"Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night":The Issues Surrounding the Aging Process
Number: 00S01. Issue: Spring 2000
Author[s]:
Jennifer Co and Viet Nguyen
Keywords:
Abstract:
In a rapidly globalizing society, the process of aging is
one of the few things that connects and defines us all, regardless of the
diversity of social and cultural factors that embody the nature of
humanity. Contrary to what is popularly
espoused, the issue of aging is not one that should be of concern only to the
elderly, but rather to society as a whole.
We are all experiencing the process of aging, regardless of age.
Robert
Arking, author of Biology of Aging, cites the following four conditions as
being necessary elements of fundamental age-related changes:
1. They must be
deleterious; that is, they must reduce function.
2. They must be
progressive; that is, they must take place gradually.
3. They must be
intrinsic; that is, they must not be the result of a modifiable environmental
agent.
4. They must be
universal; that is, all members of a species should show such gradual deficit
with advancing age.
Even though each individual ages in his or her own
particular, and thus not uniform, way, most would agree that these conditions
are particularly useful in defining the process of aging. By defining aging in this way, it is easier
for us to examine the aging process and how it interacts with other factors
important to the human life cycle.
Today,
approximately 32 million Americans are aged 65 and over, with the growth of the
elderly community expected to rise rapidly as the Baby Boomer generation
reaches old age. Additionally, the
number of older people is steadily rising worldwide. With the median age worldwide hovering around 26 years presently
(up from about 23 at mid-century), the number is expected to only increase
further, with the projected median almost touching 40 by the year 2050. With all the pressing issues that we face in
relation to aging today, it is becoming increasingly important to address those
issues surrounding aging. It is widely
believed that increased life expectancy is an inevitable consequence of
economic growth. As economies grow and
prosper, more resources are made available to improve the standard of living in
regions all over the world, thereby making life easier to live and extending
the population?s lifespan.
Given such
an economic reasoning for the advent of the population aging, it is only
appropiate that economic reasons be behind two of the issues that are of great
importance to Americans in today?s older community. Social Security and health care consistently garner nationwide attention
and oftentimes appear to be two of the most important issues in the minds of
Americans today. Declining mortality
has taken an increasingly important role in national discussions of public
policy, and intergenerational inequities have been discussed in great detail on
Capitol Hill. It is expected that
future generations will have to pay much higher taxes than we currently face, a
scenario that can mostly be attributed to the rising costs of publicly funded
health care services. An important part,
however, is accounted for by the aging population, a result of both declining
mortality and low fertility.
The Baby
Boomer generation, which accounts for approximately 77 million of the world?s
population, has not reproduced a comparable number of offspring. This decrease in the labor force, when
combined with the increased life expectancy of a large proportion of our
population, causes considerable concern when dealing with the problem of who
will pay for the services of social security and health care. How is the younger generation entering the
work force in the coming years going to support the Social Security and
Medicare programs that their parents will use as they retire? Social Security
and Medicare comprise the government's first and second largest social
programs, respectively. But without fundamental changes to the Social Security
system, the program will be unable to cover all of its expenses starting in
2034.
The
financial stability of Medicare faces an equally intimidating challenge, especially
with the rising costs of health care. A March 1999 report by the Medicare board
of trustees estimates that the program, in its current state, can survive until
2015. The Congressional Budget Office puts the date at 2012.
In short,
both Medicare and Social Security are going to be hit hard by the aging of the
U.S. population--in particular, with the retirement of the baby boom
generation. But the Medicare fund is
scheduled to reach zero well before that even happens. This scenario can be explained by the rapid
rise in medical costs, a rise that is significantly greater than that observed
in other major expenditures and greater than the rise in incomes. Thus, the recent economic prosperity, while
allowing us to live longer, healthier lives, is also contributing to the
inflation of health care costs, creating a sort of catch-22 in this
regard. Despite this fact, there is
hope.
Perhaps
some of the burden on Social Security and Medicare will be eased by an increase
in the average age of retirement. An increased awareness of aging in the
population can lead to better preventive health care, and ways of how people
can take better care of themselves. A healthier aging workforce may want to
work longer, seeing no need to retire if they still feel productive. The problem is, however, that many older
workers are forced into early retirement by employers that believe the benefits
of hiring younger employees (fresh legs=fresh ideas) outweigh the productivity
via experience and loyalty that older employees offer. The combination of early retirement, decreased fertility, and rise in life
expectancy among the old exacerbates the already acknowledged and increasingly
unwieldy problem surrounding Social Security and Medicare. What lies ahead is a continued rise in the
ranks of the retired, a phenomenon dubbed the "Florida effect" by
Peter Peterson, and a decrease in the working-age population. This spells impending doom for the current
Social Security program. Reforms to the
current program are being discussed and given increasing attention by the
government. (See Social Security
Reforms Sidebar for more information.)
