Longevity and the Older American Workforce

Longevity and the Older American Workforce

On November 5, 2011, The Washington Post chronicled the 92nd, 96th and 99th birthdays of three sisters, Inez Dade, Margaret Harris and Vanilla Beane. The story discussed how each sister still worked, owned their own businesses, and did not know the meaning of the word “tired.” A few months prior to that story, in March 2011, the results of an eight-decade study revealed the secrets to a longer, healthier life. Called The Longevity Project: Surprising Discoveries for Health and Long Life from the Landmark Eight-Decade Study (Hudson Street Press, 2011), the study followed 1,500 children and tracked them throughout their lives. The study essentially read the book of life for over a thousand people, opening up before us in a sequence of chapters. The study was interesting not just for what it said about the chosen 1,500, but for all of us when it comes to the topic of longevity. And what did the study indicate? Hard work and passion, regardless of how stressful, actually contribute to a longer, healthier life. But remaining active was important. Like the Washington sisters, Americans who lived the longest lives also worked the longest.

Modern gerontology is not just a sociological focus to study the various aspects of growing old, but also increasingly encompasses social stratification by developing a separate class for older people who are finding it more difficult today to find work. For Americans in 2011, with the oldest of the Baby Boomer generation reaching retirement age in the midst of the country’s financial crisis, it is a particularly challenging time for Boomers to develop new ways to age productively. How will older Americans contribute to society, in an ever-challenging economic environment? By employing positivist sociology, we can delve deeper into why older Americans are at a crisis point, explore where we are and how we got here, and develop answers on how to move forward.

There are serious...