On January 1, 2011, when the first Boomer turned sixty-five, nearly one-seventh of the American population was over sixty-five, the customary retirement age. Demographic projections indicated that by the time the Millennials reached sixty-five, one-fifth of the population would be over sixty-five.
The aging of the nation’s population had serious economic implications. A substantial proportion of the nation’s wealth was shifting from economically productive purposes (educating the young, building and maintaining infrastructure, and creating new businesses and technology) to the less productive task of providing health care and pensions for the elderly.
Of particular concern was the viability of Social Security, the New Deal program that provided pensions for the elderly. In theory, workers and employers paid into the Social Security Trust Fund; when workers retired, they would draw their “savings” from the Trust Fund. But under pressure from seniors—the highest-voting proportion of the population—Congress increased old-age benefits. As of 2010, the Social Security Trust Fund had $2 trillion in assets, but the projected cost of Social Security by 2050 exceeded $7 trillion. The difference would have to be covered by the contributions made by working Millennials, many of whom worried that the fund would be gone by the time they retired. A 2009 poll by the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) found that only 31 percent of Americans between the ages of eighteen and thirty-nine believe that Social Security will be available to them on retirement.
In 1980, sixty-year-old John A. Garraty, co-author of this book, completed his first twenty-four-mile marathon in New York City. He completed his last marathon when he was seventy-two.
Medical advances during the late twentieth century led to an increase in the life span: An American born in 1900 could expect to live to be fifty, while one born in 2000 was projected to live to seventy-seven. But this good news further complicated the transition from Boomers to Millennials.
Compounding the difficulty were attitudinal differences between the generations, such as those cited elsewhere in this chapter. The 2008 Pew poll also found that 75 percent of Millennials had profiles on a social networking site, compared to 30 percent of Boomers; that 38 percent of Millennials had a tattoo, compared to 15 percent of Boomers; and that 23 percent of Millennials had body piercings other than an ear lobe, compared to fewer than 1 percent of Boomers. How Millennials will treat aging Boomers is anyone’s guess.
Stonewall riots mark public assertion of rights of homosexuals
Supreme Court legalizes abortion in Roe v. Wade Jerry Falwell founds the Moral Majority Center for Disease Control identifies new disease, AIDS
Supreme Court limits abortion rights in Webster v.
Reproductive Health Services Vermont recognies same-sex unions Michelle Obama introduces anti-obesity campaign
World History
