Implications for social policy planning
New Zealand baby boomers are not retiring. They are fizzing with renewed vigour, working hard to fund their lifestyle choices, keeping themselves fit and planning for an active later life, rather than an infirm, sedentary one. They universally do not want the retirement their parents had and they see no reason why they should accept it. Nor do they intend to.
They are planning to start or run businesses, keep working where they are, keep up with technology and use it to work smarter; and they are in large numbers going to move to get more out of life and make the world a better place to live, for all New Zealanders. Public policy needs to be flexible and open-minded in order to foster this vital ingenuity and harness the resulting productivity benefit (which can be used to fund the social safety net baby boomers see as their right and responsibility). Maintaining rule-driven bureaucracies will only foster rule-avoidance.
Unlike their American counterparts, who worry about health but are not actively planning a solution, New Zealand baby boomers are taking control of their health prospects and are less likely to become the health burden projected by traditional economic models and that are currently being tracked in the Health, Work and Retirement Study (Allpass, 2008). New Zealand baby boomers see maintaining their health and fitness as an essential driver enabling them to fulfill all of their plans for a vibrant and affluent future. There is an opportunity to develop health policy that empowers and incentivises them to keep themselves fit so they can stay productive and pursue their dreams.
The voluntary sector is significant and likely to rise in significance over the next 40 years. Baby boomers are prepared to do their part in this sector with both time and money, but a large influx of support may overwhelm the sector at the beginning and it may require some structural assistance to assimilate baby boomer contributors.
There is no point in making public policy rules about how members of this generation should behave once they turn 65, or of continuing to fiddle with economic indicators within the constraints of the traditional economic model. This is akin to placing a ladder against the wrong wall –energy can be expended on scaling the wall, but achieve nothing because the real change is going on elsewhere.
The inflexibility of the elderly dependency ratio to cope with new definitions of work for those over 65 makes it defunct. Changing the age of entitlement to 67 or another number is likewise not going to make a difference.
New Zealand baby boomers are notorious for shrugging off rules – because they view rules as simply not applying to them – and finding an ingenious way around to get what they want. Economists and social planners can calculate projected retirement rates, social burden ratios and rest home bed requirements as much as they like, but it would be a mistake to start building rest homes just yet, because New Zealand baby boomers have no intention of filling them.
They will tell policy planners what they want, if they are asked, provided the contextual framework for seeking their feedback is based on them and not the generation before them. After all, all baby boomers see themselves as special, and New Zealand baby boomers see themselves as more special than most.
Not only do New Zealand baby boomers have no intention of becoming a drain on the workforce, but they will continue to add their prodigious productivity to the nation’s coffers. Not only will they not leave a hole in the workforce, they will focus on enhancing their skills to fills the gaps created by changes of work style. Baby boomers are a highly productive generation, well educated, experienced and ingenious; harnessing and channelling their productivity and thirst for intellectual, emotional and physical adventure presents a far greater challenge for social policy planners than counting the pension pennies they may not need.
The challenge for public policy development is how best to structure a framework that will allow New Zealand baby boomers to be self-sufficient and self-responsible, while remembering that, as with all attitudinal research that talks about majorities, there will still be people who want a traditional retirement lifestyle, even if not as many as feared.
21 September 2009
Will New Zealand baby boomers retire gracefully at 65 to do charitable works?
“Will New Zealand baby boomers retire gracefully at 65 to do charitable works?”
No, they will not, and yes, they will. They will, in very large numbers, not retire. But they will do charitable works.
They won’t retire because they don’t feel old, they are full of youthful spirit and not at all ready to remove themselves from the mainstream, from mattering and from making a difference, or from enjoying the fruits of their labours.
It is not part of the New Zealand baby boomer character to give up and do nothing for 30-40 years. The vitality that is an essential part of their character drives them to greater adventurousness, fitness, and personal enlightenment. They are prepared to take responsibility for themselves and their families, and assume roles or responsibility in the wider community, paid or unpaid.
Meaningful work matters to them, and New Zealand baby boomers find meaning and purpose in their jobs, which they will not yield. However, they will use their ingenuity to find ways around the rules and conventions of the traditional workplace to get the balance of work, adventure, personal enrichment and fitness they want. In numbers as large as the baby boomer cohort possesses, what begins as ingenious ways around the rules will quickly become accepted workplace convention.
They are self-determined and will seek opportunities to learn new things within the workplace and in the community, and a new wave of “elderpreneurs” will emerge; indeed it is arguable that this phenomenon has already begun to emerge.
The core vitality of New Zealand baby boomers will continue to make them valuable, productive contributors in the workplace – if employers can keep them there. 30% plan to start a new career; 38% say they will be running their own business, 21% will start one.
New Zealand baby boomers, after all, see endless opportunities before them and have very low resistance to change. They are risk takers and they back themselves. They are currently at the height of their productivity, retain youthful, vigorous approach to work, and exhibit a great capacity to continue to learn; unless the workplace engages and continues to challenge them, they will move on to new career adventures.
