Face it, we’re getting olde
Within 20 years, more than a quarter of us will be senior citizens. Now the Government’s asking for ideas on how to prepare for the silver tsunami.
The music is pounding. Women in sequins sip something sparkling from flute glasses. Men in dinner suits dance in a congaline.
But this is more Tuesday Afternoon Foxtrot than Saturday Night Fever. The dancers are all pensioners, it’s daylight outside and they are hoovering up jam and scones, not class A drugs.
‘‘I just don’t want to sit and play bingo,’’ one grey-haired lady in diamante earrings tells the camera. ‘‘I come out here and I just feel smashing.’’
This is one of London’s nightclubs for the elderly – part of a campaign to curb loneliness – and a movement that first started in South Korea. And it’s an idea that tickled Minister for Seniors Tracey Martin so much that she shared a video of the event with her Facebook followers.
‘‘They were having a blast, you should see this video, mate. It’s just awesome,’’ she said. ‘‘Now, we assume that all our older people want to do small, quiet things. But just because you are 80 doesn’t mean you don’t like dancing.’’
But while those daytime disco goers are looking to escape some of the problems of old age, Martin is facing them head-on.
New Zealand’s population is ageing rapidly. Within 20 years, about a quarter of the population will be over 65. But they will be healthier, live longer, be more educated and skilled – and will want to remain in the workforce well into their 60s and 70s.
As with almost every other developed country, that’s proving a headache for policymakers, as they grapple with exploding health, pension and housing costs.
But NZ First MP Martin is determined to see the silver lining in this silver tsunami. On Friday, she launches a strategy to prepare for this maturing population. She’s calling it her ‘‘Positive Ageing Strategy’’. On the same day, the Employers and Manufacturers Association will publish an Ageing Workforce white paper.
‘‘Let’s look at this as a glass half-full situation, rather than a glass half-empty,’’ Martin says. ‘‘We have known this was coming for a while and nobody has done anything about it. If we don’t do something it will be a problem. But it doesn’t have to be a problem. We have time.’’
Martin sees one of the positives in economic terms. By
2061, seniors will contribute
$94 billion in consumer spending, $47b worth of paid or unpaid work, and taxes of $25b. At present, 24.2 per cent of the
over-65s have jobs. Within 20 years, they will make up 10 per cent of the entire labour force. Martin says they bring knowledge, valuable experience and commitment – and should be celebrated.
‘‘We have got business saying now that they’ve got a skills shortage. We have got skills inside that workforce and they are going to be healthier and live longer – so how do we keep them connected to the workforce? I expect to front businesses and say: ‘Where is your plan for this?’ ’’
Martin, who is 53, accepts attitudes must change. ‘‘You ask any woman who is over the age of 50 how she starts to vanish. And if she happens to find herself without employment or is looking for reemployment, she finds it really difficult to have her skills taken seriously because of their age.
‘‘This is one of those unconscious bias areas – ageism is alive and well.’’
Building on those skills, retraining – and even teaching older workers how to ‘‘market’’ themselves in the modern workplace – will be vital.
Martin doesn’t need to look too far for inspiration. Her boss, NZ First leader Winston Peters, is (temporarily) running the country as acting PM at 73.
Also blazing a trail is 68-yearold Reveena Priest. She’s worked at her local Taupo¯ supermarket for almost 40 years. Her mother, a nurse, worked up to the age of
72 and ‘‘dreaded’’ retirement. ‘‘On some of those cold mornings, I do think do I really need to get out of bed? It’s hard. I do start early in the morning and I do get tired, but I work in admin so I am not on my feet all day. And I’m lucky at this stage in my life when I don’t have four children at home at my feet. I go home and fall asleep.’’
She keeps working because she loves the job. ‘‘You start to reflect on things as you get older, so when I finally leave here, finally retire, I can say they were well-spent years.’’
She says she’ll eventually ease into part-time work before retiring, but only when she stops being of value to Countdown. ‘‘I am not looking forward to that day, to be honest.’’
What she values most is passing on her experience and customer service know-how to younger staff. Countdown’s head of culture and people, Lauren Voyce, says that’s one of the benefits of an older workforce. Of the chain’s 18,000 staff, about
1600 are past retirement age – the oldest is 83-year-old Angela Tvrdeic. ‘‘Our younger team are hungry to learn – but not necessarily learn from their managers, who are around their parents’ age. So, there is this really beautiful relationship that forms between our older workers and our much younger workers, where there is a knowledge-sharing and curiosity.’’
While the next generation of seniors are more likely to be in a job, there’s less chance they’ll be living in their own home. The rates of home ownership are dropping, and more people are entering their autumn years with a mortgage.
In 2016, 10 per cent of the over65s were spending more than 30 per cent of their income on housing costs. That’s up from 2 per cent in 1990. Research also shows that older renters have a poorer quality of life, wellbeing and mental health than homeowners.
A lack of smaller, accessible and adaptable housing is another challenge for future governments. ‘‘All our conversations about housing tend to be around families, and that’s appropriate – but we can’t forget our seniors,’’ Martin says.
John Collyns, executive
director of the Retirement Village Association, says: ‘‘We know that new housing development over the last decade or so has been progressively getting bigger in terms of square meterage, so there has definitely been a market shortage of smaller homes, particularly for older people. The market has built big things and ignored the need for smaller homes.’’
The industry is keeping up with demand – with 18,000 units currently under development – but is facing the same skill shortages and burgeoning land values that have bedevilled the wider construction sector.
Where retirees are living will also be a challenge. Older people gravitate towards rural towns, which often aren’t served well by public transport. That leads to isolation – already a problem, with 49,000 over-65s saying they feel lonely most of the time.
But by far the biggest problem politicians must face is the rising costs of the changing demographic. Already older people account for about a quarter of all core government spending ($18b a year). Health will soon outstrip superannuation costs. Martin says NZ First is pushing for funded health checks for the elderly: ‘‘Let’s invest some money at the front end here. Stop people getting sicker, having these more serious conditions – it’s just a smarter use of money.’’ But it’s not yet Government policy.
Other developed countries are looking at more unpalatable policies – bringing in migrant healthcare workers to care for the elderly, and raising the retirement age. Although both these would be anathema to NZ First voters, Martin says nothing is off the table.
‘‘All conversations are going to have to be open, aren’t they?’’ she says. ‘‘If you take the immigration conversation, it’s been interesting the one that Japan is having. They have basically a zero-immigration policy – so they have been looking at robotics to help keep elderly people in their homes.
‘‘At the end of the day, we are going to have to look at all solutions. But even that’s a bit freaky. Sounds like a sci-fi movie.’’
Martin launches the strategy on Friday with a discussion document, and is calling for submissions from the public until August 24. The Ministry of Social Development will also host a series of ‘‘super seniors’’ meetings across the country.