Could Baby Boomers Be Approaching Retirement in Worse Shape Than Their Predecessors?

by Barbara Kram, Editor | March 07, 2007

Researchers and policymakers are vitally interested in whether this trend will continue, accelerate or decelerate with the retirement of the baby boom, a critically important question in planning for health, housing and other needs of this wave of retirees, who begin to turn 65 in 2011.

The NBER report follows earlier analyses, including an NIA-supported study suggesting that the obesity epidemic, which is driving higher rates of diabetes, heart disease and hypertension, could threaten the disability decline as well. It will be important to develop and understand new data about pre-retirees to see which direction the boomer cohort will take, says Richard Suzman, Ph.D., director of the NIA's Behavioral and Social Research Program.

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The NIA leads the federal effort supporting and conducting research on aging and the medical, social and behavioral issues of older people. For more information on research and aging, go to www.nia.nih.gov. Publications on research and on a variety of topics of interest on health and aging can be viewed and ordered by visiting the NIA website or can be ordered by calling toll-free 1-800-222-2225.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) - The Nation's Medical Research Agency - includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
References: Soldo, B.J. et al. Cross-Cohort Differences in Health on the Verge of Retirement. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 12762. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research (2007). Available online at: http://www.nber.org/.

Citations:
Manton, K.G., et al. Change in chronic disability from 1982 to 2004/2005 as measured by long-term changes in function and health in the U.S. elderly population. PNAS (2006), 103(48):18374-9.
Lakdawalla, D.N. et al. Are the young becoming more disabled? Health Affairs (2004), 23(1):168-76.

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