Whether they work for others or for themselves, two-thirds of New Zealand baby boomers will focus their energies and invest their time in the next 5-10 years on excelling at their job and at passing on their skills to others. Their desire to engage in meaningful work for many more years as well as pursue their other life adventures and responsibilities will balance well with the need to retain their expertise in the workplace while still making room for the generations behind them to progress. The lack of barriers New Zealand baby boomers see between themselves and younger people will enable them to integrate and share their skills.
The sense among New Zealand baby boomers that they distinguish meaningful work from the workplace will inform the wave of research currently underway in New Zealand (Allpass, 2008; McPherson, 2008), which is revealing what new workplace trends are beginning to emerge and asking questions about why they are emerging. They are emerging because baby boomers are starting to find ingenious ways around the current conventions of the workplace; with the force of a million baby boomers behind it, this trend will explode into the mainstream over the next 10-20 years.
New Zealand baby boomers are hungry for new experiences, adventures, and learning. This characteristic is prevalent in baby boomers but not in the generational cohorts before them. It is counter-intuitive to the traditional view that “old people” are overwhelmed by how much information is now available to them, and suggests that baby boomers are prepared to use technology to help them gather the information they need. The challenge to business is to throw off their historically-based preconceptions of how they believe baby boomers should behave as workers, because baby boomers will not act their age; neither will older baby boomers exhibit the conservatism of their American counterparts, making proxy assumptions unreliable.
The global wave of baby boomers is likely to see a push for different benefits in the work environment.
Jobs to attract baby boomers will offer less stress, lots of social connection, more flexible working hours and conditions, and a chance to learn – these things are more highly valued than money. New Zealand baby boomers, like their American counterparts, are looking for jobs with a mission that offers them opportunities to continue to grow.
No, they will not, and yes, they will. They will, in very large numbers, not retire. But they will do charitable works.
They won’t retire because they don’t feel old, they are full of youthful spirit and not at all ready to remove themselves from the mainstream, from mattering and from making a difference, or from enjoying the fruits of their labours.
It is not part of the New Zealand baby boomer character to give up and do nothing for 30-40 years. The vitality that is an essential part of their character drives them to greater adventurousness, fitness, and personal enlightenment. They are prepared to take responsibility for themselves and their families, and assume roles or responsibility in the wider community, paid or unpaid.
Meaningful work matters to them, and New Zealand baby boomers find meaning and purpose in their jobs, which they will not yield. However, they will use their ingenuity to find ways around the rules and conventions of the traditional workplace to get the balance of work, adventure, personal enrichment and fitness they want. In numbers as large as the baby boomer cohort possesses, what begins as ingenious ways around the rules will quickly become accepted workplace convention.
They are self-determined and will seek opportunities to learn new things within the workplace and in the community, and a new wave of “elderpreneurs” will emerge; indeed it is arguable that this phenomenon has already begun to emerge.
The core vitality of New Zealand baby boomers will continue to make them valuable, productive contributors in the workplace – if employers can keep them there. 30% plan to start a new career; 38% say they will be running their own business, 21% will start one.
New Zealand baby boomers, after all, see endless opportunities before them and have very low resistance to change. They are risk takers and they back themselves. They are currently at the height of their productivity, retain youthful, vigorous approach to work, and exhibit a great capacity to continue to learn; unless the workplace engages and continues to challenge them, they will move on to new career adventures.
Whether they work for others or for themselves, two-thirds of New Zealand baby boomers will focus their energies and invest their time in the next 5-10 years on excelling at their job and at passing on their skills to others. Their desire to engage in meaningful work for many more years as well as pursue their other life adventures and responsibilities will balance well with the need to retain their expertise in the workplace while still making room for the generations behind them to progress. The lack of barriers New Zealand baby boomers see between themselves and younger people will enable them to integrate and share their skills.
The sense among New Zealand baby boomers that they distinguish meaningful work from the workplace will inform the wave of research currently underway in New Zealand (Allpass, 2008; McPherson, 2008), which is revealing what new workplace trends are beginning to emerge and asking questions about why they are emerging. They are emerging because baby boomers are starting to find ingenious ways around the current conventions of the workplace; with the force of a million baby boomers behind it, this trend will explode into the mainstream over the next 10-20 years.
New Zealand baby boomers are hungry for new experiences, adventures, and learning. This characteristic is prevalent in baby boomers but not in the generational cohorts before them. It is counter-intuitive to the traditional view that “old people” are overwhelmed by how much information is now available to them, and suggests that baby boomers are prepared to use technology to help them gather the information they need. The challenge to business is to throw off their historically-based preconceptions of how they believe baby boomers should behave as workers, because baby boomers will not act their age; neither will older baby boomers exhibit the conservatism of their American counterparts, making proxy assumptions unreliable.
The global wave of baby boomers is likely to see a push for different benefits in the work environment.
