Editor’s Note: The Spy is pleased to welcome Dr. Memo Diriker as a guest columnist for our Senior Nation portal. In addition to Dr. Diriker’s highly respected analysis of data and demographics on the Eastern Shore’s growing aging population at the Perdue School of Business at Salisbury, he has become a significant leader in the advocacy of “aging in place,” and its associated support services, as a realistic alternative to the expensive institutional care.
As a baby boomer, as I look back at 2016, I am both excited and a bit discombobulated to have witnessed two major milestones in our nation’s history. First, this was the year when we, the boomers, ceased to be the nation’s largest living generation. According to population estimates released recently by the U.S. Census Bureau, Millennials, defined as those aged 19-36, now number 75.4 million. We, the boomers (ages 52-70) are now just behind them at 74.9 million. It is interesting to note that Generation X (ages 37-51) is projected to pass the Boomers in population by 2028. Tomorrow clearly belongs to these younger Americans. But, don’t write us boomers off just yet. We and the Millennials have much to teach to and learn from each other. As has always been the case, we are stronger together than apart.
As for the second milestone, the jury will be out for quite a while whether it is a positive, negative, or neutral development in our nation’s history. I am talking about the end of the American political order as we know it. We might as well throw any rule book we may have had about how we select, elect, and appoint folks to lead our country. It is an entirely new game. I am a strong advocate for change in all walks of life. In general, change is good for us. It keeps us innovating and learning. Sometimes change can be gradual and other times abrupt. This change might have been a long time coming but the actual disruption we are observing now happened quite abruptly. For us boomers, some of the consequences of this change might not be so welcome. If I had any say, I would counsel these new generation of leaders to phase in some of these changes slowly so no one is too adversely impacted. Then again, I am an eternal optimist. I know that we live in a great country and, in time, all will be well.
Here are a few other milestones we observed this past year:
The percentage of American women in the workforce has passed 57 percent in 2016. These women are not quitters. In fact, the percentage of 70-plus women who are still working is expected to rise from 30 percent today to 39 percent by 2024.
The number of minority babies born exceeded majority babies in 2016. In just a few short years, America will be a minority majority nation. In fact, there will be no single group exceeding 50% of the population. This process of this change will prove to be somewhat rocky. In the long run, this too will make our nation stronger and better. As Mr. Spock of Star Trek fame said, “We rejoice in our differences!”
On another front, in 2016, a majority of Baby Boomers were on record saying that they are accepting of different lifestyles, even gay marriage, whether they are Democrat or Republican. This is especially interesting, since us boomers remain as divided politically as the rest of the nation. Almost as many people turning 70 this year said they were Republican (36 percent) as say they were Democrat (38 percent).
On the health front, us boomers can expect 15 more years of life than our grand parents’ generation. We are reaping a bounty of medical advances in areas like heart disease and cancer treatment. And, thanks largely to improvements in health care and pharmaceuticals, our bonus years can often be lived in a disease-free body.
Finally, we are now approaching our 90th month of recovery since the last recession. 2016 has been the best year of this long recovery period. Most economists expect the good times to continue for at least another year. But, please do not throw caution to the wind. Timing economic slowdowns is very hard to do. What we do know, however, is that they do follow times of recovery, just as night follows day. Being prepared is always a good thing. As David Bowie said, “Tomorrow belongs to those who can hear it!” I am already turning up the volume of my hearing aid….
Dr. Memo Diriker is the Founding Director of the Business, Economic, and Community Outreach Network (BEACON). BEACON is the premier business and economic research and consulting unit of the Franklin P. Perdue School of Business at Salisbury University. BEACON is home to the award winning Community Visioning, ShoreTRENDS, GraySHORE, ShoreENERGY, GNAppWorks, and Bienvenidos a Delmarva initiatives and a proud partner of the GeoDASH initiative.
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