Did you know that baby boomers are turning 65 at the rate of 10,000 persons per day across the USA?  Because of this “age wave”, the state of Minnesota recently released its summary data report for the “Transform 2010” project.  This project surveyed baby boomers who will be members of this age wave (those born between 1946 and 1964 for the purposes of this study).

The project was undertaken in an effort to understand the largest generation ever born in the state, as well as to better understand the implications of this historic demographic shift in light of the number of persons becoming “senior citizens” (defined as age 65 for this study) now and over the next 16 years.

Nearly 4,000 of Minnesota’s “boomers” were surveyed during the summer of 2010 for this study.   The report provides insights into boomer attitudes toward their life overall, their current and future living arrangements, their current and future work and financial situation, and their long term care and family caregiving situation.

Of special interest to the Center was the section on current and future work and financial situation.  Over the past few years, we’ve seen a shift in our demographic, especially in our Go to College program, of persons who are still working .  We are also seeing increased numbers of persons in our lecture series and meal events who are still working .  The study confirmed our impression that greater numbers of persons over the age of 50 are working later into what were traditionally their “retirement years”.  The importance of this is that it will help the Center better continue to serve the learning needs of its students as their work and financial situations continue to evolve over the next 16 years.

If you’d like to check out the entire Transform 2010 report, follow this link to the state’s Transform 2010 website:  www.dhs.state.mn.us/2010

Author:  Susan Anderson-Benson, Program Manager