Graying America and the Job Market

During my years as school counselor at Lutheran High School of Dallas I annually taught a class called Careers.  It was a required course for all students during the first semester of their junior year.  Part of the curriculum involved a survey of careers.  We looked at the future job market, helping the student understand where the best employment possibilities were going to be.  One things the students discovered was that the greatest growth in jobs was in the area of geriatric services. Health care, leisure services and financial planning are all areas of potential growth.  The reason: we are a graying country.

I was born in 1946, making me one of the first Baby Boomers.  Baby Boomers are the generation born after World War II, roughly 1946-1960.  Over the last couple of years the first of my generation are retiring.  The number is only going to grow, and we are all expected to live longer.  We are going to need people to take care of us as we age.  There is an added benefit. As people retire, jobs are going to open up in all areas of the workforce, but employment opportunities are going to be especially abundant in the area of  geriatric services.

I thought of this again on Wednesday as I read an article in USA Today.  The article spoke of how the nation is aging, but it also warned of a red flag: the birth rate is declining.  There is a growing imbalance in the number of senior citizen, compared to the total workforce (those ages 25-64).  In 2010 there were 24.6 senior for every 100 working-age adults, but that number is projected to grow to over 40 seniors per 100 working-age adults by 2030.  One result is that the economic burden on children born today is increasing.  Economist project that for children born in 2015 the burden will double that of a child born in 1985.  The bottom line is the lifestyles today's generation and future children could be vastly different than it is today.

It's up to today's adults to make sure our children and grandchildren are prepared for the potential change.  As with other issues, we need to reassure them that we are still people of hope.  Our God never changes and he will equip us for whatever lies ahead.  That does not change our need to be prepared.