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The Aging Face of Utah
Public Policy Implications of the Baby Boom Generation
by Janice Houston, David Patton
Over the next 30 years Utah will experience a substantial and momentous age shift in its population. The largest generation in history – the so-called Baby Boomers – will join the elder generation.
Why should Utah prepare for this population shift? Many Baby Boomers will retire young, remaining healthy and active. As they age, however, these individuals will experience an increased need for health care and social support, including government programs such as Medicare and Social Security.
[FULL STORY]
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Utah’s Other Brain Drain
by Jordan Robertson, Janice Houston
Policymakers often fret about Utah’s “brain drain,” talented young people who gain a solid education in Utah’s schools, colleges and universities then go outside the state in search of better paying jobs. However, there is a quieter and potentially more damaging brain drain that is going to hit the state within the next few years. This brain drain has gotten very little press and only minimal attention from those that are going to be most impacted: government agencies.
National estimates place the percentage of government workers that are in the baby boom age group at 43.6%. This means that as this age group retires over the next twenty-five years; federal, state, local governments as well as school districts, fire and police forces will loose almost half of their total workforce and up to 75% of their management force. While the private sector will also experience high rates of attrition, the public sector will experience the brain drain first and the results will be felt more keenly than in the private sector. Why?
[FULL STORY]
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Policy Perspectives is brought to you by:
www.cppa.utah.edu
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Age Wave (Or the Gray Tsunami)
The Growth in Utah’s Elderly Population
by Kelli Polcha, MSW, MPA
At our American Society For Public Administration (ASPA)luncheon/Career Fair held in February, Dr. David Patton spoke about the impact of the pending retirement of “baby boomers” (people born during the period 1945-1962) and how it will impact the job market here in Utah. This is an important issue for all of us to be thinking about, along with the other major impacts that this generation will have on all of us over the next 20 years or so. The following statistics regarding the projected growth in the 60+ population are helpful in terms of grasping the size of the wave that is coming at us.
[FULL STORY]
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