To some degree, we kind of caused this, because we’ve structured work society where we essentially burn out by the time we’re 65.
Before the advent of old age systems like pensions or Social Security elders mostly suffered through high elderly poverty rates. The current system is certainly better, because elders are not starving or forcing themselves into sex work to pay for food and medical bills [1] but now it turns out being too idle might also be problematic.
I know in Japan, there are attempts to address this with organizations that hire seniors to do part time jobs like sweeping and cleaning. It mostly serves as an optional supplement to income and it gets them out of the house if they’re alone. But the way we run cleaning operations in the US is also to run people down to the bone.
In know this may be an unpopular take, but some of it comes across to me as an entitlement mindset. Retirement is viewed as something expected and a debt owed by society, rather than something prudently planned for.
I’m in favor of a strong social safety net, but geared towards helping low-probability or unforeseen circumstances, not for avoiding a completely visible and very slowly approaching cliff.
Before the advent of old age systems like pensions or Social Security elders mostly suffered through high elderly poverty rates. The current system is certainly better, because elders are not starving or forcing themselves into sex work to pay for food and medical bills [1] but now it turns out being too idle might also be problematic.
I know in Japan, there are attempts to address this with organizations that hire seniors to do part time jobs like sweeping and cleaning. It mostly serves as an optional supplement to income and it gets them out of the house if they’re alone. But the way we run cleaning operations in the US is also to run people down to the bone.
[1] - This is a thing in South Korea where elder poverty is much higher than the rest of the OECD due to a very bare social net. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bacchus_Ladies