The Next 200 Years; Forecasting The Quality Of Life For Future Older Americans

yeah it is that you know sex belongs to the young because they are so attractive and they deserve it and if you see an older couple in any kind of loving embrace it's either because one other news as paula dead or both of them take care at all stages from communication center university of texas at austin this is the next two hundred years has the united states looks beyond the bicentennial celebration the next two hundred years explores the american future our guests this week are brick ruger smith executive associate at the home foundation for mental health guy shuttlesworth associate professor in the graduate school of social work and you're in short professor of public affairs at the lbj school of public affairs this as rex we're for the next two hundred years this week we will be talking about the quality of life for older americans in future decades and we haven't that the older

segment of our population and ten or twenty years will be very much like that part of the american population today that start with you're in we're forecasting is always a dangerous business but i guess it's safe to say that at least there will be more of us that time i think we have to congress and there are more of us who would be called all and if we take sixty five or sixty as the somewhat artificial perhaps date after which record all are so let's take it from further full time being just bet that there will be more of us making that age range then what you have to have an approach business the pentagon be more honest the urban past seventy five years of age and then we have now and i think the owner and the raging continue to reflect the larger number of people the feminist view on this is going to be a feminist you because

the women in the next two hundred years the older population will be very different from the older women up to date we will have a bigger population of women who have been in the workforce have been professional people who know how to manage their own lives in an account and i think we'll have a quite different group of old ladies you would do i think that this means that one of our real problems is to make the transition from work life to so called retired live less traumatic and less dramatic i think it's going to depend on what we have by way every time to pass these because sometimes the people who suffer the greatest and returning years of the ones who have been in the workforce because i don't want to go except maybe what once was a great achievement and social policy to allow people to retire with some of money deposited each month and their accounts have to rethink that may be in the wrong and it's not so

much of the advantage for everybody to have to retire at a sudden that well as a matter of fact i heard a planner for the united nations say that very shortly he thinks in the next population of all people that there will be so many more all in so many fewer young that doubt this idea of mandatory retirement is going to lessen and people are going to be encouraged to stay on the workforce and that's connected efforts we post rubio use goat mom definitely were going to be were wanting can now are who are sixty five in order and by the year two thousand that the one in six or eight and that means you'd think that such institution forces like say the unions the trade unions will change the attitude and right now i think there would be violently danced an extension of retirement age they would see that as a threat to what people

achieve in terms of social security so that we gradually get institutions and people to think about this and somewhat different times having this test is going to mean that they're going to have to knock the next generation not the year two thousand that since we're talking about the next two hundred years it's going to be that the year twenty twenty five when this population the baby boom people i've gotten older and they're a smaller population of children are starting to get older they were going to have so many older people and so many young people having to carry such a big population and all that there's going to be a different idea that we care and we look forward to retiring at the traditional agers a strange going to occur before we get there by dr max who's head of the eighteenth century in north carolina says that the people who now are just about ready to retire and the one sometimes for now maybe better off so far social security then then the middle aged people because we're using up

social security money so fast that people get tax pretty heavily for i was it gave me a happy answer i'm just quoting aftermath what kinds of changes then can we anticipate in our society in general you mentioned a few of these and while ago you said they're going to be a bunch of these older ladies are running around loose do you anticipate landrieu something like that as a matter of fact there'll be about dow one and a half times as many women as there are men and it i'm always impressed with the fact that as we develop our society where more and more accepting of new lifestyles for young people but we're still making jokes and being horrified about lifestyles for older people and i seriously think that this is something we're going to have to think about because i'm also serious about the fact that in our society we turn our backs on the idea that there can be a sexuality femininity masculinity in older people who are mostly still

believe the world for a number of years talking about big societal changes and often made the point that there will be fewer jobs say in production protection of goods of tangible things of cars and refrigerators and what have you and more jobs in and services education but also would definitely health care and social services and maybe as me so to ever so slowly perhaps move in the direction of people sort of choosing their retirement times not because the rule says so but in the light of what they want to do and what they're capable of doing when you think that the social service sector is the one that perhaps the experience that a lot of people have and the perhaps gentleness of houghton minded whatever will really give them an advantage and open up

opportunities that maybe they don't have enough off yet at these basic changes are clear in which she that idea of hand lotion and i suppose on the things that concerns me most about the present and hopefully a project ascendance in the future has to do really with the artificiality of many things that we try to do at this day and time to let older people know that we are concerned about them and it lives important and meaningful to them and we have a number of good programs that truly rivers small segment of the population and that it seems to me they were the things and that didn't work and i think we can i think older people are getting more political clout now i think in terms of emotional their rights as human beings and accessories can to service and participation in society you're saying more of us today have the institutional icing procedures which says in fact

