January 13, 2000 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America
By Marc Freedman
Americans nearing retirement are poised to fill volunteer and teaching positions that otherwise might be empty, writes Mr. Freedman. The graying population that some critics fear will do nothing but cash entitlement checks is an untapped resource for non-profit organizations, he says.
“While individuals in the middle generation are struggling to find time to tie their shoes, free time is burgeoning for older Americans,” writes Mr. Freedman, the 40-year-old president of Civic Ventures, a charity that places elderly people in community-service activities.
Mr. Freedman cites statistics that predict a doubling of America’s elderly population over the next 30 years: by 2030, one-fourth of the U.S. population will be at least 65 years old.
Those people could be doing good works, he writes — but non-profit groups must learn how to enlist them.
He calls on corporations, foundations, universities, and other organizations to promote and to finance charitable opportunities for elderly Americans, particularly those people who wish to tutor youngsters. He urges Congress to pass a “third-age” bill that would help retirees further their educations or step into volunteer roles. And he profiles non-profit organizations that rely on elderly Americans — such as Volunteers in Medicine, a group of retired health professionals that operates medical and dental clinics.
While Mr. Freedman provides contact information for 21 organizations that provide refuge from a sedentary retirement, he writes that a “breakthrough” institution that fully engages elderly people has yet to be built.
It had better be soon, he concludes. “Having a dislocated class numbering nearly a quarter of the population, with little or no role in the life of the nation and no connection to the central institutions of society, is a recipe for a sour, gloomy, conflict-ridden nation.”
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, Order Department, 1000 Keystone Industrial Park, Scranton, Pa. 18512-4261; (717) 941-1500 or (800) 242-7737; fax (800) 822-4090; http://www.harpercollins.com; 283 pages; $25; I.S.B.N. 1-891620-17-7.
