Aging Issues

You may recognize the graphs to the right. They are population pyramids, double bar graphs that show the age distribution of a population. They are called "population pyramids" because they almost always start with a large base of young people and shrink to a small number of old people.

Throughout human history, except during rare catastrophes - major wars, famines, disease outbreaks, etc. - a country's population always had more young than old.

But now, for the first time in American history, we are moving from a population pyramid to what Martha Farnsworth Riche, former Director of the US Census Bureau, calls a "population pillar."

And this demographic shift means means that for the first time in American history, there won't be enough young workers to replace retiring workers. Indeed, according to the Employment Policy Foundation, if present trends continue, "the US will face a labor shortage of 4.8 million workers in 10 years, 19.7 million in 20 years and 35.8 million in 30 years."

The fiscal and social impacts of such a labor shortage would be severe. Our nation's fiscal health would be jeopardized by a massive increase in Social Security and Medicare spending even as the number of workers supporting each retiree has collapsed. And, lacking the workers to carry out needed tasks, the economy would fall behind such burgeoning competitors as China and India.

There is, however, an untapped source of workers. Older workers - who today are pushed out of the job market by nearsighted retirement policies - must be brought back into the workforce. Their skills, knowledge, and experience would be invaluable to our economy. Moreover, studies have shown that continued work at older ages improves health, mental capacity, and overall quality of life.