Let us prepare for the Grey Revolution
Like it or not, more of us will live to see our 100th birthday, and aging gracefully begins now
O, Grey New World that has such people in it.
I was all set to make some nervous jokes about the latest census data revealing that for the first time since Confederation, there are more seniors than children in Canada.
As birth rates fall, this aging population will continue to grow. By 2061, there could be 12 million seniors to just eight million children in Canada.
Aging boomers are grey (or in my case, determinedly highlighted blond) and we are mighty and we are not only staying onstage, we are going to own it for a long time to come.
Will we shore up legacy media a little longer? Change consumer trends (usually people stop buying as they get older), demand to see ourselves on all screens and continue to act at least a decade younger than our chronological age? We already are.
Forget The Handmaid’s Tale. Some millennials might call this the ultimate dystopia, marauding bands of tai-chi-strengthened mall shoppers, pushing in for their seniors’ discount while the rest of the population pays dearly to subsidize them.
The Grey Revolution is here. “Irritating,” says one millennial I know.
There are now 5.9 million Canadian seniors, compared to 5.8 million Canadians 14 and under. There has been a historic (20 per cent since 2011) increase in the number of people over 65, with the fastest growing group being those 100 or over.
Lordy. I stare at media pictures of older people fast-walking in droves, or, in that now clichéd image that is actually so beautiful when you see it in person, joining together in the early morning mists of a city park, gracefully arcing their arms in a tai chi move.
I don’t recognize myself or my women friends, in their late 50s and mid-60s, because most of us are still at our desks working, albeit after runwalking in the morning, or aquafitting on the weekend.
We are still in denial about the real meaning of the census.
Here it is: Like it or not, more of us will live to see 100. In fact so many of us will blow out that big cheesy oversized “100” candle on our cakes that whatever mainstream media is left will no longer feel obligated to run a whiskery picture — no matter the gender — of a centenarian confessing that she triumphed because she drank red wine or more likely walked 10 blocks a day.
Turning 100 will never be ho-hum, but it will not be extraordinary, which reminds me of my niece, who was with her mom at a funeral. She whispered of the deceased: “How old was he?” Her mother whispered back “90,” and this young girl, now grown, threw up her hands and said, “So young!” We used to laugh about this. But that, in the words of Nora Spinks, CEO of the Vanier Institute, whose job it is to tell us how these trends will affect our family lives, is a key takeaway from this census report.
Spinks says there’s an urgent message for 30-somethings, middle-agers and even young 60 types.
“Do it now,” she says rather firmly. “Prepare your mind/body/spirits to live to be 100.”
How? We need to build “good family relationships” Spinks says, and sturdy social networks. We need to shore them up. Most of our episodic care will come from family and friends.
“I have had a best friend since we were 10,” says Spinks. “And if one of us gets dementia, the other will step in to help.” I must remember to put that to my best childhood friend when she returns from hiking Machu Picchu.
We need to start or continue, whether 30, 40 or 50, saving our money, eating more vegetables and getting off our rear ends.
Face it, longevity is a lottery within a lottery. At 70, you may be running a marathon while your friend is utterly debilitated. You can live to a ripe old age, but the more important lottery is good health, which involves genetics — out of our control — and planning.
So prepare for the long haul. It’s the seniors who, through no fault of their own, are socially isolated or suffer serious debilitation who will be hit the hardest.
Although the gap is closing, women will still live longer than men, and face both economic and social challenges. Social isolation is a killer. “You don’t suddenly decide to get a best friend at 80,” Spinks says.
And for those of us who reach 100, there won’t be much hetero dating — women at 100 will outnumber men by at least 5 to 1. Yes, the population pyramid has been flipped, Spinks says, but even millennials could benefit with more elders to help with child care, and more financial help from parents, grandparents and great grandparents.
And young kids? There will be more elders to love them, guide them. The support may even go two ways. “The kids may become young carers and that’s not a bad thing,” according to Spinks.
There’s more census data coming in early August that will tell us how these throngs of seniors are actually living.
In the meantime, be grateful to live in Canada, a far-from-perfect country, but one that will try its best to help seniors live healthy, fruitful lives.
We need to do our individual best too. Forget the jokes, I’m calling my endeavour Project 100.