There was a colossal increase in the birth rate after the Second World War. These babies were dubbed the Baby Boomers and they are the babies born between around 1946 and 1960. This means that the first Baby Boomers became pensioners in 2011 at the age of 65.
It should be noticed that when the first Baby Boomers came of age, they produced the changes in civil and human rights and discrimination associated with 1968. They also fashioned the Hippy Movement, Flower Power and the Sexual Revolution. So what will ensue when they become pensioners?
The Baby Boomer generation is the richest generation ever, but they have never felt the drop in income, status, health and mobility associated with older age, so it is likely that there will be some sort of pensioners’ pressure group.
About 22% of the American population are Boomers, which means that there will be tens of millions of people retiring over the next ten years. This has several important consequences. The first one is for health care; the mass retirement could or almost certainly will put the health care system under massive pressure.
The second one is employment. Because the Boomers’ generation is the largest section of society, when they retire, there will be a shortage of labour. After all, if the Boomer generation is the biggest section of society, then by definition the following generation has to be smaller.
These statistics are approximately the same for all Western countries and it almost certainly accounts for why there is a rush in Western countries to allow immigration. Firstly, immigrants will take up the slack in the workplace and second, their taxes will help pay for all the old Boomers.
So, with any luck, neither the state finances nor the Boomers’ health will suffer, but what other effects might this mass retirement have? Well, there could well be a colossal rise in demand for retirement homes both in one’s home country and abroad. Baby boomers are prolific travellers and lots of them may like to retire to warmer countries or warmer parts of their country.
The southern states, provinces or counties of Western countries in the northern hemisphere and warmer countries in general, like Thailand, Spain and Italy could see a growth in retirement housing. The construction industry might get a much needed shot in the arm.
Most Western governments and many private construction companies already have plans and even dynamic projects to fulfill this requirement for retirement housing when it begins to kick in. If the Boomers make a mass migration out of the cities into the countryside or to the seaside, it could free up millions of inner city dwellings and at the same time create plenty of construction work outside the cities. But not only that, millions of additional jobs will be created in support and service staff positions.
The aging of the Baby boomers could be just the kick start that most deteriorating Western economies need to get back on their feet after the banking crisis of 2008-2010. Let’s hope so.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on many subjects but is now concerned with Baby Boomer Retirement. If you want to read more, please go over to our website entitled Retirement.