Baby boomers are doing it again: insisting the world change as they push through it. This time, they are shaping the most unwieldy institution of all: North Carolina's government.
The first of the boomers turned 65 last week. Every day for the next 19 years, 10,000 boomers in the United States will pass that milestone. This year in North Carolina, more than 84,000 are expected to do so.
It was an inevitable transformation as the population explosion - brought by World War II soldiers coming home in 1945, and subsiding with the proliferation of birth control in 1964 - shifted into its senior years. The change in North Carolina will be dramatic: By 2030, 71 counties will have greater populations of those 60 and older than those 17 and younger.
To cope, just about every piece of North Carolina's government is reinventing itself. About 50 agencies have designated senior citizen experts - people who will help their agencies find ways to cater to the boomer population. Many community colleges have created programs for the graying student; this spring, Wake Tech is offering 32 classes solely for the plus-50 crowd. The library system has trained a consultant to help local libraries serve baby boomers, including finding ways to make use of them as volunteers. Senior centers are trading bingo and bridge nights for kickboxing classes and Wii tournaments, and have extended hours to serve those still juggling day jobs. Some centers are even scrapping a word that makes many boomers bristle: senior.
"I'm seasoned, not senior," said Arnita Woodard, 61, who exercises regularly at the senior center in Garner.
The changes in government aren't simply a matter of customer service: The aging of baby boomers will have tremendous bearing on government's ability to do its work.
State leaders are bracing for the biggest brain drain in history; at least a third of state employees will be eligible to retire by 2015. A whopping 68 percent of state workers in 2007 were baby boomers. Their exodus from the work force will deplete many agencies of their most experienced staffers.
The aging of baby boomers did not catch the government leaders flat-footed: Leaders have been trying to plan for this moment for nearly two decades. State agencies have been ordered to think of their service plans for seniors, and figure out how to cross train younger employees to do the jobs boomers have held for decades. Some communities, such as Orange County, built senior centers in recent years with capacity for a growing batch of seniors.
'A difficult balance'
Despite that planning, the baby boomers' crossover will strain the system.
"Just about every potential deficit will double," said Dennis Streets, director of the state Division on Aging and Adult Services. "Dementia, blindness, deafness. ... Just with pure numbers, we'll be seeing twice the people with those issues soon. Our ability to respond will be tested."
The cost of caring for aging boomers is largely unknown, but a few early projections are startling. The budget for state and federal grants that help low-income seniors receive services, such as home meal delivery and in-home aides, is expected to more than triple in the next two decades.
And county and local governments, with budgets largely dependent on property taxes, could be in a bind in years to come as low-income boomers become seniors eligible for deductions on their property taxes. That could have a huge impact on counties such as Wake, which is expected to see a 200 percent growth in its elderly population by 2030. Johnston and Orange counties aren't far behind, expecting more than 130 percent growth in seniors in the next two decades.
"We're going to have to be careful," said Frank Clifton, Orange County manager. "Somebody has to pay taxes to deliver services. This will be a difficult balance."
The timing couldn't be worse. Baby boomers have propped up this state for decades. Now, when they start to need its services most, government has the least to give.
The legislature is set to fill a $3.7 billion hole in the state budget. Just about every program is at risk, including services aiding the most vulnerable seniors. That includes state grants to local nonprofits filling the gaps to help seniors.
"Everything could be on the chopping block," said state Rep. Jennifer Weiss, a Wake County Democrat who works on elder issues. "We're dealing with a shrinking pie."
Advocates for the elderly worry about funding to programs that provide food, such as Meals on Wheels, as well as transportation services to keep otherwise healthy seniors living independently longer, which advocates say means a huge cost savings in the long-run. Services that support family members caring for those with Alzheimer's disease and certain Medicaid benefits such as dental care could be at risk. Many also fear for the Senior Olympics, which advocates say has let seniors connect and get healthy.
Boomers can start tapping into Social Security at 62, but at a reduced rate. For the earliest boomers, full retirement age is now 66. Those on the tail end of the boomers can draw full benefits at age 67.
Financing retirement
The baby boomers who planned and saved in order to brave these years with their own resources may be forced to lean on government for help. Retirement savings invested in stocks have dwindled, forcing many boomers who stepped into retirement years ago to look for work.
Their presence in the leagues of the unemployed has been so notable that the state Employment Security Commission now has a "senior" specialist in each office, equipped to help those 50 and older to be as competitive as possible.
"We're helping them apply 21st century job seeking principles," said Jim Korth, who oversees senior specialists for the commission. "We're doing what we can to figure out how to help them compete against the tech-savvy 30-year-old."
Katie Poe, 62, found herself needing help from the Employment Security Commission and Wake Tech when she was laid off last March from her job as an administrative assistant. She took a résumé-writing class and other courses on getting organized and learning how to network. Last year at Wake Tech, she enrolled in a class for women older than 50 who are trying to reinvent themselves. She couldn't believe how many classes were geared toward boomers in her situation: looking for new jobs when they had meant to get ready to retire.
"Thank goodness for this stuff," said Poe, who is still out of work. "Sure, I'd like to retire one day, but that is not a reality right now."
Some boomers say the state has no choice but to get ready for them.
"We're a self-centered and demanding bunch," said Bill Lamb, who works for UNC-Chapel Hill's Institute on Aging. "And, we've had a whole lifetime of understanding that we get our way."
News researcher David Raynor contributed to this report.