Up until
now, older workers have made up a comparatively small share of the
workforce. However, at the turn of the
century, there are more workers over the age of 40 than under 40 for the first
time. This fact, when combined with the
misconceptions that many employers have regarding an older work force,
explains, in part, the pressures many employees face concerning early
retirement. Because older workers make
more money than others, based on seniority, profit-minded (and thus,
cost-conscious) employers often seek younger workers willing to work 60-80 hour
weeks for half the salary senior employees demand. The common perception is that older workers are paid more in
spite of, rather than because of, their extra productivity. Although it appears to be the case that when
older people do heavy physical work, their age may be detrimental to their
productivity, other skills that come with experience have often been found to
increase rather than decrease with age.
These skills are particularly useful and important to the majority of
employers, including many that are crucial for good management.
It will
become increasingly apparent in the coming years that many of the issues
surrounding the elderly population will concern women. According to the U.S. Census Bureau,
American women consistently outlive American men; and, combined with the push
towards equality between the sexes, such data seems to indicate that
progressively more research will be focused on issues surrounding women. Increasing equality and increasing numbers
of women lead to increased demand; increased demand will eventually lead to an
increased supply. Life expectancy at
birth for females today of at least 80 years "has become the norm"
and the average gap in life expectancy between the sexes is approximately seven
years in developed countries.
However,
the topic of aging is not limited to the developed world. Again, with the boom in medical technology
and economic prosperity, many developing nations are experiencing the positive
spillovers of such advances in developed nations. We will explore the topic of global aging in further detail later
on in this special report.
It may become
possible, in the not too distant future, to extend a person?s average life span
to the centurion mark, and perhaps beyond that. But is this even desirable? As
professionals in the field of aging, a field that has grown extensively only in
the past half-century, the answer to this question becomes apparent: as Robert
Arking so eloquently put it, "Given our present state of knowledge, it is
more beneficial to opt for a healthy and vigorous, albeit finite, life than to
search in vain for the elixir of immortality." Instead of searching for
that fountain of youth, we should instead focus on the problems at hand that
have come to light with the advent of population aging. By improving the quality of life first,
through solving (or at least working to solve) such problems that will affect
us as we age, we will make life, and the living of that life to its fullest
extent, easier and healthier. We can
thus prolong life with our own two proverbial hands, creating, in essence, our
own version of the fountain of youth.
References:
Arking, Robert. Biology of Aging, 2nd edition. Sinauer
Associates, Inc.: 1998.
Diamond, Peter A. "The Future of Social Security." Social
Security: What Role for the Future? National Academy of Social Insurance:
1996.
Fox, Steve. "Special Report: Medicare."
Washingtonpost.com. May 5, 1999. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/poli tics/special/medicare/issue.htm
Fuchs, Victor R. "Some Economic Aspects of Mortality in
Developed Countries." The Health Economy. Harvard University Press: 1986.
Lee, Ronald and Shripad Tuljapurkar. "Death and Taxes:
How Longer Life Will Affect Social Security." December 1, 1999.
http://www.demog.berkeley.edu/~rlee/papers/deathtax/
Pianin, Eric. "In
Social Security Debate, Politics is Key Player." Washington Post. Sunday,
October 31, 1999. Page A04.
Title from poem by Dylan Thomas of the same name.
Proposed Social Security Reforms
Here are some Social Security Reforms currently being
explored:
*Raise the Retirement Age: Increase the age at which
one can receive full benefits. At
present, full benefits are available at 65, and reduced benefits can be
collected at 62. Starting in the next
century, the retirement age for full benefits will gradually increase from 65
to 67.
*Increase Payroll Taxes
*Increase the Number of Years for Calculating Benefits:
For current retirees, Social Security calculates the benefit using the highest
35 years of income. Recent proposals
suggest adding 3-5 years to that total.
*Create Individual Retirement Accounts: Some recent
plans suggest diverting part of Social Security taxes into individual accounts
while retaining a basic benefit. Other
proposals suggest privatizing the entire system, with individual accounts
replacing Social Security.
*Cost of Living (COLA) Adjustments: Every year Social
Security benefits change to keep pace with the federal government?s Consumer
Price Index, which measures the change in the cost of a market basket of goods
and services purchased by a typical worker.
The annual COLA adjustment, which is automatic, guarantees that the
buying power of the benefit check will not lag behind the rate of
inflation. Some proposals suggest
reducing the COLAs to save money.
*Benefit Reduction: Some propose across-the-board
reductions in benefits for all beneficiaries.
*Increase the Amount of Earnings Subject to Payroll Tax
*Reduce Benefits for the More Affluent
*Use Federal Budget Surplus for Retirement Accounts:
The federal government is running a budget surplus for the first time in 30
years. Some suggest investing the money
from the surplus in special new retirement accounts for each American. The funds would be invested in stocks and
bonds, and would provide extra cash at retirement, in addition to Social
Security benefits.
*Changing the Current Formulas for Taxing Social Security
Benefits: Some reformers have suggested taxing as ordinary income any
Social Security benefits that exceed the amount that a worker has contributed
to the system.
Source:
The National Council on Aging
http://www.ncoa.org/ssreform/proposed_reforms.htm
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