It’s common knowledge that people in their 60s and 70s today are much healthier and fitter than their parents and grandparents of a similar age. We are living longer and many of today’s school children in advanced economies will live to 100.
It’s unrealistic to think that in the near future we can continue to start work in our early 20s and retire in our 60s. This would mean being retired for around 40 years and it’s unlikely that many people would have acquired enough superannuation to last that long.
The obvious solution is that most people will be working into their 70s and the Government is already legislating for this to happen. However if people are to continue working in jobs that they find satisfying, it will be necessary to remove age discrimination from the workforce. Currently it’s alive and well established.
One way to help achieve this is for older people to be seen as productive members of society and not people whose “use by” date has arrived. Many of the terms used to describe people over 60 come from the first half of last century, when many in their 60s were old and frail. That’s not the case today and we really need a new description that reflects the life of 60s and 70s in the 21st Century.
The popular web site”Starts at 60” ran an article recently asking viewers if they preferred to be called “Seniors” or “Super Adults.” This article generated over 200 responses. Some loved “Super Adults” and some hated it. I think this was OK. The worst result would have been if people thought that “Super Adult” was so bland that they neither liked or disliked it and didn’t respond at all.
This new term gets noticed. It’s a humorous send- up where older people are prepared to laugh at themselves and push back against those descriptions that stereotype people over 60 as “old” and “past it”. To be a “Super Adult” says that you have a sense of humour, you are involved with life and still have a useful contribution to make to society.
