There is a noticeable trend of older adults continuing to work past retirement age.
You may have been looking forward to a that long awaited retirement but are you now a part of this noticeable trend?
Reasons cited include job satisfaction, sharing experience, and the benefits of staying active and engaged in the workforce. This trend challenges traditional retirement models and suggests a need for more flexible housing options that accommodate individuals who are still working.
Expectations on life at retirement are changing and diverging.
Baby Boomers were raised after the war and in many cases had no real experience of the trauma their parents faced, the Great Depression or any deprivation at all. More importantly, they never experienced the social solidarity that unfolded during war time.
During their hey-day, prosperity was at its greatest, the world became car-centric, individualism became the new order but a mushrooming debt mountain now appears to have underpinned much of the spending of the ‘you’ve never had it so good’ era. Money grew on trees.
This Baby Boomer generation will have different desires and needs compared with previous ones, requiring a shift in the senior living industry’s approach. Boomers challenged societal norms and traditional values, advocating for civil rights, gender equality, and environmental conservation. Their outlook now may be considered extravagant and spending in that era, profligate, by millennials and subsequent generations who will have to pick up the bill for mounting deficits and high taxes.
The pressure mounts when it comes to the present generations.
Inflation, war, immigration, unaffordability in cities and the proliferation of Net Zero carbon targets coupled with decreasing resources is not an attractive scenario for our future generations.
But the times are changing. Already in the UK and more so in other countries, attitudes to housing are changing. There is increasing take up of more innovative housing models and greater acceptance of renting, for example. When Sir Edward Coke declared that“an Englishman’s house is his castle”in 1604 he set an emphasis on individual property rights reflected in private home ownership in the UK for ever after.
But perhaps this rugged individualism is now under threat?
A longer retirement period coupled with increased cases of loneliness and mental health issues has put pressure on the heroic individualism of recent history. Covid has also played a role in accelerating changing attitudes.
With the diverse needs in our society today, different models of housing are being developed which address specific issues. To mount an attack on unaffordability of much housing in the UK, the Community Land Trust has emerged; to mitigate against loneliness and isolationism in our society, multi-generational Co-Housing is being promoted; to deal with the changing demographics and expectations of our seniors, innovative village-like communities are appearing to enrich later life living experience.
These differing models for new housing each have much to offer. They could even share elements with each other as a greater appreciation of the psychological and spiritual needs required for well functioning community unfolds.
A reflection of these changing attitudes can be seen in how the significant economic contribution of retirees is coming through volunteering and caregiving.
Residing in a new style later living community, although not for everyone, includes the benefits of social cohesion. These things have been missing for many in later life for too long. Perhaps the Baby Boomer generation will have something positive to contribute as we listen again to the tunes of the 1960s ?
