Ageing boomers: America’s looming crisis

By 2034, the US will, for the first time in its history, have more residents over 65 than under 18, said Anna North on Vox. 

Members of the vast baby boomer generation are entering a stage where they are liable to need assistance – and younger generations are not prepared for the consequences of this shift. 

A lucky few older Americans will live independently until the end. But a person turning 65 today has an almost 70% chance of needing "long-term care".Who will provide it? Millennials are unlikely to have the job flexibility to become carers for their parents, especially if they have kids of their own. Paying for care is "ruinously expensive", and seniors only become eligible through Medicaid when they have "almost no assets left".

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'Inter-generational fairness'

Many boomers needn't worry unduly, said Hillary Hoffower and Chloe Berger in Fortune. Relative to younger generations, they're very prosperous, thanks to government policies that have led to low interest rates (enabling them to lock into cheap mortgages) and boosted the value of real estate, among other assets. According to new figures, "US household net worth has skyrocketed from $17trn to $150trn" since the 1980s, and the older generations hold two-thirds of that pot.

Cries of inter-generational unfairness have been tempered by the idea that much of the $96trn held by the boomers will "trickle down" to younger generations via inheritance, giving "cash-strapped" millennials, Generation X-ers and Generation Z-ers a chance to catch up financially, said Ann C. Logue in Business Insider. But the Great Boomer Wealth Transfer may not come to pass. For one thing, that money is not spread equally: a lot of it is in the hands of very few families. Moreover, many boomers, having worked hard for years, are spending their cash on themselves, with only half an eye on providing for their kids. Since 1982, older households' consumer spending is up 34.5%, whereas it's up only 16.5% in younger generations. That may leave their children having to decide whether to care for their ageing parents themselves – or wait to see what is left of their potential inheritance once it's crushed by care costs.

'Rising numbers of sandwich generation'

The elder-care crisis is already troubling corporate America, said Matthew Boyle on Bloomberg. Some 37 million people are spending around four hours a day looking after older relatives; many are members of a "sandwich" generation, with children to look after too. This strain leads to lost working hours – and is a leading driver of employee turnover.

That is why some firms are now offering elder-care benefits through firms such as Wellthy. These aim to lift some of the burden of elder care by guiding people through tasks such as applying for state benefits, liaising with insurance companies, and negotiating with private care providers. Such benefits don't come cheap, but as the elder-care crisis intensifies, more and more CEOs may find they have to provide them if they want to retain their employees.