FEARS OF ARBITRARY RETIREMENT AND UNEMPLOYMENT The next problem area I would like to present for your consideration is the effect of arbitrary retirement and unemployment upon the individual. Those of us working with older persons have begun to realize that it's the younger person who talks most eagerly about retirement. But for most individuals the closer retirement comes the greater their feelings of apprehension and the greater is their reluctance to retire unless they are in poor health. One of their basic fears is the sharp decrease in income, Equally feared is the uselessness which is forced upon people by arbitrary retirement because the individual has not been encouraged or assisted in planning for some type of meaningful and useful activity which could replace the job. The University of Chicago's Committee for the Study of Later Maturity has corroborated the theory that "work has more than financial meaning for the members of occupations which are as widely different from one another as steelworkers, coal miners, skilled craftsmen, sales people, and physicians. Among these other meanings were found to be the opportunity of association with persons of similar characteristics and interests, the feeling of selfrespect, the respect of others, an essential form of spending one's waking hours; and for physicians, the idea of service to mankind ** the literature stresses the need of retired persons for some sort of occupation independent of monetary needs." (Otto Pollak: The Social Aspects of Retirement. The Wharton School of Finance and Commerce, 1956). We have also come to understand that in our society an individual's status comes from work and a paycheck. Since the beginning of the "original" Industrial Revolution we have had impressed upon the minds of all of us that man's primary function, other than that of raising a family, is to work; so much so that we have come to talk about the Protestant ethic of work. So strong has this influence been that a large number of older people equate not working with sinfulness. In the face of this belief, arbitrary retirement removes work from the lives of most people at a time when they are still physically and mentally alert without providing substitute status which will be socially acceptable. The effect upon the individual is quite traumatic. For as C. H. Patterson, associate professor of education at the University of Illinois, has so aptly put it: "*** the nonworking, nonproductive individual is not usually a full member of society. Lack of work, or inability to work, therefore, affects one's status in the eyes of others and of oneself. It is demoralizing, leading to a loss of self-respect or self-esteem, a frustrating of the desire for independence and self-sufficiency, the loss of a sense of usefulness, of confidence in oneself. The end result of this process may be the acceptance of a dependent role and a clinging to it for fear of losing what security one has since confidence is lacking in the ability to become independent. Once this state is reached, motivation may be lost, and we face one of the most difficult problems in social rehabilitation." NEEDS OF OLDER PEOPLE Equally traumatic is the persistence of the stereotype of aging which says categorically that all older people are senile, useless, unable to earn, querulous, garrulous, that their personalities change at 65, and so do their needs. None of these commonly accepted beliefs is based on fact. In the matter of needs we find that older people have the same basic needs which are common to all people regardless of age. If there is any difference it lies in an intensified desire to satisfy them because of the rapid passage of time. These common needs, which are indeed the very basis of life itself, are the need to be loved, to be wanted, to be active, to be useful, to be creative. Dr. Frank Fremont-Smith of the Josiah Macy, Jr., Foundation expressed these needs more elaborately and thoroughly when he wrote that the older person has: "1. The need for affection and an opportunity to express affection. "2. The need to be respected and to have self-respect. "3. The need to feel needed and actually to be useful. "4. The need to participate in group and community activities and to have, through such participation, a sense of belonging. "5. The need to accept and discharge responsibility. "6. The need to continue striving toward the fulfillment of the individual's highest potentialities. "7. The need to have creative experience. "8. The need to seek spiritual values." FORCED DEPENDENCY OF OLDSTERS Possibly one of our most grievous faults is the commonly accepted belief that older people need to be pampered. This I believe is due to a mistaken interpretation of the commandment: "Honor thy father and thy mother." To most people this means depriving all older people of responsibility for themselves and others. It means telling "Mom" and "Pop" to relax in the rocking chair and not worry about doing anything for themselves or for others. Because of this I am inclined to believe that, as far as adults are concerned, the rocking chair is one of man's worst inventions. For it is a symbol of what too many of us believe to be the proper regard for the elderly. As a society we tend to approve of the child who treats his parents in this manner and to consider as ungrateful and cruel that child who encourages his elderly parents to continue with their normal, daily routines. It is my contention that such interpretation of the fourth commandment in essence results in killing older people with kindness. Because with it we force economic, emotional, and spiritual dependence upon older people as