WS Chronicle

By David Winship

Aging is a condition for which we are successful.  Over the last century, our life expectancy has increased 15 years.  When Social Security was enacted in the 1930s, life expectancy was 62 years. Today, it is 77, though here in the U.S. it has begun to decline. Worldwide, the population over 60 is growing and will continue to grow due to declining fertility and rising longevity. Yet along with that success have come challenges. 

The United Nations NGO (Non-Governmental Agencies) Committee on Aging recognizes the 33rd annual International Day of Older Persons on Oct. 1, 2023, with the proclamation of “Fulfilling the Promises of Universal Human Rights for Older Persons: Across Generations.” This year’s proclamation and program highlights the importance of recognizing and supporting the human rights of older persons. Treating older persons with the same respect and on equal bases in legal, financial, and cultural contexts enables people of all ages to participate and contribute in both individual and societal development.  

Addressing the problem of ageism, the UN Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons, Claudia Mahler, says, “Ageism is a significant risk factor for abuse of older persons. Ageism refers to stereotypes, prejudice and/or discriminatory actions or practices against older persons that are based on their chronological age or on a perception that the person is “old.” Continuing, Mahler stated, “Ageism and age discrimination are unacceptable. As the world experiences rapid population aging, the pressures that result in age discrimination are likely to intensify, so does the imperative to address such discrimination.”

Prejudice around aging is rampant in our Western culture and the perceptions that younger people have of their older citizens is skewed, having made little progress in the last century. The notion of an older person reaching an age to retire from a job was a novel thought in the middle twentieth century. The age of 62 was a benchmark of when those that did retire would live the remaining years on a front porch rocker or in a recliner in front of a TV. As the times have changed in the last 70 years, so has longevity and the years spent beyond age 60. 

Those years are not without complications. Few growing up in the mid/late 20th century expected to live into their 80s. If the years after 65 finds one in relatively good health and with resources saved during a working life, the retirement years can be, in the words of Betty Friedan, “a new stage of opportunity and strength.”

For many, the advent of aging without planning has left an older generation needing adequate and available health care including mental health care, affordable housing, and good nutrition. Along with those basics, people need each other in socially enriching ways.  Seniors, whether called by any other name, need to feel needed. Whereas past generations took care and revered their elders, there are few multigenerational households anymore.  

The vitality of older persons is important to recognize. In multiple surveys, older persons show that the attitude embracing aging as another chapter in life is increasing. In one study by the organization National Today, responding to the UN Day of Older Persons, found that both the world population is getting older and longevity more commonplace, but happiness increases with old age and that sex gets better, too – at least for women. 

In a study from Age Wave called the New Age of Aging, it found the top five revelations were: 1) “Old” isn’t what it used to be; 2) A new “What’s Next” life stage; 3) Happier than ever; 4) The Fountain of Youthfullness; and 5) Values over Dollars. 

Whatever these surveys and studies reveal, the reality exists that longevity can bring with it difficulties unimaginable in one’s younger years. Recognition of the changes that have come and the changes that need to occur have to be made by the younger generation’s actions, decisions, and plans so that when they become older persons, the support system will be in place.

Just as Social Security provided a financial safety net for older persons, there are safety supports needed in health, as Medicare and Medicaid have provided, housing, which is in urgent need of solutions, and mental health, including nutrition and counseling support. Community support groups exist and have stepped forward to provide assistance, but there needs to be a mental shift in how our culture and society respects and learns from the elders who have made this world as it is and wish to continue to do so.

Many older persons were either raised on or raised their children on the books of Shel Silverstein. Silverstein authored irreverent books of poetry (the books whose covers were white and thick, like “Where the Sidewalk Ends”) and reverent ones, such as “The Giving Tree.”  Along with being an author, Silverstein was a songwriter. In his later years, he wrote songs for a foursome of aging Nashville musicians who called themselves Old Dogs. One of the songs, “Time,” ends with these lines, “So it takes a bit longer to walk up the hill / What of it? My life now is much more fulfilled / But they’re tearing down buildings that I watched them build / Time, time.”

David Winship resides in Bristol, Tennessee, and received his graduate certificate in gerontology from Virginia Tech. His interests in aging include mental wellness, social support, housing security and longevity. He is a member of Winston-Salem Writers and annually publishes a chapbook of his poetry