On February 3, 2023, Lincoln South Rotary Club heard from Randall Jones - Director of the City Department on Aging. He talked about some of the support provided through Aging Partners and some general information about our aging population.
Randy started the presentation by stating that 70 is no longer considered old. He said that we anticipated that there would be a large population of Baby Boomers that would live into their 70s - and now it is here.
He shared a chart that shows the number of people in each age group. He then pointed out that one of the significant issues is to look at the age group behind - those that are in the workforce - those that are funding the Social Security for the group before them.
Looking at the number of Baby Boomers and then the age group behind, he shared that there is a real concern that the Social Security system will survive for all of the Baby Boomers. And, the Gen Y group may be in worse shape as the age group behind them is quite small.
This was not a political presentation - but a realization. He also stated that over 60% of the population is relying only on their social security. They do not have additional retirement plans or savings. So, we may find a large population of the Baby Boomers become homeless or reliant on medicaid.
The number of people at age 70 grew gradually in the 1970s through the 2010s. But, in the 2020s there is a huge spike - 5 times the growth that we saw in the past.
For the first time in history, the number of senior citizens will exceed the population of young children.
Our communities need to support the needs of all of our population. But understanding the increase in seniors means paying specific attention to that demographic.
There is an impact on the infrastructure of our communities. What do we need to do to be prepared for the communities where our seniors are living. And what about the communities that might be growing as seniors relocate?
What do we need to do, as a City, to prepare for the increase in our senior population?
The Department is working on a survey of citizens to test the walkability of our neighborhoods. In Lincoln we are not at a point where we have a high emphasis on providing for people with mobility issues. Randy shared a scenario where one of the employees at Aging Partners has to go out of his way to find a corner where he can navigate in his wheel chair.
He discussed the need to be prepared to provide additional mass transit support. That does not mean just services from bus stop to bus stop, but complete services to assist a person from their home into the van/bus and then to their destination.
The highest volume of calls to our fire department and emts is for falls. He talked about providing more opportunities for in-home support.
An interesting point is that there are seniors who still can, and want to, work. So we need to ensure these services are there for them - the people contributing to our economy. And, they are trying to provide for their own retirement - and not rely only on Social Security.
Randy shared some information about the Senior Living Spectrum. There are many options to full nursing care, assisted living to retirement villages. The monthly costs vary depending on the type of facility but it is obvious that a person on Social Security only does not have those options. Average Social Security Benefit payment is $20,000 annually. A private room in an assisted living facility could cost about $49,000 annually.
Citizens can, and will be taken care of, but if they are not able to manage the financial requirements then they need to rely on Medicaid and organizations such as Aging Partners. With that, they will turn over all of their assets so help pay for the services.
The City Department on Aging is working on a master plan to support all of these concerns - these needs. The most immediate is the development of Victory Park located on the VA Campus.
BIO
Randall (Randy) Jones is the Director of the City Department on Aging – Aging Partners. This program serves older Nebraskans living in a seven-county area with the goal of providing services to enable people to live as independently as they wish. Aging Partners is currently conducting a major renovation at the VA Campus for Aging Partners future home.
Randy is a native Lincolnite, he graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University and began a 34-year career with the American Red Cross. During his last three years with the Red Cross he was on a team that focused on a major reengineering of the Health & Safety programs nationwide with specific oversight to divisions in the Midwest and Western U.S. Randy and his wife Melina are new grandparents and enjoy their Son and Daughter-in-law who also live in Lincoln.