In NPR news:
In recent weeks I have heard several shows on NPR talking about the following:
In recent weeks I have heard several shows on NPR talking about the following:
- President's Budget Deficit Commission;
- what's going to happen when the Republicans take over the house;
- how surveys say American citizens want to do something to reduce our budget deficit, but no one wants their programs or tax's changed;
- the tax plan that is being hotly debated now and being filibustered as I write this;
- future cuts to Social Security and Medicare,
- and how the baby boomers got us into this financial mess and that they may not end up paying any price for their mistakes.
Baby Boomers:
The members of the Baby Boomer generation were born between 1946 and 1964, when the United States population grew an estimated 76 million (U.S. Census Bureau, 1996). The first members of the Baby Boomer generation will turn 65 years old in 2011 (Hartman-Stein & Potkanowicz, 2003). By 2030, more than 70 million people will be over the age of sixty-five (Knickman & Snell, 2002).
The members of the Baby Boomer generation were born between 1946 and 1964, when the United States population grew an estimated 76 million (U.S. Census Bureau, 1996). The first members of the Baby Boomer generation will turn 65 years old in 2011 (Hartman-Stein & Potkanowicz, 2003). By 2030, more than 70 million people will be over the age of sixty-five (Knickman & Snell, 2002).
American Ideology: The Swinging Pendulum
With our recurrent recession and federal deficit in the trillions, what are we going to do when we have 70 million baby boomers to take care of? Dr. Binstock in his article, From Compassionate Ageism to Intergenerational Conflict, discusses this same concern. Dr. Binstock begins by discussing the history of American politics. He discusses how we have always struggled with individualism vs. the collective well-being of everyone. Prior to the Great Depression, it was every one for themselves. There was a sense of individual responsibility. Then we saw the development of New Deal programs, Social Security program, Older American's Act, laws to prevent age discrimination, Medicare, and Medicaid. All of a sudden older Americans were a special group who needed to be protected and taken care of by society (Binstock, 2010).
Then the economic downturn in the late 1970's:
Dr. Binstock describes how the ideological pendulum swung back due to the economic downturn in the late 1970s and early1980s. He reports there was once again a focus on individualism, ending big government, including government regulation and welfare programs (sound familiar?). All of a sudden older adults were being portrayed in the media as "greedy geezers" who were doing better than everyone else in society and they were a "growing burden." There were also concerns about the voting power these older adults had (sound familiar?). There were some who were pinning older adults against children for resources (sound familiar? I heard this at times this past November when our the Elderly Services Program levy was on the ballet. I heard more than once, they don't vote for our school levies, why should we vote for their program (Binstock, 2010)?
Will the future bring intergenerational political conflict?
Dr. Binstock thinks the likelihood and intensity of potential intergenerational political conflict will be shaped by the answers to two questions. The first question he asks is will we have enough national wealth to put into the social programs that help older adults? The second question is whether our nation's ideology will support having programs that continue to help protect older adults from poverty and illness? What do you think?
Conclusion:
If as a society, we don't help provide health care and financial support to old adults, who will? Their families? The aging system has already changed so much in the fifteen years since I started my career. I can't imagine what it will look like in another fifteen, especially with the baby boomer generation to care for
Binstock R. (2010). From Compassionate Ageism to Intergenerational Conflict. The Gerontologist, 50(5), 574-585.
Hartman-Stein, P.E. & Edward S. Potkanowict, E.S. (2003) Behavioral Determinants of Healthy Aging. Good News for the Baby Boomer Generation. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing 8(2), 1-26.
Then the economic downturn in the late 1970's:
Dr. Binstock describes how the ideological pendulum swung back due to the economic downturn in the late 1970s and early1980s. He reports there was once again a focus on individualism, ending big government, including government regulation and welfare programs (sound familiar?). All of a sudden older adults were being portrayed in the media as "greedy geezers" who were doing better than everyone else in society and they were a "growing burden." There were also concerns about the voting power these older adults had (sound familiar?). There were some who were pinning older adults against children for resources (sound familiar? I heard this at times this past November when our the Elderly Services Program levy was on the ballet. I heard more than once, they don't vote for our school levies, why should we vote for their program (Binstock, 2010)?
Will the future bring intergenerational political conflict?
Dr. Binstock thinks the likelihood and intensity of potential intergenerational political conflict will be shaped by the answers to two questions. The first question he asks is will we have enough national wealth to put into the social programs that help older adults? The second question is whether our nation's ideology will support having programs that continue to help protect older adults from poverty and illness? What do you think?
Conclusion:
If as a society, we don't help provide health care and financial support to old adults, who will? Their families? The aging system has already changed so much in the fifteen years since I started my career. I can't imagine what it will look like in another fifteen, especially with the baby boomer generation to care for
Binstock R. (2010). From Compassionate Ageism to Intergenerational Conflict. The Gerontologist, 50(5), 574-585.
Hartman-Stein, P.E. & Edward S. Potkanowict, E.S. (2003) Behavioral Determinants of Healthy Aging. Good News for the Baby Boomer Generation. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing 8(2), 1-26.
Knickman, J. R. & Snell E. K. (2002). The 2030 Problem: Caring for Aging
Baby Boomers. HSR: Health Services Research, 37(4), (849-884).
U.S. Census Bureau. (1996). Population and housing characteristics of babyboomers 26 to 44 years old: 1990. Retrieved from:
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