Will all live to be 100+?
“’Absolute futility,’ says the Teacher. ‘Absolute futility. Everything is futile.’ What does a person gain for all his efforts that he labors at under the sun?”[1] I write this post feeling melancholic while in Washington DC, hence the Bible verse. I am sitting in a hotel room six hours away from my mother-in-law. She is 76 and lies dying in a nursing home. About a week and a half ago (as of this writing) when I saw her, she seemed to be more alert and have more energy than I had seen in a long time; I wondered if this was the burst of energy that some people get shortly before dying. My mother died twenty-two years ago at age 58. Both my mother and mother in-law were stricken with cancer.
Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott in The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity discuss the reality that people are living longer. They suggest that “A child born in the West today has a more than 50 per cent chance of living to be over 105.”[2] There are days when this statement is hard to believe, slowly watching my mother-in-law decline over the past year, and previously watching a neighbor decline both mentally and physically. However, there are other days when this feels true. Watching my dad at age 79 navigate a dark, wet, muddy cave where there are spots you almost have to crawl and a recent news story about JoCleta Wilson born Oct 4, 1924 and works 8 hours a week at a Home Depot in Louisville, KY.[3]
For us to not only mentally but also physically accommodate this growing reality of longer life spans, Gratton and Scott suggest that age related stages in life need to change in multiple sectors.[4] I want to briefly mention two sectors, education and employment and then discuss how greater longevity is not equally accessible.
Education is a sector that I believe is making progress in changing the idea of age-related stages in life. I think our existing cohort is a great example of this change. Last year at this time I was asking myself, why in the world am I pursuing a doctoral degree at age 52, will I live long enough to get a return on my investment? Most of my colleagues where I work either already have their doctoral degrees or are 20 or more years younger than me when they start pursuing the degree. Arriving in Oxford last year and seeing my cohort and the other two allowed me to realize that most people pursuing this degree are not doing so in their twenties (I’m not calling anyone old). It will be great to see more and more people pursuing education later in life.
A couple months ago we were looking at our presidential candidates and wondering if either candidate should really be seeking a second term at their age. Perhaps in the next twenty to thirty years we won’t even think twice about that but right now the employment sector seem to be changing slowly. JoCleta Wilson holding a job, one that she picked up well into retirement, does not seem to be the norm. In 2018 ProPublica and the Urban Institute released a study showing that 56% of people surveyed who were over the age of 50 had been forced out of a full-time stable job and two-thirds of those will go on to lose at least two more jobs.[5] Today there are still jobs that have mandatory retirement ages, air traffic controller, age 56; pilots, age 65; American diplomats, age 65; judges, age varies based on state constitution.[6] Will those mandatory ages be pushed back or disappear altogether in the future, time will tell?
I appreciate that Gatton and Scott discuss the bumps in the road that will be faced at all levels, individually, familial, and societal as we navigate into the world where people living to be 100 or more years will be the norm. Gatton and Scott also present the reality that as of now there still exists inequality within this new norm. In a 2008 video, Unnatural Causes: In Sickness and In Wealth released by California Newsreel the city of Louisville, KY is highlighted. In the video they state “In some areas, people die three, five, even ten years sooner than in others. Cancer and heart disease are almost twice the rate in some areas as in other.”[7] This is echoed throughout the country. USA Today in 2019 published the results of a study conducted by NYU, they state “The gap was huge in some of America’s largest cities. In Chicago, the difference between the neighborhoods with the longest life expectancy level and the shortest was 30.1 years. In Washington, D.C., the number was 27.5 years. In New York, it was 27.4 years. In New Orleans and Buffalo, the figure was 25.8 years.”[8] In this study, the gap was attributed to racial and ethnic segregation. In Louisville, KY, researchers there attributed it to cortisol (stress) levels differences, most of that varied based on social class.[9] These are areas that we as a nation and we as the body of Christ need to address.
Of course, as we look forward to, or not, living well into our 80s, 90s or even 100s there are areas that science still needs to address. Why does a 58-year-old die of ovarian cancer, why does women in her 70s develop several meningiomas (tumors that develop on the lining surrounding the brain) requiring 3 different brain surgeries and ultimately death?
[1] Ecclesiastes 1:2-3 (CSB)
[2] Gratton, Lynda and Scott, Andrew, The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity, (New York, NY: Bloomsbury Business. 2017), 2
[3] Shannon Cogan, “Oldest Home Depot Employee in the Country Lives in Louisville,” Wave News. Accessed on September 27, 2024. https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/oldest-home-depot-employee-in-the-country-lives-in-louisville/ar-AA1qRddQ?ocid=BingNewsVerp.
[4] Gratton and Scott.