Jobs to attract baby boomers will offer less stress, lots of social connection, more flexible working hours and conditions, and a chance to learn – these things are more highly valued than money. New Zealand baby boomers, like their American counterparts, are looking for jobs with a mission that offers them opportunities to continue to grow.
Are NZ baby boomers the same as American baby boomers?
Are New Zealand baby boomers the same as baby boomers overseas? Can American (in particular) research be used as a proxy in the absence of New Zealand research?
The short answers is no, they are not. New Zealand baby boomers are similar to their American counterparts in some ways, but differ significantly in some key areas. The differences are sufficient to conclude that it is ill-advised and misleading to use American research as a proxy in New Zealand, even at the broad brushstroke social research level of the New Zealand Boomer Dreams Study.
New Zealand and American baby boomers share a number of the same traits, but not quite to the same degree, and the values that back up these traits are different.
New Zealanders are more passionate about their lifestyle choices, with their top ten focus choices being preferred by more than 80% of respondents, compared to the US top ten which were preferred by 67 to 77% of their respondents. New Zealand baby boomers tend to exhibit a more youthful and vigorous profile than their American counterparts, with more focus on outgoing adventurousness and less on fighting for social causes.
In the mid-range of differences (where there is 5-20% variance between the preferences of the two populations), New Zealand boomers invariably opt for adventurous lifestyle choices over social cause choices.
New Zealand baby boomers are more than 20% more likely to play sport, enjoy life’s luxuries and travel the world than American boomers. They are over 20% less likely to get involved in politics, share their religious beliefs with others or spend more time or money on grandchildren.
Huber & Skidmore (2003) identified two distinctive characteristics among UK baby boomers, individualism and liberalism.
Smith & Clurman (2007) identified similar characteristics of youthfulness (immortality) and morality, with the youthfulness characteristic dominant.
New Zealand baby boomers exhibit a similar youthful character aspect, also dominant, but not in the same way as the American profile. What makes New Zealand baby boomers distinct from baby boomers from anywhere else is their Vitality. They are “fizzier” than both American and British baby boomers, passionate and opinionated, fiercely independent in their individuality. They are less likely to break the rules and more likely to simply assume the rules don’t apply to them; fitness is an important dimension of their vital character, and they pursue novelty as part of a wider quest for adventure, rather than as a separate dimension. The self-focused aspects of personal enrichment enhance their vitality, and the rugged individuality that is part of the broader New Zealand character is interpreted within the baby boomer life experience.
Smith & Clurman’s second baby boomer character aspect of morality is not present in the New Zealand population in the way that it is in the USA.
New Zealand is an egalitarian, secular society with broad liberal views and a live-and-let-live pragmatism about moral issues. That said, New Zealand baby boomers have a strong sense of right and wrong, and of their responsibility to take care of themselves, their families and their wider community. They are less “comfortably righteous” in their sense of purpose than their American counterparts, but they do search for meaning.
Balancing the youthful hedonism and vitality of New Zealand baby boomers is a strongly adult sense of responsibility, rather than morality. It has four key dimensions, some of which are similar to American characteristics, but sufficiently different to distinguish a separate and independent New Zealand baby boomer character.
Having established that the New Zealand baby boomer character is different from the American character and different again (although little comparative data is available) from British baby boomers, the question arises as to whether that matters and the New Zealand Boomer Dreams Study 2009 finds that it does; New Zealand baby boomers respond to their surroundings, dream different dreams and worry about different things – indeed, they worry less about different things - than baby boomers elsewhere.
Aside from a current high level of concern about finance company collapses eroding their savings, New Zealand baby boomers’ top concern is health. This information is comparable to the findings of the Health, Work and Retirement Study (Allpass, 2008).
While American baby boomers also worry about their health, more than 70% of them worry more about how they’re going to pay for it (health insurance). This difference is almost certainly due to the differences in state-funded healthcare in the two countries and raises questions about the relationship between the self-reliance New Zealand baby boomers feel, and the sense of security they gain from having a state safety net of core social services. There may be a relationship between the willingness of New Zealand baby boomers to take risks and be adventuresome and ingenious, and their peculiarly resilient optimism; and the security of knowing that safety net is there. Removing it by creating barriers to eligibility (such as means testing or raising the age of entitlement) could have unintended adverse consequences; steps should be taken to explore this apparent correlation prior to such actions being considered.
Overall, what worries New Zealand baby boomers and what worries American baby boomers differ somewhat. While an analysis of the variations in concern-responses between the two populations shows a large outlier for “Not being current on what’s going on”, with New Zealand baby boomers 31% more likely to rate this as a worry, it is still only thirteenth on the list for New Zealanders, concerning just 40% of them. In all other respects, the comparison shows the New Zealand baby boomers worry more than American baby boomers, but not significantly overall.
Understanding the baby boomer character is key to interpreting their behaviour and predicting what they might do next; one thing is already known and that is that whatever they do, it will not be what they generation before them has done. One of the key findings of the New Zealand Boomer Dreams Study 2009 is that it will also not be the same as American baby boomers.
