I’d be curious what these stats would show in other countries.

On aspects of everyday life ranging from mental acuity to physical dexterity to sexual activity to financial security, a new Pew Research Center Social & Demographic Trends survey on aging among a nationally representative sample of 2,969 adults finds a sizable gap between the expectations that young and middle-aged adults have about old age and the actual experiences reported by older Americans themselves.

These disparities come into sharpest focus when survey respondents are asked about a series of negative benchmarks often associated with aging, such as illness, memory loss, an inability to drive, an end to sexual activity, a struggle with loneliness and depression, and difficulty paying bills. In every instance, older adults report experiencing them at lower levels (often far lower) than younger adults report expecting to encounter them when they grow old. At the same time, however, older adults report experiencing fewer of the benefits of aging that younger adults expect to enjoy when they grow old, such as spending more time with their family, traveling more for pleasure, having more time for hobbies, doing volunteer work or starting a second career.




  1. MikeN says:

    stop playing video games

  2. qb says:

    You go to bed well and wake up with an injury.

  3. The Warden says:

    Under ObamaCare(sic), we won’t have many old geezers and geezerettes around because the Death Panels will send them to Forrest Lawn for an “early retirement.”

    But at least the Dems are consistent. They don’t want unwanted babies to live nor do they want unwanted senior citizens to live either.

  4. qb says:

    Hijacked

  5. soundwash says:

    “Is no longer sexually active – 33”

    33!? omg-what boring & stuffy friggen people voted this??

    that’s why we have a nation of f’n whiners..THERE NOT HAVING ENOUGH SEX!

    -s

  6. SN says:

    6. Soundwash said: “33!? omg-what boring & stuffy friggen people voted this??

    It was amazingly accurate in my life. Unfortunately. Of course.

  7. Special Ed says:

    When he turned 75, Willie Nelson said it best – “I have finally outlived my dick.”

  8. Faxon says:

    When the Playmates of the Month you remember did not show anything except breasts.

  9. Weary Reaper says:

    #2 qb

    Good one! I’m thoroughly sick and tired of going to bed feeling fine and waking up crippled.

    #3 The Warden

    You’re in the wrong thread, old man! This isn’t the thread about imaginary death panels! This is the thread about getting old.

    Old. You know old? Old!!!

  10. The Warden says:

    Weary Reaper…

    Didn’t you know that OLD is the NEW DEAD?

  11. SparkyOne says:

    when you need help from the grand kids to read and respond to blog entries, you are old.

  12. Weary Reaper says:

    #12 The Warden

    Didn’t you know that OLD is the NEW DEAD?

    What part of Reaper don’t you understand, mon ami? I am well aware of the difference between OLD and DEAD.

    Are you?

    🙂

  13. jbenson2 says:

    Anyone over 30 is old.

    Jerry Rubin from the Youth International Party

  14. ECA says:

    If you are 10 years older then me, you are old.
    If you are 20 years younger, you are still a kid.

  15. RRD says:

    # 9 Eric said,
    “When the Playmate of the Month was born after you graduated from high school.”

    That’s always been my guide line.

  16. RTaylor says:

    Actually the better you take care of yourself today, you will reap benefits as you age. I can swear by that because I didn’t take care of myself. Some of it’s genetic also, but that’s all the more reason to work harder at good health.

  17. sargasso says:

    No comparable report to show for life in New Zealand, but I understand that is very much a similar situation here, and probably in Australia too. The “boomers” are relatively wealthy and healthy with too much time on their hands, their younger siblings, their children and grand children are not so fortunate. My own observation is that this has a lot to do with the economic environment that the boomers grew up into and in which they were most active, the 60’s, 70’s. A new home was four times the average annual salary, a good car cost a year’s, health care and education were free and everyone was employed. It does not bode well for the current generation’s long term prospects.

  18. Daniel Kaiser says:

    Your only as old as the women you feel!

  19. Qon Quixote says:

    When you haven’t been everywhere and seen everything but are contented with naps and believe the drivel in DU comments. To fat to get up off the couch. Then you are old.

  20. grass4 says:

    I decided I was getting old when the President and my doctor were both younger than me.

  21. Jess Hurchist says:

    #3 ‘OLD is the NEW DEAD’
    Jerry Garcia formed a new band? Right on!

    I Guess I am getting on a bit in the land of government health care, where it is at least easy to become old without being too concerned about how the medical bills get paid.

  22. Floyd says:

    I’m in my late 50s, have my weight under control, and have been staying active. If I’m smart (not necessarily the case), I’ll keep doing what I’ve been doing.

  23. Hugh Ripper says:

    You’re old when the government turns you into soylent green.

  24. bobbo, just now I've come to realize says:

    you are old when you fail to update your definition of what it is to be old.

  25. bobbo, and I just remembered says:

    what a prof said one morning: “You know you are getting old when you are on campus looking at a fine young lady and you watch her gaze across the campus with what you take to be similar interests in mind. You observe her look right through you as if you were not even there.”

    Hah, hah. Its why I stay off campi.

  26. Uncle Patso says:

    When you get _none_ of the music or pop culture clues on Jeopardy!

    When 30-year-olds finally start looking like real people instead of personality-less blobs and 40-year-olds finally have something to say worth listening to.

    Also, I don’t care how old or young you feel, 70 is old. It _is_ possible to still be young at heart at any age, though it does get harder.

  27. ECA says:

    you know you are old, when..

    When you find Gravity to be Worse then it was before.
    when you find that a simple Bump/accident means you are going to hurt ALOT longer then before.
    When walking down hill requires MORE control and balance, and UPHILL/stairs start to scare you.
    When the Elevator is the BEST way insted of the stairs or Escalator..
    When everyone asks your opinion on HOW you did it.
    when changing the oil and fluids in your car, takes MORE computer power then it USED TO..
    When diagnosing a problem with your car takes a PHD in computers.
    When Building a Shed, The METAL/tin foil one is CHEAPER then trying to find SCRAP wood.
    NOT understanding that Writing a proper resume’s requires Electrical POWER.
    Washing dishes requires a DISH WASHER..
    Your phone dont work, and the kids want to replace the battery or CHARGE IT.
    The power goes out, and NOTHING WORKS. And the younger ones dont look for candles and matches.
    If the car isnt working, NO ONE goes any place.
    The person behind the register cant count back change unless the machine tells them to, and HOW MUCH.
    Starting a fire REQUIRES at least a lighter.
    You’ve played 300+ games in your life, and they all look the same, just different characters..
    You cant see why people play the games that are CURRENT when there was that OLD ONE that was better.
    You have forgotten ALL the AT’ codes for your dialup modem.
    You have to say “DIALUP” modem, insted of JUST “MODEM”.
    you know what ‘MODEM’ means..
    You remember when TYPE FONT wasnt an OPTION on your typewriter. And spell check as a pain, and CORRECTIONS meant you had to retype a PAGE.
    You remember REEL to REEL tape and it was FASTER then typing the instructions into the machine MANUALLY.
    You remember HOW to push start a car.
    YOU “COULD” push start a car, EVEN with a dead battery.
    YOUR PARENTS didnt want a child when they were 40, and your were in your 20’s..
    A family of 5 was NORMAL.
    A family of 10+ was MORMAN or Catholic..
    SOCAIL groups were the NORM, Elks/eagles/moose/oddfellows/ and all the rest.
    The YMCA wasnt known as a GAY MUSIC GROUP.
    When a person KNOWN to be religious, you KNEW had scruples.


0

Bad Behavior has blocked 3860 access attempts in the last 7 days.