Later Life: Development

Understanding Later Life  The median age of the population (the cutoff age at which half of the population is older and half is younger) is now middle age in Europe and Asia.  In Europe, 1 in 4 people will be over 65.  In America, 1 in 5 will be over 65.

Why is the population changing?  Baby boomers entering later life  Longevity  Low fertility

Exploring Two Elderly Stages  Young-old (sixties and seventies)  Typically healthy, relatively wealthy  Old-old (80 and older)  More likely to be physically frail and poor

Erikson’s psychosocial stage in later life  Integrity vs. Despair  According to Erikson, reaching integrity means reviewing one’s life and making peace with it.  Having a sense of usefulness and meaning in present life  Having a sense of self-efficacy; feeling in control  Using emotion regulation is key – making the most of difficult situations such as chronic disease.

Examining Retirement  Most think of the U.S. retirement age as 65. Actually, the average age for collecting full Social Security benefits is now 66. It will be 67 for people born after  True age of retirement is 60 rather than 65.  Because, on average, we live another 20 years after retirement, it is now a full stage of life.  Retirement depends on governments offering programs enabling their citizens to live without working.  Therefore, in countries without government-sponsored programs (mainly in the developing world), people must stay on the job until they physically cannot work.

Life as a retiree  Are retirees depressed or pleased about retirement? “It depends.”  Positive  Physical and mental health  Focus on “bucket list”; leisure activities  Married  Financial stability  Consider retirement as a challenge; a new phase of life  Volunteering  Negative  Not leaving work by choice – forced retirement  Financial concerns  Health concerns

Summing up retirement  Retirement is an at-risk stage of life.  Declining pensions plans  Strain on Social Security  Older workers are an at-risk group of employees.  Age discrimination  Older people may be more at risk of being poor.  High rates of poverty in the old-old (and among people who enter retirement relying just on Social Security)  Intergenerational equity – balancing the needs of the young and the old  Abandoning the entitlement programs (i.e., Social Security) would hurt the young because they would be responsible for providing for the older family members.