New Zealand baby boomers are vital, energetic, up with the play and highly engaged with life. They have experience, confidence, and boundless optimism that is resilient even in the face of adversity. They have no intention of acting their age and no intention of settling down to a quiet retirement. They enjoy the good things in life – in fact, they want to enjoy more of them – and they are prepared to put in the work to pay for them. Their high level of engagement extends socially and they are likely to be involved in all areas of both the paid and unpaid economies; it will be impossible to legislate them into defined behaviours or areas of the community, because of their individualism and conviction that the rules simply don’t apply to them. With great ingenuity, they will find a way around any barrier in their pursuit of adventure and meaning. They will shoulder their responsibilities, to themselves, within their families, and in the broader social context.
The short answers is no, they are not. New Zealand baby boomers are similar to their American counterparts in some ways, but differ significantly in some key areas. The differences are sufficient to conclude that it is ill-advised and misleading to use American research as a proxy in New Zealand, even at the broad brushstroke social research level of the New Zealand Boomer Dreams Study.
New Zealand and American baby boomers share a number of the same traits, but not quite to the same degree, and the values that back up these traits are different.
New Zealanders are more passionate about their lifestyle choices, with their top ten focus choices being preferred by more than 80% of respondents, compared to the US top ten which were preferred by 67 to 77% of their respondents. New Zealand baby boomers tend to exhibit a more youthful and vigorous profile than their American counterparts, with more focus on outgoing adventurousness and less on fighting for social causes.
In the mid-range of differences (where there is 5-20% variance between the preferences of the two populations), New Zealand boomers invariably opt for adventurous lifestyle choices over social cause choices.
New Zealand baby boomers are more than 20% more likely to play sport, enjoy life’s luxuries and travel the world than American boomers. They are over 20% less likely to get involved in politics, share their religious beliefs with others or spend more time or money on grandchildren.
Huber & Skidmore (2003) identified two distinctive characteristics among UK baby boomers, individualism and liberalism.
Smith & Clurman (2007) identified similar characteristics of youthfulness (immortality) and morality, with the youthfulness characteristic dominant.
New Zealand baby boomers exhibit a similar youthful character aspect, also dominant, but not in the same way as the American profile. What makes New Zealand baby boomers distinct from baby boomers from anywhere else is their Vitality. They are “fizzier” than both American and British baby boomers, passionate and opinionated, fiercely independent in their individuality. They are less likely to break the rules and more likely to simply assume the rules don’t apply to them; fitness is an important dimension of their vital character, and they pursue novelty as part of a wider quest for adventure, rather than as a separate dimension. The self-focused aspects of personal enrichment enhance their vitality, and the rugged individuality that is part of the broader New Zealand character is interpreted within the baby boomer life experience.
Smith & Clurman’s second baby boomer character aspect of morality is not present in the New Zealand population in the way that it is in the USA.
New Zealand is an egalitarian, secular society with broad liberal views and a live-and-let-live pragmatism about moral issues. That said, New Zealand baby boomers have a strong sense of right and wrong, and of their responsibility to take care of themselves, their families and their wider community. They are less “comfortably righteous” in their sense of purpose than their American counterparts, but they do search for meaning.
Balancing the youthful hedonism and vitality of New Zealand baby boomers is a strongly adult sense of responsibility, rather than morality. It has four key dimensions, some of which are similar to American characteristics, but sufficiently different to distinguish a separate and independent New Zealand baby boomer character.
Having established that the New Zealand baby boomer character is different from the American character and different again (although little comparative data is available) from British baby boomers, the question arises as to whether that matters and the New Zealand Boomer Dreams Study 2009 finds that it does; New Zealand baby boomers respond to their surroundings, dream different dreams and worry about different things – indeed, they worry less about different things - than baby boomers elsewhere.
Aside from a current high level of concern about finance company collapses eroding their savings, New Zealand baby boomers’ top concern is health. This information is comparable to the findings of the Health, Work and Retirement Study (Allpass, 2008).
While American baby boomers also worry about their health, more than 70% of them worry more about how they’re going to pay for it (health insurance). This difference is almost certainly due to the differences in state-funded healthcare in the two countries and raises questions about the relationship between the self-reliance New Zealand baby boomers feel, and the sense of security they gain from having a state safety net of core social services. There may be a relationship between the willingness of New Zealand baby boomers to take risks and be adventuresome and ingenious, and their peculiarly resilient optimism; and the security of knowing that safety net is there. Removing it by creating barriers to eligibility (such as means testing or raising the age of entitlement) could have unintended adverse consequences; steps should be taken to explore this apparent correlation prior to such actions being considered.
Overall, what worries New Zealand baby boomers and what worries American baby boomers differ somewhat. While an analysis of the variations in concern-responses between the two populations shows a large outlier for “Not being current on what’s going on”, with New Zealand baby boomers 31% more likely to rate this as a worry, it is still only thirteenth on the list for New Zealanders, concerning just 40% of them. In all other respects, the comparison shows the New Zealand baby boomers worry more than American baby boomers, but not significantly overall.
