Carolina context [2009 : June, no.9]

THE PROGRAM ON PUBLIC LIFE context WWW.SOUTHNOW.ORG J U N E 2 0 0 9 N U M В E R 9 FERREL GUILLORY Director guillory@unc.edu ANDREW HOLTON Associate Director holton@unc.edu JENNIFER WEAVER Assistant Director Jor Research Jennifer_weaver@unc.edu THAD BEYLE Senior Research Fellow beyle@emaii. unc.edu HODDING CARTER, III Leadership Fellow hoddingcarter@unc.edu D. LEROY TOWNS Research Fellow dltowns@email.unc.edu THE PROGRAM ON PUBLIC LIFE is a non-partisan organization devoted to serving the people of North Carolina and the South by informing the public agenda and nurturing leadership. To receive an electronic version or to subscribe to the printed version, send your name and email address to southnow@unc.edu. The Program on Public Life is part of the Center for the Study of the American South at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Carolina Context was printed with the use of state funds. 750 copies of this public document were printed at a cost of SI. 496, or $1.99 a copy. DIRECTOR'S NOTE By general definition, the baby-boom generation consists of persons bom between 1946 and 1964. As the earliest "boomers” approach 65 years of age, much of the public policy debate revolves around the implications of the generational bulge on the future of Social Security and Medicare. Those federal income-support and health-care programs have done much to reduce economic distress among the elderly in our country. Of course, there are state policy implications as well. The Census Bureau projects that North Carolina will have more than 2.2 million residents 65 and older by 2030, just about doubling their number in the state today. Some of our counties, especially in the eastern coastal plain and in the western mountains, will soon have a median age of 45 and even 50. Improved health and increased longevity make it possible for more people to work productively beyond age 65, which no longer stands as rigid a re¬ tirement age as it once did. Now, a severe economic recession, which has sapped wealth out of retire¬ ment accounts, is driving more people to consider working longer to replenish their savings. This issue of Carolina Context explores trends and issues arising out of what is likely to be a continued substantial presence of older North Carolinians in the state’s workforce. It suggests policy responses, drawing from the work of the UNC Institute on Aging and the Governor’s Advisory Council on Aging. The lead author, John Scott, is an assistant p rofessor ofpublic policy atthe University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. A former tax attorney and lobbyist, John’s work focuses on work and aging, pensions and employee benefits, as well as the politics of public policy. He is also a research scientist at the Institute on Aging. Co-author Andy Sharma is a doctoral candi¬ date in the Department of Public Policy at UNC- Chapel Hill. His researchfocusesonmigration and population aging. We acknowledge with appreciation the col¬ laboration of the UNC Institute on Aging and its director, Victor W. Marshall. The institute hosts the Aging Workforce Interest Group and pro¬ vides publication alerts on the aging workforce. Its website (www.aging.unc.edu) contains data and research analysis on the aging population in North Carolina. The website of the Program on Public Life (www.southnow.org) has an archive of its Carolina Context white papers and NC DataNet newsletters. We welcome yourthoughts about and contributions to our work. Carolina Context is the vehicle for policy- oriented white papers researched and written by faculty, graduate students and staff professionals at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. These white papers are made possible by an appropriation from the General Assembly, which instructed the UNC Program on Public Life to provide it with research on demographic, economic, social and environmental trends. We are grateful for that support. NC DataNet is the program’s newsletter on North Carolina electoral trends. The staff of the Program on Public Life researches and produces DataNet, often with the involvement of UNC students. It draws from the collection of election material compiled by our colleague Thad Beyle. We thank Progress Energy for the financial underwriting of the production of NC DataNet since 2001. We also thank the Z. Smith Reynolds Founda- tionforits long-standing support ofthe Program on Public Life’s seminars and working roundtables. The Triangle Community Foundation has sup¬ ported research by the Program on Public Life in connection with its Triangle Gives Back project. Our November 2008 “report to the region” dissects philanthropy in the growing Triangle metropolitan region. We are grateful to the Triangle Community Foundation for its continuing support of the pro¬ gram’s inquiries into corporate philanthropy and giving and civic activity among younger adults in this region. — FERREL GUILLORY Director. Program on Public Life