‘Aging isn’t for sissies’ is an adage familiar to seniors whose bodies no longer respond with the strength and fluidity they enjoyed a decade earlier, or others who have lost spouses, or whose circle of friends has diminished, and men, whose careers defined them, now having to question their identities.
When the clock turned over to the 21st century, our country could count 35 million seniors (65+), 12% of the population. Of those, 1 ½ million were 90 and over. Twenty years later, 2020, the senior population had ballooned to 56 million and the 90+ population had tripled.
Baby boomers, those born after World War II when the population surged, are now moving, ever more slowly, from being seniors to becoming ‘super’ seniors. The United States, and most of the developing world, is ‘graying’ with almost every elderly person suffering at least one serious health issue…arthritis, angina, blood pressure, loss of hearing, memory loss, etc.
The pressures an aging population places on society are enormous. The pressures on the individual senior can be terrifying.
Society’s pressures stem from multiple issues including changes in the birth rate and advances in medicine. Automation has led to fewer middle-class workers contributing to Social Security. It no longer takes thousands of factory workers to produce steel and automobiles. It was their payroll deductions that funded the system.
In 1935 when Social Security was enacted, the country was amid the Great Depression. It was to be a safety net for working Americans. In those years most people worked until they were 65 and actuarily died 5 years later. There was more than enough money being withheld from employees and employers to pay benefits. But the decades since have destroyed that equilibrium.
The Social Security system, as currently structured, cannot survive. In 1950, there were 16 workers per beneficiary. By 1960 it had dropped to 5. Today, the ratio is 3:1 and by 2050, there will be just 2 workers “paying in” per beneficiary. Workers now pay more and qualify later. But even with that adjustment, the math simply doesn’t work. We have less workers paying ‘in’ and seniors, living longer, collecting…taking ‘out.’ And, these longer lives means more prolonged and serious medical care that is propelling Medicare toward a financial chasm as well.
Meanwhile, the pressure on each person in our aging population is similarly dire. Living longer raises issues of living alone, having enough money to support the additional years of life, as well having the emotional support so critical to avoiding bouts of severe loneliness as friends die or relocate to facilities that support their aging needs. Government surveys tell us that nearly half of Americans have no retirement savings and today’s pressures on high rents and general cost of living make any improvement in that unlikely. Minorities, often in the lower economic strata, are most at risk.
I include myself among those lucky ones who have grown older without any serious medical condition. It allows me to continue to travel, write, and remain relevant. It isn’t easy. Tennis, bicycling, and skiing are in my rear-view mirror. Easy is staying at home, napping, or reading a book, letting life move around you. Hard is forcing oneself to exercise, leave your comfort zone, and remain relevant. I follow in the footsteps of others who have discovered that laughter and work continue to bring satisfaction at any age…Norman Lear, Betty White, James Earl Jones, Rita Moreno, David Attenborough, Carol Burnett, Mel Brooks, Clint Eastwood…ad nauseum.
I am happy to share my own adage:
…I don’t mind dying but I refuse to give up living!