Understanding the baby boomer character is key to interpreting their behaviour and predicting what they might do next; one thing is already known and that is that whatever they do, it will not be what they generation before them has done. One of the key findings of the New Zealand Boomer Dreams Study 2009 is that it will also not be the same as American baby boomers.
New Zealand baby boomers are vital, energetic, up with the play and highly engaged with life. They have experience, confidence, and boundless optimism that is resilient even in the face of adversity. They have no intention of acting their age and no intention of settling down to a quiet retirement. They enjoy the good things in life – in fact, they want to enjoy more of them – and they are prepared to put in the work to pay for them. Their high level of engagement extends socially and they are likely to be involved in all areas of both the paid and unpaid economies; it will be impossible to legislate them into defined behaviours or areas of the community, because of their individualism and conviction that the rules simply don’t apply to them. With great ingenuity, they will find a way around any barrier in their pursuit of adventure and meaning. They will shoulder their responsibilities, to themselves, within their families, and in the broader social context.
What worries NZ baby boomers
Concerns
Contrary to popular advice, New Zealand baby boomers do not intend to spend the next five to ten years worrying whether they will have enough money to get by.
While 80% aspire to be financially secure at a level that will fund their desired lifestyle, the focus of their energies over the next decade will be on maintaining their vitality. And New Zealand baby boomers overwhelmingly see health as their key to that vitality.
Health is the number one issue that worries New Zealand baby boomers
The number one issue for New Zealand baby boomers going forward is the preservation of their health and vitality. It is the single biggest issue that worries more than two thirds of New Zealand baby boomers. This finding supports earlier research by the EEO Trust (McGregor, 2006) that found half (49%) of retired respondents to its survey cited health as the most important factor that had caused their retirement. More than 91% of New Zealand baby boomers are likely to make health their priority over the next 5-10 years and almost 80% say they are concerned about trying to stay in shape. They universally (95%) agree that health is the driver to being able to do what they want and that in the future, older people will be much more active and engaged than older people in the past (94%). Baby boomers do not see any reason why they should have to feel less vital and energetic as they get older (89%).
Getting sick and frail, losing their mental sharpness, losing their ability to live independently and being short of energy and vitality are the things they worry about most.
Yet nearly 70% of them do not feel confident the New Zealand health and social welfare system will be able to support them as they age.
Apart from wanting to have enough money to get by on (61%), financial concerns do not rank highly for more than half of New Zealand baby boomers. This is with the exception of a high ranking for the concern, “external factors you can’t plan for eroding your savings” (65% of New Zealand baby boomers are concerned), which is a direct response to the effects of the 2009 financial crisis on finance company savings.
Concerns of New Zealand baby boomers
69% Getting sick and frail
67% Not being mentally sharp
66% Being able to live independently
65% External factors you can't plan for eroding your savings
64% Being short of energy and vitality
61% Having enough money to get by on
60% No longer being able to live life to the fullest
59% Being in charge of your affairs
51% Having sufficient health-care insurance coverage
47% Being treated as an old person
43% Being stuck doing the same old things every day
42% Being bored with your life
40% Not being current on what's going on
40% Not being taken seriously
40% Living somewhere that is not vibrant and exciting
39% Having enough to do and keep busy
38% Not being able to live in your current home
37% Being relegated to the sidelines
29% Not having the opportunity to be in charge of something
28% Finding a community of other people to be with
28% Being taken advantage of in some scam
20% Not being involved in social causes
Source: New Zealand Boomer Dreams Study 2009, n = 754
“How concerned are you about each of the following?” 7 point scale.
American baby boomers also worry about their health, but their concerns are tempered by their greater worry (at 70%, the greatest worry reported in either list) of how they are going to pay for it. New Zealand baby boomers’ concerns remain cushioned by the social welfare system, despite their lack of confidence in it.
Contrary to popular advice, New Zealand baby boomers do not intend to spend the next five to ten years worrying whether they will have enough money to get by.
While 80% aspire to be financially secure at a level that will fund their desired lifestyle, the focus of their energies over the next decade will be on maintaining their vitality. And New Zealand baby boomers overwhelmingly see health as their key to that vitality.
Health is the number one issue that worries New Zealand baby boomers
The number one issue for New Zealand baby boomers going forward is the preservation of their health and vitality. It is the single biggest issue that worries more than two thirds of New Zealand baby boomers. This finding supports earlier research by the EEO Trust (McGregor, 2006) that found half (49%) of retired respondents to its survey cited health as the most important factor that had caused their retirement. More than 91% of New Zealand baby boomers are likely to make health their priority over the next 5-10 years and almost 80% say they are concerned about trying to stay in shape. They universally (95%) agree that health is the driver to being able to do what they want and that in the future, older people will be much more active and engaged than older people in the past (94%). Baby boomers do not see any reason why they should have to feel less vital and energetic as they get older (89%).
