Abstract
This book raises critical, troublesome questions about how policy makers are thinking about and planning for the fact that in a decade or so there will be a cohort of aged people numbering not in the thousands but in the millions, a trend that will continue for several decades. It inevitably will transform American society. That transformation will be no less dramatic than the waves of immigrations in the nineteenth and early twentieth century or the less-studied and -discussed consequences of the GI Bill for the millions of citizens who were in the armed services in World War II.
†deceased
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Notes
- 1.
When I was admitted to the center in which I reside, I had to pay an entry fee of $166,000, none of which is refundable after the first year. The monthly maintenance charge, which has been increased each year I have been here, is currently $3,600 dollars. My income from my pension and social security is $53,000 per year. When my closest Yale colleague and his wife chose to live in a new, larger and more posh center, they had to pay up front $450,000 dollars, a percentage of which will be paid to their heirs when he and his wife die. Their monthly maintenance charge is $4,500 per month. Of all centers in Connecticut mine is average for what it costs and my friend’s center is near the top. Mine is a nonprofit one; his is for profit. The legendary Senator Everett Dirksen said, “A million here and a million there and before you know it you are talking about money.” Although states and regions vary in average costs of living in a total care facility, the variations would be less if you did not include nonprofit ones, such as those sponsored by religious groups or universities. Even if you do not take account of inflation, a recession, or (God forbid) a depression, you do not have to be an economist to conclude that a significant fraction of people who consider themselves middle class will be unable to afford living in a total care facility. Despite what I will say and describe in later pages I feel fortunate to be living where I am, especially when I think of the alternatives I might have been forced to consider. But being fortunate is not to be confused with being content or happy. On November 10, 2006, Hedrick Smith presented a one hour Frontline documentary (PBS Org.) on the inadequacy of 401 K retirement plans which many baby boomers who consider themselves middle class contribute to. They are in for a shock.
References
Sarason, S. B. (1949). Psychological problems in mental deficiency. New York: Harper and Brothers.
Sarason, S. B. (1988). The making of an American psychologist. An Autobiography. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Smith, H. (2006, 10 November). Retirement and the 401Â k benefits. Public Broadcasting System.
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Sarason†, S.B. (2011). Becoming a Resident in a Total Care Facility. In: Centers for Ending. Caregiving: Research, Practice, Policy. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5725-2_2
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