Aging Baby Boomers: All about Your Life

By Anna D. Banks, GCDF

First of all, baby boomers are people who were born within the post World War II era and before the Vietnam War. These people are called baby boomers because of the increased birth rate during this period. In the United States, there are about 76 million in total baby boomer population. Even George Bush, the current President of the United States is part of the baby boomer population.

Today, baby boomers are in the ages between 44 years old to 62 years old. This means that they are already aging. It is important for you to know that as a part of the baby boomer population, you should know where you stand on trends, and also your rights as a citizen of the United States of America.

Today, many baby boomers experiences age discrimination in the workplace. Some baby boomers that are qualified to do the job are not accepted by companies and some are laid off from their current job just because of their age. It is important for you to know that this is a violation of the ADEA or the Age Discrimination in Employment Act. It is also important for you to know that when you experience age discrimination in the workplace, you have somewhere to complain to, which is the EEOC or the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

You of all people should know about this because as a part of the baby boomer population, you came of age during the time where people were fighting for their civil rights in the United States. Chances are, you were part of those people who were fighting for civil rights, which include equal employment opportunities.

This generation is the generation where rock and roll started and where hippies were popping out to protest the Vietnam War and their rights as a citizen of a democratic country.

Health is also an issue with baby boomers. It was found that there was a significant increase of hospital and doctor visits by baby boomers. In fact, in 1992 there were only about 42 percent of people visiting the doctor at the age of 45. In 2002, the numbers increased to 53 percent. Most baby boomers suffer from different ailments, such as diabetes, stroke, heart attacks, arthritis, and high blood pressure.

This is because of the diet and lack of exercise that baby boomers experienced during their era. Because of this, many people are now more health conscious than the era of baby boomers. Some baby boomers even considered losing weight and getting active to prevent or at least minimize the effect of the mentioned diseases.

New drugs are now also available for baby boomers for preventive care. With the technology available today, aging baby boomers are now able to seek the medical attention they need. They can also benefit from the different government and private organization offers, such as free medical check ups and free hospitalization.

With all the benefits of today's medical technology, it is expected that baby boomers will likely live longer than previous generations of Americans. In fact, of the 3.4 million people born in 1946, 2.8 million are still alive and will get the benefit of living longer than their predecessors because of the advancement in medical technology.

More than 26 percent of the American population is made up of baby boomers. This means that in the coming years, Medicare will be much more in demand than ever before. You can expect that there will be a need for more hospitals and there will also be a need for more professional caregivers around the United States.

However, because of the latest medical technology, baby boomers will not only expect to live longer than previous Americans, but they will also enjoy better health condition. More and more baby boomers today are now health conscious and are staying as active as they can in order to prevent serious diseases such as diabetes and heart related diseases.

© 2008 Anna D. Banks, GCDF
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Author's Note:
Do you have any questions about career development or lifestyle changes for Baby Boomers, which you think others, like you, would want to know the answers? Email your questions to me at Anna@AnnaBanks.com.