Getting sick and frail, losing their mental sharpness, losing their ability to live independently and being short of energy and vitality are the things they worry about most.
Yet nearly 70% of them do not feel confident the New Zealand health and social welfare system will be able to support them as they age.
Apart from wanting to have enough money to get by on (61%), financial concerns do not rank highly for more than half of New Zealand baby boomers. This is with the exception of a high ranking for the concern, “external factors you can’t plan for eroding your savings” (65% of New Zealand baby boomers are concerned), which is a direct response to the effects of the 2009 financial crisis on finance company savings.
Concerns of New Zealand baby boomers
69% Getting sick and frail
67% Not being mentally sharp
66% Being able to live independently
65% External factors you can't plan for eroding your savings
64% Being short of energy and vitality
61% Having enough money to get by on
60% No longer being able to live life to the fullest
59% Being in charge of your affairs
51% Having sufficient health-care insurance coverage
47% Being treated as an old person
43% Being stuck doing the same old things every day
42% Being bored with your life
40% Not being current on what's going on
40% Not being taken seriously
40% Living somewhere that is not vibrant and exciting
39% Having enough to do and keep busy
38% Not being able to live in your current home
37% Being relegated to the sidelines
29% Not having the opportunity to be in charge of something
28% Finding a community of other people to be with
28% Being taken advantage of in some scam
20% Not being involved in social causes
Source: New Zealand Boomer Dreams Study 2009, n = 754
“How concerned are you about each of the following?” 7 point scale.
American baby boomers also worry about their health, but their concerns are tempered by their greater worry (at 70%, the greatest worry reported in either list) of how they are going to pay for it. New Zealand baby boomers’ concerns remain cushioned by the social welfare system, despite their lack of confidence in it.
Ideal work environment for NZ baby boomers
Ideal Work Environment
In 2007 the Association of American Retired People (AARP) (Groeneman, 2008) conducted research into what the ideal workplace should look like for Americans aged 45 to 74 who were currently working or looking for work.
While the AARP’s study surveyed workers in the decade older than baby boomers as well as baby boomers themselves, and the New Zealand study included non-workers (but only of baby boomer age), comparisons can still be made between the American and New Zealand populations.
Notably, the top four most essential or important workplace benefits are the same in both populations, with “a chance to use your skills and talents” ranked as the single most important thing by almost 98% of New Zealand baby boomers and 91% of American workers. New Zealand workplaces that tap into this overwhelming need among baby boomers to utilise their skills and talents will both retain such workers and benefit from the loyalty and appreciation they are likely to receive as a result of responding to the need.
A friendly work environment, the chance to do something worthwhile and the need to feel respected by co-workers also rank consistently highly among New Zealanders and American older workers, with 92-98% of respondents valuing them. These findings are not unexpected when the characteristic need of baby boomers to pursue meaning and relevance are considered.
The need to feel respected by the boss ranked as “essential” for 52% of New Zealand respondents and “essential” or “important” for 91.3% of them, compared to 75% of American respondents. While its overall New Zealand ranking was an fifth, it was the second most essential workplace aspect for many respondents, making it important to most baby boomers but an essential deal-breaker for some. This finding may provide guidance for New Zealand employers struggling with “brain drain” coming from the top; it may also provide some insight into a growing tendency among some New Zealand baby boomers to leave their employers and start their own businesses.
Breeding a culture of respect from managers and between co-workers could be one of the most important challenges facing the workplace over the next 20-40 years.
In 2007 the Association of American Retired People (AARP) (Groeneman, 2008) conducted research into what the ideal workplace should look like for Americans aged 45 to 74 who were currently working or looking for work.
While the AARP’s study surveyed workers in the decade older than baby boomers as well as baby boomers themselves, and the New Zealand study included non-workers (but only of baby boomer age), comparisons can still be made between the American and New Zealand populations.
Notably, the top four most essential or important workplace benefits are the same in both populations, with “a chance to use your skills and talents” ranked as the single most important thing by almost 98% of New Zealand baby boomers and 91% of American workers. New Zealand workplaces that tap into this overwhelming need among baby boomers to utilise their skills and talents will both retain such workers and benefit from the loyalty and appreciation they are likely to receive as a result of responding to the need.
A friendly work environment, the chance to do something worthwhile and the need to feel respected by co-workers also rank consistently highly among New Zealanders and American older workers, with 92-98% of respondents valuing them. These findings are not unexpected when the characteristic need of baby boomers to pursue meaning and relevance are considered.
The need to feel respected by the boss ranked as “essential” for 52% of New Zealand respondents and “essential” or “important” for 91.3% of them, compared to 75% of American respondents. While its overall New Zealand ranking was an fifth, it was the second most essential workplace aspect for many respondents, making it important to most baby boomers but an essential deal-breaker for some. This finding may provide guidance for New Zealand employers struggling with “brain drain” coming from the top; it may also provide some insight into a growing tendency among some New Zealand baby boomers to leave their employers and start their own businesses.
