Hello, I'm Nancy Morrow Howell. And I'm on the faculty at the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Wash U, and I direct the University Center for Aging. Today I'd like to throw out an issue that regards population aging. Lower birth rates and increasing life expectancy are dramatically changing the populations age distribution. With a larger proportion of people over the age of 60 than under the age of 15. These top heavy societies present challenges to families, communities, and nations as a whole. For the first time in human history, in the most developed parts of the world, people can expect to live into their eighth decade of life. Yet social organizations, policies, programs, practices were developed, at least in the US, when human lives were half as long. Our social institutions are not changing fast enough in the face of this demographic revolution. And all there's, though there's many areas we could talk about today, transportation, housing, health and long-term care policy, I'd like to focus on employment, on working, and on retiring. Because employment and retirement practices are out of date in the face of this new longevity. Repu-, retirement patterns have been changing. In the U.S., after several decades of a drop in retirement age, that reverse, that trend is reversing and we are working longer. Americans need to work longer and they want to work longer to eng-, to remain meaningfully engaged. And although I cite US trends, societies around the world are challenged to reinvent work and retirement in the face of increasing longevity. So here is my question for you. How can we transform work to facilitate longer working lives? This requires a transformation of employment institutions and we must also change attitudes and discriminatory practices towards older workers. These changes will not only ensure the well being of older adults and their families, they will ensure the solvency of public income support programs. So remember, current polices like Social Security, certain laws like the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and certain programs like Senior Serve America have shaped current practices. But these policies, programs, and practices must evolve and new ones instituted to determine our work lives as we live into the eighth and ninth decade. So think about our places of work. How can employers support longer working lives? That is, how can work organizations offer more flexible work arrangements to accommodate working longer? How can age-diverse workplaces be promoted? How can employers support transitions from work to retirement? Currently, not many employers in the US are offering much supportive programming. A new study just showed that only one in ten employers offer some sort of phased retirement. Also, think about individual workers. How might career trajectories change in the face of longer working lives. How might we change our educational and training systems? So that older workers can maintain and improve skills. So that people can come in and out of educational programs. So that we have the human capital we need for our working lives of perhaps 50 years. Two things to keep in mind that are crosscutting concerns. First of all, what about people who can't work as long? Those who have limiting health conditions, or work in very physically demanding jobs. What protections do we need to ensure, for tho-, so that we can ensure that these folks are protected. Secondly, everybody needs to work, young and old alike. And there are issues of labor supply and demand into the future that must be considered. How can intergenerational bonds be strengthened, and not strained, as we transform the employment sector, in the face of changing demographics. These transformations are possible. I think we can accomplish them in the next decade. I look forward to your good thinking and ideas on this important topic. Thank you.
