A new report from the Pew Research Center looks at the phenomenon of older workers choosing to stay on the job in some detail and makes clear that many are continuing to work for reasons other than financial. If this results in more senior leaders staying on the job than previously expected, how does the macro-succession dynamic play out?A new report from the Pew Research Center looks at the phenomenon of older workers... more
More Americans over age 50 are smoking marijuana than ever before. Are my parents among them?
At the time, Mom's question caught me by surprise: "Have you ever tried marijuana?" she asked, sloshing her coffee around in a mug as we stood together in the kitchen. My mind went blank. Could this be the fabled "drug talk" that parents are supposed to give to their teenage children? If so, why was I getting it at 30?
It turned out my mother was less interested in my drug use than her own. When I told her I'd smoked pot in college, and a bunch of times since, she took the news in stride. The thing was, she and my father were hoping to score some weed. Did I know anybody?
A little context: My parents paid for my college education. They put me up for a semester of graduate school. They sat through three school plays and one flute recital; they came to my art opening; they bought me a skateboard. But given the chance to pay them back—in part, at least—for so many years of support and encouragement, I failed to deliver so much as a dime bag.
"You didn't say no," my mother recalled the other day, "but you didn't say yes. It was clear that you were very hesitant about this." After a moment, she added: "You didn't give off positive vibrations."
OK, so I never hooked up my parents. But in the weeks and months that followed, I discovered that many of my contemporaries—people in their late 20s or early 30s—had experienced something similar. Soon I'd heard dozens of stories about retired moms and pops returning to the marijuana habits of their youth. There were solicitations made over family dinners, intergenerational drug deals worked out over holiday weekends—the anecdotes were easy enough to find. Would I come across any data to support this trend?
In fact, a statistical trace of what I've taken to calling the "puff daddy" movement emerged a few years ago, when researchers at the National Institutes of Health compared national drug surveys conducted over two-year periods beginning in 1991 and 2001. Their analysis, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that the percentage of people who say they smoked marijuana in the past year had remained fairly stable over the 10-year stretch. (That is to say, it ended where it started.) But they found a very different pattern among those between the ages of 45 and 64: As my parents' generation matured, the number of smokers in that group had nearly tripled.
The baby boomer drug uptick turns up again in the recent data. According to the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, almost 6 percent of all adults between the ages of 50 and 59 reported smoking marijuana in the past year. That's up from about 3 percent five years earlier. Meanwhile, the number of recent users over the age of 50 has climbed to 2.65 million people nationwide (and we can assume the real prevalence is somewhat higher, since these figures are based on self-reported drug use). Here's something to think about: There are about as many boomers using cannabis today as there are high-school students doing the same.
Still, it's not easy to get an accurate picture of who these puffing oldsters are and how their drug habits have evolved over the last few decades. (It's also not clear to what extent the legalization of medical marijuana has been a factor.) In August, researchers at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration published a detailed look (PDF) at patterns of drug use among the boomers. Most appear to have used marijuana continually throughout their lives, but a sizable portion were classified as "resumers"—those who recently emerged from a long hiatus in smoking dope. Sure enough, almost all the puff daddies and pot mommas I've encountered fall into this latter category: After years of abstinence, they've just recently started to rifle through junk drawers for vintage roach clips and rolling papers.
Barbara, a 61-yearold mother of two from Belmont, Mass>>>More Americans over age 50 are smoking marijuana than ever before. Are my parents... more
WASHINGTON - Baby boomers, now well into middle age, are still turning on to illegal drugs, doubling the rates of illicit drug use for the older generation, according to U.S. government statistics released on Wednesday.
The rates of people aged 50 to 59 who admit to using illicit drugs in the past year nearly doubled from 5.1 percent in 2002 to 9.4 percent in 2007 while rates among all other age groups are the same or decreasing, the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported.
"These findings show that many in the Woodstock generation continue to use illicit drugs as they age," SAMHSA Acting Administrator Eric Broderick said in a statement.
This continued use poses medical risks to these individuals and is likely to put further strains on the nation's health care system — highlighting the value of preventing drug use from ever starting."
Baby boomers are the post World War II generation born between 1946 and 1964.
The data used in the study came from various surveys including 16,656 men and women participating in the 2002 through 2007 National Surveys on Drug Use and Health.WASHINGTON - Baby boomers, now well into middle age, are still turning on to illegal... more
Forty years after Woodstock, some baby boomers haven't let go of one part of the 1960s: getting high on illicit drugs.Forty years after Woodstock, some baby boomers haven't let go of one part of the... more
In the fifth lecture in Evan Korth's NYU Computers and Society course featured author, thinker and professor Douglas Rushkoff. His topic:"Open Source Democracy."