that the song giving a myriad social service impetus patient and are more people on the social services is a good thing to do it's rewarded by society it's worth living far is making a contribution to her and i think along with some of the other changes that we've been discussing here that if we're to achieve that and it's now waiting until we're two thousand psi now is a good time to do business with malaysia rex people like us in that category now and you can begin to see the world challenge your own boss your blood and i agree this would be desirable my about some of the really come about one because our legal system in particular was so insecure the system does not encourage people to go on working between the ages so sixty five and seventy two euros money

there's no question about those number one and secondly and perhaps even more fundamentally are they really willing to aleppo the people play a role in delivering say social services to other people or be a false or wrong talked about that we should do it and that we would do it but i don't see very much evidence of it and well the rocks which you haven't come around yet that prevent us from going that is if only rhetoric or was it more well i think there's some are very basic kinds of institutional problems that we have we've mentioned some of them today it's a nice to sit him forecast the idea a notion that the older people in and the workforce of the future of how where that becomes a reality is merely panama number of things having an economic and political areas as well as social welfare kinds of areas and that i think are all a related i don't think you know that wouldn't be able to change

when one part and say would be nice to have or people delivering social services if we get some legislation through so the social security system or not penalize them if they do then we can reward them for doing that i think has to be a part of the whole lives are of the polls for us that solar systems can make along with other kinds of work that they might do to an open up the system and that particular manning the number of problems we have now been sporadic problems that but a small number of older people it's good for those people to be in those programs that but to me it smacks of artificially alter yummy give them something to do the day that the majority of the older people really not enter the bank you just have to have to really overhaul the way you look at it your workforce and then the way you look at the older people what they can contribute to that but aren't we talking about society's attitude toward older people so much in our society we've been so youth arianna had all along we really have gone in for

obsolescence in a sense and i'm sort of hoping that this holy terror of restoration you know we were beginning to buy your furniture and old buildings and i'm hoping that old people will come into our society today mac kind of you point at one of the things that concerns me the most is the fact that we get almost no responsibility to older people in the decision making areas whether it's in or out of the workforce you know you talk about daycare centers retirement homes living parents it's all these planners are sitting over one side and nobody goes and says that older people you know what would you really like to high and this is really almost a ninety degree turn from traditional culture that in which they all were venerated for their wisdom and all of a sudden way of worship for young instead of an age girl so we're gonna have to go back to happy medium are sure you

will agree at least without much that's not an area where government can make a change right so that's something where all american troops polls also our young middle aged age that have to change our ideas and attitudes but they're very importantly it's also something i think that the order people themselves have to really push for if they don't laugh and you mentioned there's more political clout nobrega behind some of the elderly segment of the population well maybe it is but how does its office and perhaps they don't need a much stronger lobbying effort in washington and the different states and the different communities maybe they made at some point there should have a political party what about that that's something to look forward to yeah i'm not so sure that the yellow river that that would

be the solution and of itself pro and asked those borrowers because mom my estimate that the contribution an eye to see that order of citizens as such a nearby school a segregated from the rest of the population in and then looked at as a special interest the interest in a group not my gets mileage for alumni thank you suggest maybe some gains it would come through that you know if so it's worth though we're pursuing form of the sea only rhode island refer to see the attitudinal change that roberts talking about the power of the population growing older people who are now quite negative stereotypes of themselves is as older citizens because the rest of us tend to reflect that and that most of us think will never get old i guess we get that we tended to internalize those kinds of things we feel that way about so i would like to see a contribution that older people make along the same line of the contributions at middle age people might carry on people might order in terms of their

individuality and not as a member of the stereotype and grew by direct my about the wisdom of age or sometimes weeks we get caught on the traveler some very dumb all people they were dumb when they were little asian every time when i really honored as the stupid does all people is a word in your poem life and if we can just accept that now this is a very intelligent opie well armed and they've been intelligent most of their lives and i am and if we ever get ourselves to the point of saying oh people's individual differences like any of the rest of the population i got some big stride forward and trying to get them involved in what's happening in opening up the system where they can produce that guy i think i really shocked a group of women at a luncheon meeting one day in speaking of a trend i think you really want to know what kind of a ladies' you're going to be tell me what kind of women you are right now you hear the collective just guess

