Posted in Financial & Money on January 12th, 2011
Tags: baby boomers, caregiver benefits, disabled, elderly

There was a time baby boomers ruled society. Their days of freedom making love and not war turned into marriage and marriage into the every day grind of life, and before they knew it, 50 years of paying taxes have gone by and they are now the elder bloomers. 

Their impact on society will continue to ripple through many generations after their passing, as countries around the world brace for the massive medical and elder care debt and pension payouts for decades to come.

In addition to the social and economic concerns of billions of baby boomers world wide becoming elder bloomers, medical advancement in health care allows the elderly to live longer for the first time in modern history.  A fact of growing elderly is that some time during the elder stage of life, elder bloomers will need help with day to day activities we all take for granted. Half a century may seem like a long time, but in reality it is only right around the corner.

In the 1960’s, baby boomers were hippies, and hitch hiking across the country and traveling in hand painted flower power vans was considered cool. This rock and roll generation never thought they would grow old.  Life was simple where having a second phone line or even a bathroom shower in the home was unheard of, and if you were lucky to own a black and white TV set, it had rabbit ears for reception. Anyone under the age of 30 will be googling rabbit ears and TV reception as they have no idea what they mean?

Farmers still relied on outdoor wells for water, limiting baths to once a week and outhouses were supplied with news papers used as toilet paper.  A Family of four could live well on $20.00 per week for groceries and still pay their $150.00 per month mortgage for a three bedroom home with a basement and a garage, paid for on just one household income.  Most women, married or single, did not drive a car. Most married women were destined to be housewives, and were formerly addressed by their husband’s name, such as Mrs. John Smith, or Mrs. Walter Jones and would usually stay at home to take care of the home, children and elderly relatives.

At that time, people in their 70’s were considered old and didn’t have long to go before they would be pushing up daisies. Anyone in their 80’s was considered to be a relic. Very rarely did you hear of someone living well into their 90’s, who was then considered news worhty, and the chances of landing on the moon was greater than someone becoming a centenarian, a word many hippies never even heard of.

Technology and medicine certainly changed our world in the last 50 years, allowing us to live longer, but as we age, our mind and body becomes frail and our quality of life deteriorates, creating a burden on family and society.  With high medical and elder care costs, which increase exponentially as we age, the golden years could turn into brass. 

When a loved one requires help with day to day living, family members have a choice of paying for in home care support, long term care facilities or to have their loved one live at home with them for as long as possible.  Whatever the choice, someone must still take on the roll of Family Caregiver – the managing control center that helps maintain the support needed to properly care for an elderly person. 

The problem lies with many Family Caregivers becoming physically, emotionally and financially burdened from their caregiving responsibilities.  Much of their burden stems from the lack of cash flow to cover the high costs associated to elder care, and through lost wages, employment advancement and pension contributions.  With each generation the financial burden slowly pulls a society down into poverty.

So what is the solution in providing proper care for our elderly population while minimizing the hardships of Family Caregiving?  Establish a government funded Caregiver program, where over a lifetime everyone contributes into the Caregiver Program Fund, such as contributing into a federal pension program.  Caregiver Fund benefits would be made available to individuals with long term illness, disability and to elderly persons to cover expenses for medical care; home care and long term care; and to help pay a designated family member for their time as a Family Caregiver.