In this hour long lecture, he talks about the history of the Corporation, it's tie to centralized monetary policy, and traces it back to it's origins in the Renaissance, and follows it through each step on the way to the current financial meltdown on Wall Street today.In the fifth lecture in Evan Korth's NYU Computers and Society course featured author,... more
Over half the work force will hit retirement age in the decade. Businesses aren't doing nearly enough to prepare.Over half the work force will hit retirement age in the decade. Businesses aren't... more
According to a national survey by Leger Marketing released today, more than three quarters (77 per cent) of Boomers say they actively read the nutrition facts panel today as compared to five years ago. When asked to choose what nutrition information is most important to them, Boomers mention fat most often (66 per cent) followed by sodium (54 per cent), calories (47 per cent) and cholesterol (32 per cent)...According to a national survey by Leger Marketing released today, more than three... more
What kind of lessons can we learn here? During the Bush era, when abstinence education received increased funding, reports of teen pregnancy and STDs "rose sharply," according to a new report from the CDC. Birth rates had been in decline since 1991, but that trend has reversed in more than half the states since 2005, according to the Guardian. The report also finds that syphilis has increased by 50 percent among adolescent girls and that gonorrhea and AIDS among teens are on the rise as well. Abstinence education advocates say the problem is not the failure of their curriculum, but that they need more money to promote their "no sex before marriage" message.What kind of lessons can we learn here? During the Bush era, when abstinence education... more
BreakRoomLive w/ Maron & Seder is LIVE weekdays, 3-4pm from Air America's Break Room.
BRL will be back live on Monday. However, enjoy ALL NEW material today, centering on Sam's interview with author and social commentator Fran Lebowitz.
Catch comedy sketches, interviews, political & cultural discussions, & interact with hosts & guests live: 3pm, M-F @ BreakRoomLive.com!
BreakRoomLive w/ Marc Maron & Sam Seder is a production of http://airamerica.comhttp://breakroomlive.com
BreakRoomLive w/ Maron & Seder is LIVE weekdays, 3-4pm... more
For the past several years, I've been harboring a fantasy, a last political crusade for the baby-boom generation. We, who started on the path of righteousness, marching for civil rights and against the war in Vietnam, need to find an appropriately high-minded approach to life's exit ramp. In this case, I mean the high-minded part literally. And so, a deal: give us drugs, after a certain age — say, 80 — all drugs, any drugs we want. In return, we will give you our driver's licenses. (I mean, can you imagine how terrifying a nation of decrepit, solipsistic 90-year-old boomers behind the wheel would be?) We'll let you proceed with your lives — much of which will be spent paying for our retirement, in any case — without having to hear us complain about our every ache and reflux.For the past several years, I've been harboring a fantasy, a last political crusade... more
Facebook (and other social networks) has been skewing older for a while, but the trend has been "massive" in the past six months, according to InsideFacebook.com. In the past two months alone the number of new members over 35 has doubled. Marketers take note: the median age is now over 25, and the largest single group 35 to 44.
Women over 55 remain the fastest growing group, and growth among the teen and college-age set has been relatively paltry. In absolute numbers there are now even slightly more members between the ages of 45 and 65 than there are 13-to 17-year-olds.Facebook (and other social networks) has been skewing older for a while, but the trend... more
Rates of anal, vulval, and vaginal cancers rose for those born in the decades after World War II. Changes in sexual habits during the sixties may be to blame, a King's College London said.Rates of anal, vulval, and vaginal cancers rose for those born in the decades after... more
It has been observed that the up-and-coming generation of young people are more socially conscious than their spoiled Baby Boomer parents and their SUV-driving, yuppified older siblings.
This new generation is keyed into world affairs and world suffering and is doing something about it. They march against the War in Darfur; they do fund drives for AIDS Orphans; and they largely vote for candidates who pledge to recruit the government (i.e. the taxpayer) to solve these problems.It has been observed that the up-and-coming generation of young people are more... more
Baby boomers are no longer the inferior demographic when it comes to using modern technology and the Web, studies reveal.Baby boomers are no longer the inferior demographic when it comes to using modern... more
Robert J. Samuelson talks about how our future depends on the expenses of tomorrow:
You face a heavily mortgaged future. You'll pay Social Security and Medicare for aging baby boomers. The needed federal tax increase might total 50 percent over the next 25 years. Pension and health costs for state and local workers have doubtlessly been underestimated. There's the expense of decaying infrastructure -- roads, bridges, water pipes. All this will squeeze other crucial government services: education, defense, police.
What should you -- the young -- do? First, get angry -- at the media and think tanks for discussing this problem in misleading euphemisms (for instance, the problem is not an "entitlements crisis"; it's excessive benefits for the old); at the candidates for exploiting your innocence; and at yourself for your gullibility.
Next, start picketing AARP. It's the citadel of seniors' political power and the country's most powerful "special interest." It wields a virtual veto over roughly two-fifths of the federal budget. Your activist groups ought to be there every day with placards reading "Give Us Generational Justice" or "Get Off Our Backs." Ask direct questions of federal candidates about what benefits they'd cut, which they'd keep and why.
