 8,500.[5]
This “extra decade” or more of longevity can be a great blessing, but for most it also brings “multiple chronic conditions, disabilities and fragile health.”[6] It demands a great deal of help, care and resources, and there are few if any plans in place to deal with that reality. The simple fact is that no matter how healthy one is for a long period of time, the bulk of Medicare expenditures are made in the last 18 months of life. How do we create person-centered, local care that focuses on the individual’s wants and needs, and make the end of life, when it comes, as calm and caring as possible?
A New “Middle” Old Age
We used to know what old age looked like. When Medicare began 50 years ago, the average American died at age 70.[7] Now the US Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that by 2022, 32% of those 65 to 74 will still be working — an increase of 20% from 2002.[8]
The number of individuals caring for grandchildren has also increased. 1,368 Frederick County grandparents had full-time responsibility for children under 18 in 2014.[9]
According to a 2013 Pew Research Center study, 47 percent of American adults in their 40’s and 50’s had a parent 65 or older and were also either raising a young child or financially supporting a child 18 or older. Many of these middle-aged adults provide some degree of financial support for parents, especially since the 2008 financial crash, and 38 percent reported that both their parents and children relied on them for emotional support. Many of these same individuals are working longer while wondering how they will continue to care for everyone depending on them.
How do we provide better caregiving and support working individuals?
And in case you thought it was a “dying” issue….
The Millennial generation, individuals born between 1981 and 1997, grew to 75.4 million in 2015,[10] overtaking the Baby Boomers. With a peak population of 81.1 million projected in 2036[11] – just 19 years from now, when the oldest Millennial is 55, issues connected to aging aren’t going away. In fact, if we don’t create new ways to structure life after 60, things are going to be a whole lot worse.
[1] www.census.gov
[2] MD Department of Planning, MD Data Center
[3] ibid
[4] An Aging Nation: The Older Population in the United States, U.S. Census Bureau
[5] MD Department of Planning, MD Data Center
[6] Medicaring Communities: Getting What We Want and Need in Frail Old Age at an Affordable Cost, Joanne Lynn, MD, and The Center for Elder Care and Advanced Illness, Altarum Institute
[8] Take This Job and Love It! www.aarp.org/work
[9] Kids Count Data Center, Annie E. Casey Foundation
[10] Millennials overtake Baby Boomers as America’s largest generation
[11] ibid