May 2012 - Parks & Recreation - 42

BY M AU R E E N HA N N A N

A Generation
Explodes Assumptions
About Aging
" Yo! I'm not old! "

This is how Susan Hoskins, director of the Princeton
(New Jersey) Senior Resources Center, summarizes her
take on how the Baby Boomer generation is changing
perceptions of aging. The prevailing attitude, she continues, goes something like this: " I've done a lot of the things
I really wanted to do [rather than wait for retirement]-
and I don't have much money saved up for my retirement
anyway. So, I'm just going to keep on working. "
While Hoskins is quick to point out that profi ling an entire generation of people is problematic, the question she
is is trying to answer is a critical one for communities. After all, every eight seconds, one of the nation's 77 million
Baby Boomers-those born between the years of 1946
and 1964-turns 60. And by 2030, people 65 and older
will comprise 20 to 25 percent of the U.S. population.
As with every other chapter of life the post-World-WarII cohort has entered, their age-defying maturity challenges stereotypes and blurs boundaries. Leaders across
the fields of social services, recreation, and public health
have long recognized that the Boomers will transform
how our society thinks about aging, retirement, health
and fitness, lifelong learning, and volunteerism. Yet no
one knows the exact ways in which they will ultimately
do that.
Parks and recreation agencies-as well as nonprofits
serving older adults-are responding to the demands of
this demographic by building (or adapting) lifestyle-enhancing facilities, designing holistic programming, and
promoting dynamic forms of community engagement.
Regardless of whether the big drawing card in a community is a café-like social center or citywide teaching
and learning opportunities, the characteristics of the new

senior center are being defined by a set of hard-to-ignore
demographic themes. (Among them, by the way, is an
aversion to terms such as senior center.) Listed below are
five of those themes-derived from statistics published
by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP)
and numerous research organizations-that should resonate with park and recreation professionals.

retiring later-and with financial
worries
The numbers bear out Susan Hoskins's observations.
Only 11 percent of Boomers are planning to stop working entirely once they reach 62. With older adults working
until later in life, localities can expect a change in the way
residents engage in programs targeted to the 55-and-older age group. Hoskins and many of her peers around the
country say their centers must extend their hours and offer assistance with career shifts, expanded skill sets, and
professional " reinvention. "
As for fi nances, fewer than half of participants in a 2011
Wells Fargo/Gallup Investor Retirement Optimism Index survey said they were confident about their ability to achieve a comfortable retirement. And with good
reason: One-quarter of Boomers have no savings or investments at all, and only 9 percent meet the defi nition of
" affluence, " having pre-tax working incomes of $150,000
or more.

space-loving, single-and still
supporting kids
Don't expect to fi nd this rising older generation clustered
together in adult community condos. Only 6 percent of
Boomers plan to be living in a smaller residence five

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May 2012 - Parks & Recreation

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