well as economic and social dependence. I believe most sincerely that we would more properly observe the commandment if we permitted, and encouraged, our elderly people to retain their independence and thereby their self-respect, as long as possible. While time for contemplation is a necessity for all of us, we would be far better off if we removed the rocking chair as a symbol of life in retirement. WAYS OF TACKLING THE PROBLEM Because of the time element I have presented to you in capsule form the basic problems faced by our senior citizens. The question now is: Can we do anything about them? I believe that if we apply our much vaunted ingenuity and some imagination we can retain the older person as a useful member of society. Obviously, the first step must be to eliminate chronological age as the sole basis for arbitrary retirement. Even better would be the complete elimination of arbitrary retirement. But there is good reason to believe that such steps are quite unlikely to be taken. Nevertheless we should keep before us the desirability of a flexible retirement policy. A second consideration may be a share the work plan under which each person's workday and workweek will be reduced in order to open job opportunities for all who desire them. But here too we may be going against the stream. The trend appears to be toward a shorter workweek because of the impact of automation rather than because of an acceptance of the need to share job opportunities. Yet it may be possible to share even the reduced workweek for social reasons. As I present these suggestions I cannot help but think of recent events in the steel industry where young workers have picketed their older colleagues in an effort to encourage them to accept their retirement benefits and thus create more jobs for the younger men who still have the responsibility for raising and supporting their families. In the area of developing job opportunities more attention needs to be focused upon the effectiveness of sheltered workshops and more widespread use of parttime and seasonal jobs for older workers. Certainly more must be done to insure retraining opportunities for workers over 40 years of age who have been, and are being, displaced by technological developments. As doubtful as I am about the effectiveness of the preceding suggestions, I do believe that there is one possibility which has not been given enough attention. This would be a stronger drive to increase production in order to raise our standard of living so that it encompasses every person in the United States. There is still more poverty in this country than we should tolerate. There are still too many people who cannot satisfy their basic needs let alone their desires for consumer goods. This is also true of a large part of the world in which a majority of people have never had a full stomach or decent clothes or housing. Producing goods to meet these needs will provide more jobs than could be filled under a policy of arbitrary retirement. There is one danger we face if we continue to retire older workers to inadequate incomes. An ever-increasing number of people will be taken out of the consumers market. It could result in severe economic dislocation. This is being recognized in management and labor circles. The most recent manifestation of this thinking is an article in the June 15, 1959, number of Life. It quotes economist Arno H. Johnson, the vice president of a large advertising company as saying: "It is our patriotic duty to increase our standard of living as much in the next 10 years as the standard of living in this Nation rose (50 percent) be tween colonial days and 1949." SOCIAL COSTS OF EXPANSION OF RETIRED POPULATION In view of what we know today about the effects of arbitrary retirement on the individual this committee could very profitably extend the scope of its studies to include consideration of alternatives to paid jobs. For if we persist in an economy which adheres to a policy of arbitrary retirement at 65, 60, 55, or at any fixed age-and I personally see no prospect for a change in attitude or policy— then our society must be prepared not only to help the individual find a satisfactory substitute for work, but also to provide him with: 1. A basic income through old age and survivors' insurance benefits which will permit him to live in a dignified, safe, and healthy manner with reasonable security. Somehow there has developed in our society a belief that retired people do not need as much money as they did when they were still in the labor market. This inane, harmful concept should be examined critically by the members of this committee. In connection with this point, I submit for your consideration a statement made by Harvard economist John K. Galbraith in his book "The Affluent Society." He said: "We are able to dispense with the labor of those who have reached retiring age because the goods they add are a low order of urgency. *** But we have ordinarily subjected those who retire to a drastic reduction in income and living standards. Obviously, if the retirement can be afforded because the product is no longer urgent, a satisfactory-meaning for most purposes the customary-living standard can be accorded to the retired employee for the same reason." 