December 2013 - Parks & Recreation - 40

SENIORS

Table 1: Life Expectancy at Age 65 and Age at Exit from the Labor Force (Medians)
Age at Exit from the Labor Force

Life Expectancy at 65

Males

Females

Males

Females

Early 1950s

66.9

67.6

77.8

80.1

2011

61.6

60.5

82.8

85.4

Change

5.3

7.1

5.0

5.3

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, The Increasing Labor Force Participation of Older Workers and
its Effect on the Income of the Aged (www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v72n1/v72n1p59.html).

cle that featured The Summit, the
50,000-square-foot, $23 million facility in Grand Prairie, Texas, developed for those over 50 (http://ow.ly/
r3nA9). The city viewed it as a " new
generation facility " and as " the first
baby boomer facility in America. "
There, seniors can work out in the
aquatic area, gyms, weight rooms, or
on the jogging/walking track; participate in the art and dance studios; go
to a movie in the theater; and then
have a beer or glass of wine. It has
been an extraordinary success with
more than 5,000 active members.
Residents pay an annual fee of either
$206 (ages 50-64) or $56 (age 65 and
over), while the fees for nonresidents
are $506 and $206, respectively. The
center has quickly become a magnet
for development around it and a social focus in the community.

Obviously, seniors' increasing
numbers lead to an enhanced demand for services. In 2011, there
were 41.4 million U.S. citizens aged
65 or older. They accounted for 13.3
percent of the U.S. population. The
number is projected to increase dramatically to 56 million by 2020 and
to 50 million by 2040, at which time
they will comprise 21 percent of
the population. However, there are
five other evolving changes in the
status of seniors that suggest recreation and park departments should
be following Grand Prairie's lead in
moving them to the center of their
service efforts: extension of active
retirement time, enhanced discretionary income, contributions to
economic development, enhanced
leisure literacy and disproportionate
political influence.

Extension of the
Active Retirement Time
Table 1 shows that seniors now exit
the labor force many years before they
did in the past and that their life expectancy is substantially greater. The
result of these trends is that over the
past 60 years, the median average duration of retirement essentially doubled from 10.9 to 21.2 years for men
and from 12.5 to 24.9 years for women. The lengthening retirement period
means that increasingly large time
blocks are available for leisure pursuits, which has obvious implications
for recreation and park agencies.
Enhanced Discretionary Income
The increasing time blocks reported in
Table 1 have been accompanied by remarkable changes in seniors' financial
status. Their financial transformation

Table 2: Median Income of Households 1980-2011 in 2011-Adjusted Dollars
Per-Capita
Income in
2011

1980

1990

2000

2011

% Change
1980-2011

Mean Size of
Household in
2011

15-24

33,033

30,031

36,370

30,460

2.82

10,801

25-34

50,252

50,644

58,007

50,774

2.85

17,815

35-44

61,400

64,327

70,216

61,916

3.35

18,482

45-54

65,283

63,934

75,283

63,861

-2%

2.81

22,726

55-64

50,798

53,991

58,580

55,937

10%

2.18

26,659

65 and over

22,940

28,117

30,149

33,118

45%

65-74

33,851

36,767

41,598

1.91

21,779

75 and over

21,997

24,572

26,277

1.60

16,423

National average

50,854

2.55

19,943

Age of Head of
Household

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Table H-10. Age of Head of Household by Median and Mean
Income, All Races (www.census.gov/hhes/www/income/data/historical/household).
38

Parks & Recreation

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December 2013 - Parks & Recreation

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