Breeding a culture of respect from managers and between co-workers could be one of the most important challenges facing the workplace over the next 20-40 years.
NZ baby boomers and work
New Zealand baby boomers and work
Work provides meaning for New Zealand baby boomers. They universally (95%) feel they have been able to make a meaningful contribution in their job; 83% say work is important to their self-esteem and that it keeps them young (83%). For the vast majority of New Zealand baby boomers, work is an important part of who they are (80%). But they expect to have more than a job. Unlike their predecessor cohorts, they expect to get pleasure, satisfaction and fulfillment from their work (85% agree), and they want to continue to have opportunities to grow, learn and develop (78% agree).
They differentiate between meaningful work (which they value) and jobs. Two-thirds say they don’t need to have a job to feel good about themselves, yet they universally enjoy meaningful work. Three-quarters of New Zealand baby boomers say they would not be willing to work at a boring job even if the money were good, compared to 63% of US baby boomers.
Whether they work for others or for themselves, two-thirds of New Zealand baby boomers will focus their energies and invest their time in the next 5-10 years on excelling at their job.
The core vitality of New Zealand baby boomers will continue to make them valuable, productive contributors in the workplace – if employers can keep them there. 30% plan to start a new career; 38% say they will be running their own business, 21% will start one. 60% say they like the idea of starting a new career or job if and when they retire. Huber & Skidmore (2003), seeing similar trends overseas, described this as the “elderpreneur” phenomenon.
New Zealand baby boomers, after all, see endless opportunities before them and have very low resistance to change. They are risk takers and they back themselves (97% trust their own instincts). They are currently at the height of their productivity; retain youthful, vigorous approach to work, and exhibit a great capacity to continue to learn.
They are not slowing down. Eighty percent of New Zealand baby boomers say they would rather have too much to do and risk being stressed than too little and be bored; just half agree they have begun to slow down somewhat and two-thirds disagree with the statement, “All I want out of life is enough to be comfortable, more than that is not worth the effort”. They believe that hard work yields results (65%).
They do exhibit some characteristics commonly associated with more experienced workers, however. They have a strong moral core (82% have a clear sense of right and wrong) and support respect for New Zealand values (63%). Two-thirds agree their jobs have offered them security.
New Zealand Baby Boomers are hungry for information. They almost universally thirst to learn new skills (90%) and try to keep an eye out for new things to try and learn (88%).
They may not have been born into the computer age, but their willingness to adopt and enjoy new technology is universal – 98% agree with the statement, “the possibilities afforded us by technology are only going to continue to grow”. More significantly, 93% agree that they know how to use it to make their lives more interesting and enjoyable. This characteristic is prevalent in baby boomers but not in the generational cohorts before them. It is counter-intuitive to the traditional view that “old people” are overwhelmed by how much information is now available to them, and suggests that baby boomers are prepared to use technology to help them gather the information they need. Half of all New Zealand baby boomers say they like being the first to know about new technologies (a characteristic of innovators and early adopters) and they are, in general, 20% less likely than their American counterparts to lament that society has become too dependent on technology.
New Zealand baby boomers are well educated and experienced. Their vitality and adventurousness mean that they are constantly discovering new and better ways to do things and they are willing to teach them to others (86% agree).
They are good at teaching others and not so arrogant as to assume they have all the answers. They acknowledge the importance of learning from the past and doing things in a proven way (70% agree), but bring their characteristic sense of challenge into play against established and entrenched ways of doing things (88% say it’s important to continually challenge established ways of doing things). Three-quarters of New Zealand baby boomers say they are not interested in sticking to the “tried and true” if there is a new and better way of doing things.
As well as agreeing in large numbers that younger people have a lot to learn from their generation (89%, 4% less than US baby boomers), they also feel they have a lot to learn from younger people (85% agree, compared to just 68% of US baby boomers). They don’t see any reason why young people and older people can’t enjoy the same things (91% agree) and 92% say they like knowing what young people are doing and creating. This augers well for integration in the workplace and for succession planning.
New Zealand baby boomers have high expectations of employers too; 85% feel that businesses have a social responsibility to their employees and the community.
Work provides meaning for New Zealand baby boomers. They universally (95%) feel they have been able to make a meaningful contribution in their job; 83% say work is important to their self-esteem and that it keeps them young (83%). For the vast majority of New Zealand baby boomers, work is an important part of who they are (80%). But they expect to have more than a job. Unlike their predecessor cohorts, they expect to get pleasure, satisfaction and fulfillment from their work (85% agree), and they want to continue to have opportunities to grow, learn and develop (78% agree).
They differentiate between meaningful work (which they value) and jobs. Two-thirds say they don’t need to have a job to feel good about themselves, yet they universally enjoy meaningful work. Three-quarters of New Zealand baby boomers say they would not be willing to work at a boring job even if the money were good, compared to 63% of US baby boomers.
