What are New Zealand baby boomers’ future intentions relating to voluntary participation in community activities and social causes?
Three-quarters of New Zealand baby boomers agree that if they are doing something they love, it doesn’t matter whether they get paid for it, while nearly two-thirds agree that they don’t have to have a job to feel good about themselves. This suggests they distinguish between the two and do not necessarily need to be tied to the workplace to meet their “meaning” needs. This is good news for the voluntary sector, which can tap into the New Zealand baby boomer thirst for purposeful endeavour, even without the money to pay them. Provided community organisations can deliver the opportunities to learn, grow and enhance the need baby boomers have to continue to matter, they will attract a large pool of talented and experienced volunteers.
Implications for the voluntary sector
Conventional wisdom suggests that if baby boomers do not retire in the traditional sense, they will have less time available to contribute to volunteering.
Maire Dwyer (2006) theorised that increased labour force participation by middle-aged women might reduce the supply of volunteers, due to more baby boomer women participating in the workforce than their predecessors, but that a greater capacity of “larger, healthier and better educated young-olds” might boost the skills and energy of the volunteer populations. The findings of the New Zealand Boomer Dreams Study 2009 support that view.
The strong sense of responsibility felt by New Zealand baby boomers and their attitudes to vitality and work life balance mean that they will have time and energy that they are willing to contribute, and perhaps more significantly, high levels of expertise.
New Zealand baby boomers almost universally champion the obligation of responsibility over the assertion of personal rights. As a result, they are much less likely to get involved in politics or social causes that matter to them personally, and more likely to be interested in environmental issues (60%); in working to make the community a better place (70%); and giving more time (56%) or money (42%) to charity.
The next 40 years will present challenges and opportunities for the voluntary sector. They can expect an influx of committed baby boomer volunteers, but they should expect those volunteers to be as demanding, challenging and disruptive to the established way of doing things as this study has revealed in the New Zealand baby boomer character.
Dwyer (2006) posits that there will also be increased demand for volunteers to organise activities geared to the healthier, better educated baby boomers in search of leisure adventures. The findings of the New Zealand Boomer Dreams Study 2009 support that view and suggest it will be other baby boomers who will fill these roles.
The good news is that while disruption is uncomfortable, it will breathe fresh life and new vigour into the voluntary sector.
This is the age when kaumatuatanga (the role and place of the respected, responsible elder generation) will come to the fore. Visionary service sector leaders can start planning to harness the potential of this new generation of volunteer workers, mentors and leaders.
The other significant implication for the voluntary sector is the need to recognise the fiercely independent and self-reliant streak in New Zealand baby boomers. Accustomed to forging their own path and taking responsibility for themselves all of their lives, they are less likely than their predecessor generation to ask for help when they need it, or accept help when it is offered. Social services providing assistance to the aged will need to develop strategies to connect with the ageing character of this ageless generation when they finally have to accept that life is no longer a set of endless opportunities, at least for them (and currently 92% of them are not prepared to entertain that notion).
Rather than planning for the provision of services to the elderly from 65 to 85, services in the voluntary sector for the aged should plan for their clients to come to them later and perhaps for shorter periods of time, premised on the idea that New Zealand baby boomers will keep themselves healthy for as long as possible, followed by a more rapid decline, rather than a lengthy period of inactivity and a long decline into old age.
Showing posts with label baby boomer concerns. Show all posts
Showing posts with label baby boomer concerns. Show all posts
21 September 2009
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.
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