You need to appeal to the shame and guilt of older Americans by reminding them that their present self-absorption is not a victimless exercise. Only if older Americans act on their rhetorical pledges of worrying about their children will the political climate change. If you -- the young -- don't stand up for yourselves, believe me, your elders and your politicians won't. Robert J. Samuelson talks about how our future depends on the expenses of tomorrow:... more
The commune of the 1960s may be making an unwanted comeback thanks to the bursting of the housing bubble, says California investment expert and author Thomas C. Scott. In a possible sign of things to come, Scott says he's noticed that a growing number of people facing foreclosure or bankruptcy are doubling up in the middle-class version of crash pads. And he expects the trend to grow as more and more baby boomers face under-funded retirements.
Scott, CEO of Scott Wealth Management and author of the forthcoming "Fasten Your Financial Seatbelt," says that at the epicenter of the housing collapse, Orange County, "I'm hearing a pattern of stories about people caught short with maxed-out mortgages, big houses that won't sell, and eroding incomes who are throwing in the towel and sharing homes with others."
In one case, Scott says a family moved in with friends so they could rent out their own home in an effort to save it. "A retired neighbor of mine recently took in her son, daughter-in-law, and grandkids because they couldn't afford their own home anymore."
Scott says this may prove to be a major demographic shift as baby boomers swell the retirement rolls.
"Baby boomers as a group have failed to adequately save for retirement. Although every study suggests people expect to work past age 65, they won't be earning what they did during their peak years. Millions will reach retirement age with Social Security, Medicare, and whatever work they can get."
Boomers are getting squeezed from both ends, he says. "They loaded up on mortgage debt during the good times, and calculated their retirement assets based on inflated home prices. Now all that paper wealth is gone, they're stuck with white elephants, and the end of their peak earning years is in sight."
Scott says the housing bust could be lengthy, and painful. "The collapse of the 1980s took seven years to work itself out. In the next seven years, some 30 million boomers will reach retirement, many unprepared." The commune of the 1960s may be making an unwanted comeback thanks to the bursting of... more
Baby Boomers are blooming across lifestages: On the younger side, they're in the throes of kids, education costs, careers and commuting. At the other end, they're empty-nesting, grandparenting and reinventing retirement. They scrimp and splurge to share the good life with loved ones, from kids to pets to aging parents with indulgences ranging from food and travel, fitness and hobbies, to tech toys and a well-feathered nest .With life expectancy growing, Boomers' focus is on health and hipness quotients to fight aging and keep them in the game. Come to Yourlifeafter50.com for the information, suggestions and support you’ll need to make this the best time of your life.Baby Boomers are blooming across lifestages: On the younger side, they're in the... more
Baby boomers, generation Xers, and now the Millennials. Just what does our future generations have in store for us? In our rapidly changing world how is our culture evolving?
This video explores our young and the ideals brought into the workplace. Watch as the baby boomers freak out at the new view brought to work ...
Baby boomers, generation Xers, and now the Millennials. Just what does our future... more
This Emory prof makes an academic study of hating on people under 30. Are we really the Dumbest Generation?This Emory prof makes an academic study of hating on people under 30. Are we really... more
Despite the current woes in the US housing market, there are still thriving sectors that are showing positive strong growth for the future.
In this piece, we take a glimpse at the inside of the US apartment industry. We examine the evolving culture of an industry that is at the threshold of a new digital and generational revolution
The Multifamily housing or apartment industry is big business, valued at over 2 trillion dollars and employing approximately 700,000 people nation wide, including but not limited to; property managers, maintenance, cleaning and leasing professionals.
The Apartment Association of Metro Denver (AAMD) annual trade show is one example of what is taking place around the country in the apartment industry today.
Industry leaders come together to educate, collaborate and plan the path of tomorrow. Thousands of attendees and hundreds of suppliers meet 1 day a year to highlight the latest and greatest trends in the apartment industry.
What we found especially interesting is the increased focus on the approximately 76 million "Eco Boomers" or "Generation Yer's" now entering a new phase of their lives by exercising their independence in living on their own. With numbers eclipsing their parent's generation, the "Baby Boomers", the industry is eager to provide and adapt to their new clientèle's wants and needs.
Due to their enormous group size and seamless integration of digital media usage, the industry is not only looking to this new generation as customers but also, as employees and future leaders. Strategic partnerships with Colleges and Universities are being sought to help establish the apartment industry as a viable and rewarding career path of tomorrow.
This new generation has grown up in a digital world and will increasingly expect to have the convenience, speed and accessibility of that in which they have grown accustom. The apartment industry as a whole is starting to recognize that to attract and maintain relationships with this generation; the use of digital social media is an absolute necessity to prosper in the 21st century.
This tech savvy group of Gen Yer's is not knocking on the front door, but rather, they are kicking it down 76 million strong and the US apartment industry is taking notice. Despite the current woes in the US housing market, there are still thriving sectors... more
