The Journal Record

July 7, 2005

 

Commentary: What baby boomers want

By Carol Wilkinson Troy

"Did you know that two-thirds of all the men and women who have ever lived past 65 in the entire history of the world are alive today?" This comment came from Ken Dychtwald, author of The Power Years: A User's Guide of the Rest of Your Life in the July issue of Fortune magazine.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2006, the first wave of boomers turns 60, and over the next couple of decades, 78 million will pour over the threshold into the stage of life that is supposed to be reserved for golf and rocking on your front porch. However, statistics from a Merrill Lynch survey show that a full 77 percent of Americans born between 1946 and 1964 want to either work full time, start their own business, cycle between work and leisure and work part time.

But what do they want to do?

Nearly half of people age 50 to 70 hope after they retire they will be able to take jobs that improve the quality of life in their communities, a new survey says. Fewer than 15 percent of people in that age group, however, think it will be very easy to find such jobs, and a majority support public-policy changes - such as providing free or low-cost job training for older Americans.

The New Face of Work Survey was developed by Civic Ventures, a nonprofit group in San Francisco that seeks to involve older people in civic activities, and was financed by the MetLife Foundation in New York. It was based on phone interviews conducted with 1,000 Americans.

In the June issue of The Chronicles of Philanthropy, author Brennen Jensen found that the desire for so-called good works jobs was highest among people age 50 to 59, people who are members of the baby-boom generation. Some 65 percent of these respondents said they wanted work to continue to be part of their lives after passing the traditional retirement age. Fifty-eight percent said they wanted jobs that benefited their community.

Nearly 60 percent of all respondents said staying involved with people was a very important reason they would continue to work after retirement, while 57 percent said it was very important that a job give them a sense of purpose. Jobs in education and social work were among the top categories respondents expressed interest in, along with sales and retail work.

"Most debate over the contribution of the aging boomers to civic life and the nonprofit sector has centered on volunteering," said Marc Freedman, Civic Ventures' founder and president. "But this study suggests that when all is said and done, their most significant contribution in this sphere may well be through work, through new roles combining continued income with a sense of purpose, connections to others, and a focus on improving the greater good."

So, as Dychtwald contends, "people believe that somewhere between 75 and 80 is the new beginning of old age, unless I'm talking to seniors, because they think it's later. Our 50-plus population has 70 percent of all the wealth in the country, and 80 percent of all the money in savings and loan institutions."

Baby boomers have reinvented themselves at every stage of life so far, and this next stage appears to be no different, from all indications. The good news for the nonprofit sector is that this group really is focused on making the world a better place and they have the professional know-how and energy to make it happen.