Third Third in the News - January 2024 Edition (continued)

A quick summary of fascinating third third articles published last month.

Note: This article is a continuation of a piece I wrote for the De Pree Center website.

“Active Aging: Exercise and Social Life Shield Brain Health”

Kurt Bodenmueller, Neuroscience News.com, December 15, 2023

This article summarizes a research study from the University of Zürich. Here’s the main point: “Analyzing data from a 12-year longitudinal study, researchers focused on the entorhinal cortex, vital for learning and memory and vulnerable in Alzheimer’s disease. They found that increased physical and social activity slowed the thinning of the entorhinal cortex and, consequently, memory decline over seven years.”

It's well-known that relationships and exercise contribute to the improvement of both lifespan (long life) and healthspan (healthy life). This study focuses on one particular way that relationships and exercise are good for the brain as we get older.

Of course, there are benefits to exercising by yourself. But this study would encourage us to find ways to join exercise and social life. For some, this might be playing pickleball or participating in dance, aerobics, or yoga classes. For me, one of the main ways I combine exercise and social life is through hiking.

• Do you regularly exercise in community with others?

“For Seniors, Friendship May Be More Important Than Family”
Laura F. Belli and Danila Suárez Tomé, Worldcrunch, December 10, 2023

In this article, “Argentines Laura Belli and Danila Suárez Tomé, two friends with PhDs in philosophy, explore the challenges and benefits of friendship in their book Filosofía de la amistad (Friendship Philosophy).” In their book, they explain that “for many older people, friendships take on an inordinate importance that may even displace family ties. We might ordinarily associate this stage in life with fewer friendships and withdrawal into the family environment or in the worst cases, loneliness. For all age groups, isolation is increasingly seen as a healthcare epidemic in Western societies, precisely for its effects on physical and emotional wellbeing. It is not unusual of course for friendships to end if they rested on conditions that have disappeared (you are less mobile now, are dependent, or poorer). Only, the book suggests, it needn't be inevitable.”

What Belli and Suárez Tomé propose is consistent with the findings of academic research. For example, William Chopik, a social-personality psychologist at Michigan State University, did “a pair of studies involving nearly 280,000 people. [He] found that friendships become increasingly important to one’s happiness and health across the lifespan. Not only that, but in older adults, friendships are actually a stronger predictor of health and happiness than relationships with family members. (See “Are friends better for us than family?”)

There is still plenty of research pointing to the importance of family relationships in third third flourishing. But recent studies underscore the high value of friendships, even friendships created when we are well into the third third of life.

• What are you doing to nurture your friendships?

“Older Workers Are Growing in Number and Earning Higher Wages”

Richard Fry and Dana Braga, Pew Research Center, December 14, 2023

A recent report from the Pew Research Center offered some startling findings about the participation of older workers in the U.S. workforce. Their research was based on a survey of 5,188 U.S. adults done early in 2023. Among many things, they found:

“Roughly one-in-five Americans ages 65 and older (19%) were employed in 2023 – nearly double the share of those who were working 35 years ago.”

“Not only are older workers increasing in number, but their earning power has grown in recent decades. In 2022, the typical worker age 65 or older earned $22 per hour, up from $13 in 1987.”

“. . . more older adults in the workforce, working longer hours with higher levels of education and greater pay per hour – older workers’ overall contribution to the labor force has grown quite a bit. In 2023, they accounted for 7% of all wages and salaries paid by U.S. employers. That is more than triple the share in 1987 (2%).”

“A recent Pew Research Center survey found that workers ages 65 and older are more satisfied with their jobs overall than younger workers. They’re also more likely to say they find their job enjoyable and fulfilling all or most of the time, and less likely to say they find it stressful.”

“U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projections show that the role of older workers will continue to grow over the next decade. Adults ages 65 and older are projected to be 8.6% of the labor force (those working and looking for work) in 2032, up from 6.6% in 2022. Older adults are projected to account for 57% of labor force growth over this period.”

Questions for you to consider:

• What do you think about the growing participation of older adults in the workforce?

• What are your expectations for your work in the third third of life?

“Biden. Rolling Stones. Harrison Ford. Why older workers are just saying no to retirement”
Jessica Guynn, USA Today, December 14, 2023

This article from USA Today draws from the Pew research highlighted above. For example: “In a major demographic shift, the older workforce – some 11 million Americans – has quadrupled in size since the mid-1980s, driven by the graying of the U.S. population.”

The article wonders, “What’s driving the trend?” It outlines several factors, including: the higher levels of education for older adults (which makes employment more likely, enjoyable, and profitable); the higher level of self-employment among older people; the requirement of Social Security that people work longer for maximum benefits; the fact that older people tend to be healthier and live longer these days; and the fact that older workers “enjoy their jobs” more than younger workers.

That final factor – enjoying their jobs – is based on another Pew research study from 2023. It found that “Older workers offer the most positive assessments of their job. Two-thirds of workers ages 65 and older say they are extremely or very satisfied with their job overall, compared with 55% of those 50 to 64, 51% of those 30 to 49, and 44% of those 18 to 29.”

Job enjoyment or satisfaction is surely a major factor in the growing number of older adults in the workplace. But I think those who study and report on these things are missing something significant: purpose. This is different from enjoyment, though sometimes related. What keeps many of us working as we get older – including me, at 66 ½ years – is a sense of purpose. Not only do I want my life to matter, but also I believe that God has a purpose for me. So, there are many times when I enjoy my job. But there are other times when I’m motivated less by enjoyment and more by my belief that I am serving the Lord and making a difference that matters in this world.

• If you’re continuing to work after age 65, whether full-time, part-time, or uncompensated – why? What motivates you to keep going?