2. The passage of the years brings with it increased concern about health and medical care. The retired person needs to be assured of adequate medical care when he is in need of it. The fact that retirement income is so limited makes it virtually impossible to obtain the needed medical care through normal channels and increases the older person's worries and fears. I have heard it stated by leading physicians, insurance executives, and other knowledgeable persons, that the only solution is a compulsory, broad base, prepaid health care plan set up on a contributory basis during the working life span of the individual. This committee can render a major service to all concerned if it would look into the development of a plan which would give the older person complete paid up health care at the time of retirement and one which would allay the fears of the medical profession that it would lose its professional identity under a Government-administered program. There must be a compromise possible. But no one seems to be interested in one. Perhaps this committee can point the way to an effective one. 3. Decent, sanitary, safe housing for older people is a major need, especially in view of their low economic status. Smaller and poorer nations are doing better in providing housing for retired persons than is this country. This is especially true of the Scandinavian countries and Great Britain. Poor housing is not conducive to good physical and mental health. The retired American must be assured of good housing in his later years. Some of it can be built by private industry and some of it can only be provided by governmental action. But greater emphasis on this matter is needed. Here, too, this committee can lead the way to a sounder and more effective consideration of the matter of housing and how it can be provided. 4. And then there is a constellation of services which are needed to enable the older person to live independently as long as possible. Among them are housekeeping services, home medical care, visiting nurses, friendly visitors, and meals on wheels. Providing these services will still be less expensive for the taxpayer than our present tendency to rush the older person into a county general hospital, a State mental institution, or a nursing home. Many of these services can, and should be provided by the local community through various public and voluntary agencies. However, the Federal Government can do much to accelerate the development of these services. The first question which seems to come to the minds of most people when these needs are discussed is: "Can we afford to maintain retired people on a decent, realistic basis?" More and more, economists are beginning to believe that not only can we afford to do so, but that we must do so in order to keep our economy in a healthy condition. These experts base their beliefs on the fact that we shall have a gross national product of about $500 billion by the end of 1959 and one of about $750 billion by 1970. Thus the amount of money needed to retain the retired individual on a high enough standard of living-one which will protect him against malnutrition, ill health, unsafe housing and loss of dignity and self-respect-will be but a very small part of our national wealth. SOCIAL PROBLEM GREATER THAN ECONOMIC OR HEALTH PROBLEMS At this point I would like to bring to the attention of the committee an avenue of investigation which has not been given much serious thought despite its importance. It is my belief, and one which is held by many others working in the field of gerontology, that the social problems posed by an increasing number of older people in our population will be more difficult to solve than the economic problems or the health care problems. In the latter it is merely a matter of using our vast national wealth intelligently, and we have the knowledge to do $0. But changing the social and cultural patterns of a people is far more difficult for it means overcoming thinking patterns which have become ingrained over centuries of usage and acceptance. In effect we are faced with one of the major-if not the major-social problems of our times. A problem which, because of its complexities due to the fact that it involves every aspect of life, may be considered second in importance only to that of maintaining world peace. It is becoming more evident that we are in the throes of a series of major revolutions that are changing our ways of life dramatically and speedily. These are technological, scientific, and social revolutions. The technological revolution, which puts the industrial revolution to shame, is bringing us the knowledge of how to produce consumer goods with a minimum of physical labor. It brings with it the prospects of shorter work days and weeks, and yet promises a better standard of living for all of us. While this revolution has made great strides in increasing our productivity, its progress is relatively slow in view of the almost fantastically immense sources of power now becoming available to us. The scientific revolution is the one which is extending the life span and bringing us better health at the same time. Here too, the progress made to date is limited in view of what lies ahead. Today, no scientist knows what causes aging. Just the other day, a researcher stated that his findings led him to believe that the aging process was due to a chemical imbalance within the body. If this is proven to be a fact, then how long will it be before the nature of this imbalance is determined and ways and means of correcting it are developed? The social revolution has seen us change in the last 50 to 60 years from a rural society to an urban society. And in that process we have developed a two-generation family pattern which has almost entirely displaced the threegeneration family pattern which was dominant at the turn of the century. THE CHALLENGE OF A HEALTHY RETIRED POPULATION The elements of these revolutionary trends are involved in, and are constituent parts of, our movement from a work oriented society to a