the only really big surprise whole phone or was changing thinking about older people which really boils down to something like be do we separate them out there is and i feel segregated in one way or another know did all of this and really come about at the same time as we sort of abolished the extended family and got all work organization changed road so people going in the morning and coming back in the evening and the house vote and we have any place anymore for four generation to live in if that's true how can we go back to a more positive attitude without at the same time it seems to be caught on realistic reinventing vague living structures and parking structures of extended family good

i mean it suggests in turin you're talking about something i'm very much excited about math and that is our what i consider our really viable tree and toward day care centers at different kinds for older people daycare centers that are for fairly enable frail elderly and those are kind of day hospitals which do permit older people to maintain themselves in a residence are in a home with children or with an older staff for a fairly long period of time with these kinds of support system and i think in some of these experiments and data here continue we're going to find that this is a really good alternative the other thing i think lies in our attitudes in our constant our segregation of age groups the niger arrangement of people's activities by ages and we could start this hour by just investing again in bringing various aid groups together and him in helping artists learn from one another in various

ages and and really start breaking down some of the stereotyped did you do this will go to make them in legislation though i think this is in the mountain hearts and wealth of people this kind of thing yes i think everybody could begin today are at this moment we'll go over what we're advocating for spying that this is a good thing think about because we're going to be there all so if you don't want to do it for those old people then do about kurds are going to be people are going to be looking at methanol part of india medicine they take constant still some order do it sort of maybe too strong but i've tried to overemphasize perhaps is that still somewhat they meaning the talent basically look we will take care of you and he is called we think you might spend your day and it still very very different from iowa and you'll

fall so deciding on hollywood spend on days and that kind of option you really don't accept any more that the elderly themselves should have it you're right of course your opinions and respect that chorus a daycare would have to be for people who are having trouble functioning alone and i think unless we do get them in on the decision making in how these days should be spent and we are indeed doing a demeaning acts that if we really do involve them it can be it can have a lot of the path that we're going to take two mr mould the elderly and non talking perhaps less of those who are in some way handicap were some of the elements of your day job physically handicapped or what have you but those were still quite well off or can move around have the mobility and her the

ability to establish social contacts if instead of using them as we do so often as volunteers they made it possible for them to a large extent i think the inaugural to have indeed a second career where somebody is once put it perhaps their most valuable function would be to hold somebody else's hand nobody in the hospital and nowadays who who lives for the function of heart in your hand and us is much too busy for that when they do that and if so should and it becomes a job in its own right and not just the volunteer activity were they just a lot of work and that could be tried such is that that is having two or three older people hold down one job that used to have three older people working together to do what our son needed service i think we in the county evidently on the universe to level established a

kind of pattern that perhaps other areas could follow in that we have the faculty members still from mime than good he teaches daily seventy years old and he can still be active in the community we've heard them here at university texas built almost ninety out now we have some other professional groups i think if you're a supreme court justice it is can go for as long as you want to if your legislative you can go as long as you want to have big issue in the ministry the same goes so some of the sort of at the top of a professional forum at some of those professions have long accepted and even fought for and the defendant all kinds of attacks from the younger people together to get a lot more easily and at the moment i know as we run all that also has its problems it's not always desirable to do it this way and how you're better on eliminating those who really shouldn't teacher anymore or shown to be sitting in the justices

chair or being legislate cause as opposed to volz was still or just ignored and doing it and perhaps even better than many of the younger people because they have the experience that's the tough thing and it's much easier to just set artificially in the mall a mandatory retirement date wherever you fix it you can't go to someone and say let's let's put it up to sixty seven or sixty nine that one really eliminate all the problems we're talking about here yeah am i mentioned earlier also those of another gritty nine the professionals tend to stay on plants and seventy seventy five also very poor and tend to have to work an hour to survive and so in all of material martin and working as long as they can do it to the cinema the cutting your yard it seventy eight in our water or chopping wood or whatever but the puerto rican or the older or have a history of having to continue to

work with ages them are primarily year middle income type snowman fracturing pipes and water or do you really find it that a forced retirement age in or out of that through it with nothing though you see today everyone is involved in it even though not at the present because it's an age cages up with all of us and now the quality of life for older americans our panelists today have included bird smith executive associate the whole foundation for mental health at the university of texas at austin and all four of ageing in america guy shuttlesworth associate professor in the university's graduate school of social work and juergen schupp professor in the lyndon b johnson school of public affairs at ut austin this is rex we're for the next two hundred years nice

there's a continuing series of weekly conversation the next interview and is treated by communications are all at the university of texas at austin this is the longhorn revealed that no