Baby Boomers to Fight for Social Security, Remain Active Citizens in Retirement

Look for the baby boomer generation to fight tooth and claw to protect Social Security as the first of this large and influential group turns 65 in the coming year, says University of Alabama economist Dr. Gary Hoover.

“Boomers came of age in the 1960s, at the height of the civil rights, women’s and anti-Vietnam War movements,” says Dr. Lucinda Roff, interim dean of the UA School of Social Work. “They are accustomed to making their voices heard on political and social matters.”

“In 2011, members of this group of Americans born between 1946 and 1964 will begin to reach retirement age and are expected to begin to draw Social Security benefits,” says Hoover, a professor in UA’s College of Commerce.

In 2010, President Barack Obama formed a commission to make recommendations to address the ever-increasing burden of the budget deficit on the economy today and into the future.

“One of the recommendations from that commission was to increase the retirement age of those eligible for Social Security and to cut some benefits including overhauls to Medicare,” Hoover says. “But my guess is that this plan and any revision that includes any changes to Social Security will die a painful death in 2011 because the baby boomers will unite and flex their powerful political muscle.”

“People in the baby boom generation will be the healthiest, best educated and most affluent generation of older adults we have ever had,” adds Roff. “Virtually 90 percent have high school educations, and nearly 30 percent are college graduates. Their average household income is over $55,000, and they are active consumers of a wide range of goods and services.”

“We can expect that boomers will be active citizens and active consumer as long as their health permits,” Roff says.