[5] Petter Gossilin, “If You’re Over 50, Changes Are the Decision to Leave a Job Won’t be Yours,” ProPublica, December 28, 2018, https://www.propublica.org/article/older-workers-united-states-pushed-out-of-work-forced-retirement.
[6] Aurelio Loscin, “Jobs with Mandatory Retirement,” Career Trend, Accessed on September 28, 2024, https://careertrend.com/jobs-mandatory-retirement-7991.html.
[7] California Newsreel, Unnatural Causes: In Sickness and Wealth, PBS, https://www-tc.pbs.org/unnaturalcauses/assets/resources/in_sickness_and_wealth_transcript.pdf.
[8] Douglas A. McIntyre, “Life Expectancy Varies Greatly by Neighborhood, a NYU Study Says,” USA Today, June 26, 2019. Lhttps://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/06/26/study-life-expectancy-varies-by-neighborhood-and-the-gap-is-huge/39623241/.
[9] California Newsreel.
About the Author
Jeff Styer
Jeff Styer lives in Northeast Ohio's Amish Country. He has degrees in Social Work and Psychology and currently works as a professor of social work at Mount Vernon Nazarene University. Jeff is married to his wife, Veronica, 25+ years. Together they have 4 beautiful children (to be honest, Jeff has 4 kids, Veronica says she is raising 5). Jeff loves the outdoors, including biking, hiking, camping, birding, and recently picked up disc golf.8 responses to “Will all live to be 100+?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Hi Jeff,
In your observation, how do differences in life expectancy in various neighborhoods and cities highlight broader societal issues, and what are the underlying causes mentioned?
Scientifically, the underlying causes of the disparities are related to stress and socioeconomic status. However, more broadly it relates to systemic racism/discrimination that remains present in our country. Rather than seeing all people created in the image of God and worthy of dignity and respect, we marginalize those who do not fit into the dominant society. For example, people with mental health and substance issues, we marginalize them, forcing them into the shadows of low paying jobs and low-income neighborhoods. It is easier to move into the safe suburbs than deal with the problems in our neighborhoods. So, another issue is either apathy or feeling powerless to do anything to assist.
Hi Jeff, I am sorry for your loss of your MIL. I appreciate that you brought us the inequities in aging based on where they live, their stress and their social class. From your perspective as someone who teaches social work on a college level, do you know if there has been specific research on this? And if so, any suggestions for minimizing the disparities?
Thanks, I appreciated your prayers. In the film I referenced, Unnatural Causes: In Sickness and In Wealth mentioned a couple studies that have been done. First, they looked at the amount of cortisol in a person’s system and found that those with more cortisol had a lower Socio-economic-status. In another study in they exposed people to a cold virus. Those with more stress in their lives tended to exhibit cold symptoms compared to those with lower stress. They also mentioned a national study looking at excess death rates (more deaths per year than what is to be expected) and found that among the Black community in the U.S. the excess death rate was 83,000/year. There are several areas that need to be addressed. One place to start is truly affordable health care, not plans with $6000 – $8,000 deductibles. I have avoided going to the doctor because I didn’t want to pay for the visit. Affordable housing is another. We have homes being built in our area that claim to be affordable but starting prices is close to $250,000. I’m thinking of Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs. If we as a society can ensure that people have access to the basic needs (food, shelter, clothing, and I would include healthcare) then their stress should be lower.
Hey Jeff! I am lifting you and your family up my friend. You raise some things to think about. The disparities are noteworthy considering quality of life being a huge factor. One thing you also touched on was mandatory retirement and given the fact people are living longer creates problems financially. If you were asked to help solve the problem, what would you suggest?
Thanks for the prayers, we just returned from a graveside service and family meal. My daughter’s boyfriend’s dad is a retired air traffic controller. My daughter and her boyfriend and I had a conversation about the mandatory age. I understand the concerns when you are in control of hundreds of people’s lives every day. But I wonder I a required physical at set intervals would suffice instead of the age restriction. Also maybe some free training to prepare them for their next job, especially if there is the potential to live another 40-50 years after a forced retirement.
Hi Jeff, I am glad to know that you decided to pursue this doctoral program at age 52! I know there will be a return on investment (tangible and intangible). Sometimes, I believe the three-stage life model creates fear in those reaching an age where they think there won’t be a return on investment. Do you foresee any transition in your life after completing this doctoral program? Is there anything else you would like to pursue?
Elysse,
One of the transitions my wife and I are starting to make is that of the “empty nest.” My youngest of four, Josiah, is a senior in high school. He will head off to college next fall. I do have my younger daughter living at home and my oldest daughter may move back home in May while she pursues graduate work. Given that I am not sure when the empty nest will actually happen.
I am not sure if there is anything else I want to pursue besides outdoor adventures. My wife and I have dreamed of hiking the Appalachian Trail and there are some multi-day bike rides I would like to accomplish.