leisure oriented society. And in this lies the key to the future. It is here that I believe the most effective use of this committee's talents and opportunities can be made if it asks itself this question: "What do we do about the millions of people who are being retired from work at a time in their lives when they still retain considerable physical and mental vigor and who at 65 today have an average life expectancy of 14 years? And what about them if within the next few years the life-sciences can add 10 to 30 useful years to our lifespan, as some scientists believe can be done?" Where and how do we channel all this physical and mental energy constructively? For if not properly directed and planned for, this energy and unproductive leisure can lead to a number of undesirable things. It could bring us to a "bread and circuses" based society in which television replaces circuses. We could have a population mesmerized into political and social lethargy while the power seekers run things to suit themselves. A corollary to the foregoing is that a pleasure-oriented life, one deprived of stimulating and creative physical and mental activity, will lead to accelerated physical and mental deterioration in a tremendous number of people. The cost to the public for resultant hospitalization and custodial care would be staggering even though it would be Impossible to provide enough facilities for such care. Because human beings begin to fret at prolonged inactivity and uselessness the foregoing conditions may not develop to any large extent. However, if we persist in rejecting the elderly and ignoring their needs, we could face another unpleasant, and most likely a more dangerous, development. By not helping the older person lead a useful and satisfying life we shall make him receptive to the call of pension politics which can build a very effective political bloc of such unhappy and bitter individuals. Today older people are not homogeneous in their political thinking. But our unthinking, unwholesome attitudes can force them to get together for their own purposes. Thus we can pose another basic question: "Do we force retired people to become politically homogeneous and thus encourage them to transform this Nation into a gerontocracy?" This situation we face is a difficult and vexatious one. But it is not an inalterable one. Oversimplifying it, I would say that the solution to this complex of problems lies in preparing people for retirement and in providing the retired person with status and a sense of belonging which are not predicated upon a paid job-and in encouraging them in activities which are socially acceptable. This will call for a large-scale educational and reeducational program designed to change our attitudes about aging and retirement. This program will be for adults and for our youths in the secondary schools. It will need to emphasize the fact that maturity, which is a desirable quality, can only come as one ages, and that there are compensations in the later years for the physical vigor which is diminished with the passing of the years. Such an educational program will bring an understanding that a longer period in retirement is henceforth an accepted part of the life span. And that it can be enjoyed most highly only by preparing for it. This reeducation will help us change our firmly rooted belief, now rooted in religious ethics, that the paid job is the only socially acceptable form of activity and to understand that leisure is not inherently sinful or evil if it is used properly. It should also bring with it the acceptance of the fact that it is socially desirable for people to prepare themselves, beginning as early as possible, for retirement so that when it does come they can make a smooth transition from the job to the "second career" of their own choice. Preparation for retirement should encompass economic planning, an understanding of the physical changes which come with advancing years, a knowledge of good nutrition, an understanding of the emotional reactions to aging, relationship with family, friends, and the community, and help in making meaningful and satisfying use of leisure. EDUCATION FOR RETIREMENT To my way of thinking education is the keystone to the future, especially as it relates to the older individual. It can help him prepare for a period of retirement which will provide satisfaction and usefulness through: 1. Self-development through continuation and/or completion of formal education as well as learning new things, arts and crafts, new skills. More and more, retired people are returning to schools and universities and putting the lie to the commonly held, and harmful, belief that "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." They are proving that you can't teach an old dog new tricks if the old dog won't learn. Thus it becomes a matter of persuading older people that chronological age has very little effect upon the learning ability except to slow down the process where physical effort is primarily involved. In fact, we know today that older people can learn well and rapidly and that there is a positive correlation between learning and good physical and mental health as one grows older. As far as education is concerned, it is a problem of stimulating educators to accept formal education as a proper activity for older people. The educators have so concentrated on the problems of meeting the needs of youth that they have almost overlooked the needs of the older adult. 2. Serving the community as a volunteer in many ways. Among these activities which we have seen in California are: (a) Older women volunteering as nurses aids in county hospitals. |