02/17/2008
enlarge
Staff photos by Andy Molloyfrom the Kennebec Journal
Many students absent, but most not due to H1N1
Massacre could have been much worse
Nation's jobless rate reaches 10 percent
Attack 'outrageous,' says Augusta soldier stationed at Fort Hood
Old Man Winter: He's still got it
AUGUSTA Up the rails
Mace seeks repeat
Bobcats see similar team in title game
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Kennebec Journal
from the Morning Sentinel
'The luckiest man in the world just left us'
Officials: Swine flu a small part of school absences
Veteran: Military 'gives you strength'
AFTER THE VOTE How to dispense pot to patients?
SUSPECT FOUND IN CLOSET
NEWPORT Police recover two firearms
State cross country titles up for grabs
H.S. GIRLS SOCCER Raiders try to crack West's title reign
All of today's:
News | Sports
from the Morning Sentinel
They are the children of prosperity, products of an era when times were good and getting better in America, and from the start their impact on this country has been significant.
Meet the baby boomers.
Their ages range from 43 to 62. They are big in number, nearly 80 million strong, all of them born between 1946 and 1964, a period when the birth rate reached record highs in this country, a rate that has yet to be eclipsed.
And soon, starting in earnest in 2011, the baby boomers will begin to retire, and that, too, is expected to have a big impact on American society. Maine is no exception.
In fact, Maine could be more profoundly affected than most states.
Maine already has the oldest population in the nation based on median age, said Charles S. Colgan of the Muskie School of Public Service. A report by the Maine State Planning Office on Maine's aging population puts that median age at 41.2, or almost five years older than the national median age.
Colgan stresses that states such as Florida and Arizona have a higher percentage of residents at or near retirement than Maine. Maine is older in median age, he said, because the state has fewer young people than most states and that situation will continue.
In his report, "Maine's Aging Economy and the Economy of Aging," Colgan writes that workers between the ages of 16 and 24 will decline by 800 between 2000 and 2020.
As for those 65 and older, that segment of the population will grow significantly -- from 14 percent to 22 percent -- over the next 25 years, as most baby boomers in the state reach retirement age.
"The concern," Colgan writes, "is that the 'dependent' population of people over 64 will be inadequately supported by the working-age population."
For Maine, the impact and pressures will be felt in health care, work force, housing demand and public policy. These are among the issues the Morning Sentinel and Kennebec Journal will examine in-depth today and for the next three days.
Reader comments
Click here to view or add reader comments