Whether they work for others or for themselves, two-thirds of New Zealand baby boomers will focus their energies and invest their time in the next 5-10 years on excelling at their job.
The core vitality of New Zealand baby boomers will continue to make them valuable, productive contributors in the workplace – if employers can keep them there. 30% plan to start a new career; 38% say they will be running their own business, 21% will start one. 60% say they like the idea of starting a new career or job if and when they retire. Huber & Skidmore (2003), seeing similar trends overseas, described this as the “elderpreneur” phenomenon.
New Zealand baby boomers, after all, see endless opportunities before them and have very low resistance to change. They are risk takers and they back themselves (97% trust their own instincts). They are currently at the height of their productivity; retain youthful, vigorous approach to work, and exhibit a great capacity to continue to learn.
They are not slowing down. Eighty percent of New Zealand baby boomers say they would rather have too much to do and risk being stressed than too little and be bored; just half agree they have begun to slow down somewhat and two-thirds disagree with the statement, “All I want out of life is enough to be comfortable, more than that is not worth the effort”. They believe that hard work yields results (65%).
They do exhibit some characteristics commonly associated with more experienced workers, however. They have a strong moral core (82% have a clear sense of right and wrong) and support respect for New Zealand values (63%). Two-thirds agree their jobs have offered them security.
New Zealand Baby Boomers are hungry for information. They almost universally thirst to learn new skills (90%) and try to keep an eye out for new things to try and learn (88%).
They may not have been born into the computer age, but their willingness to adopt and enjoy new technology is universal – 98% agree with the statement, “the possibilities afforded us by technology are only going to continue to grow”. More significantly, 93% agree that they know how to use it to make their lives more interesting and enjoyable. This characteristic is prevalent in baby boomers but not in the generational cohorts before them. It is counter-intuitive to the traditional view that “old people” are overwhelmed by how much information is now available to them, and suggests that baby boomers are prepared to use technology to help them gather the information they need. Half of all New Zealand baby boomers say they like being the first to know about new technologies (a characteristic of innovators and early adopters) and they are, in general, 20% less likely than their American counterparts to lament that society has become too dependent on technology.
New Zealand baby boomers are well educated and experienced. Their vitality and adventurousness mean that they are constantly discovering new and better ways to do things and they are willing to teach them to others (86% agree).
They are good at teaching others and not so arrogant as to assume they have all the answers. They acknowledge the importance of learning from the past and doing things in a proven way (70% agree), but bring their characteristic sense of challenge into play against established and entrenched ways of doing things (88% say it’s important to continually challenge established ways of doing things). Three-quarters of New Zealand baby boomers say they are not interested in sticking to the “tried and true” if there is a new and better way of doing things.
As well as agreeing in large numbers that younger people have a lot to learn from their generation (89%, 4% less than US baby boomers), they also feel they have a lot to learn from younger people (85% agree, compared to just 68% of US baby boomers). They don’t see any reason why young people and older people can’t enjoy the same things (91% agree) and 92% say they like knowing what young people are doing and creating. This augers well for integration in the workplace and for succession planning.
New Zealand baby boomers have high expectations of employers too; 85% feel that businesses have a social responsibility to their employees and the community.
What's important in future for baby boomers
In the New Zealand Boomer Dreams 2009 Study, New Zealand baby boomers were asked to use a seven-point scale to show how likely they were to focus their energies and invest their time over the next five to ten years, based on 65 different life choices.
The preservation of their vitality ranked very highly with New Zealand baby boomers, whose top-ranking choice was improving their fitness and health (91%). This choice was introduced in the New Zealand study and was not asked in the US study, following focus group comments that they saw good health as the key to being able to enjoy everything else life had to offer.
New Zealand boomers’ top ten list is:
Improving your fitness and health 91%**
Doing things you’ve always wanted to do 90%*
Reading more books 89%*
Having new adventures that are exciting and fun 88%*
Enjoying more leisure activities 88%**
Getting more out of life 87%*
Learning a new skill or hobby 84%*
Making new friends 83%*
Having enough money to get by 82%
Travelling and seeing the world 81%
Taking more control over your future 81%*
* appears on both top ten lists
** not asked in US study
The preservation of their vitality ranked very highly with New Zealand baby boomers, whose top-ranking choice was improving their fitness and health (91%). This choice was introduced in the New Zealand study and was not asked in the US study, following focus group comments that they saw good health as the key to being able to enjoy everything else life had to offer.
New Zealand boomers’ top ten list is:
Improving your fitness and health 91%**
Doing things you’ve always wanted to do 90%*
Reading more books 89%*
Having new adventures that are exciting and fun 88%*
Enjoying more leisure activities 88%**
Getting more out of life 87%*
Learning a new skill or hobby 84%*
Making new friends 83%*
Having enough money to get by 82%
Travelling and seeing the world 81%
Taking more control over your future 81%*
* appears on both top ten lists
** not asked in US study
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