Here are a couple really interesting reads about mid-lifers and the implications of late-life career changes for the larger society. This excerpt from the DesMoines Register outlines the current mid-life dilemma:
Most boomers don't want to keep slogging away in the same old job. They want something different, often what the MetLife study described as "good work" that gives the worker a sense of giving back to the community. The study reported strong interest among leading-edge boomers in establishing post-retirement careers in fields such as education, health care, social work and community service.The article above is a synopsis of a larger research paper put out by the MetLife Foundation/Civic Ventures. If you are in the mood for a longer read, this is a really interesting paper, sure to give you a perspective that you are certainly anything but alone if you are finding yourself wrestling with issues of "right work" and your purpose in life. Or if you are a younger person, it may give you some really good perspective on what issues your parents may be facing as they look ahead.There's another catch, too. The American workplace isn't structured to accommodate the desire to spend several years doing something in between full-time work and full-time retirement.
"The boomers' biggest impact will be on eliminating the term 'retirement' and inventing a new stage of life," wrote Rosabeth Moss Kanter, a Harvard Business School professor in a commentary for the MetLife Foundation. Others call it "the new career arc."
You might know several people who yearn for it. Maybe you're among them.
Say you're 55 years old, and lately you've been thinking you might like to try something different. You feel an urge to do something that would help other people. You've finished paying your kids' college tuition, so you'd be willing to take some reduction in salary - especially if the trade-off is less stress and more leisure.
Ah, but the second career you have in mind will require some additional education, and you can't afford to give up a salary while you return to school. Besides, you can't quit your job and give up company-sponsored health insurance until you're 65 and eligible for Medicare.
Then, too, you'd like work that falls somewhere between full-time with benefits and part-time without benefits. Most employers don't offer such as option. Some have qualms about hiring older workers.
Article comments
1 - Mary Ann Finch Vandivier
Read this today and will add info to my blog: http:///blog.retirementcareers.com
This book was writtent in 92 and there are so many new ways for people to continue to contribute and enjoy a vocation, new occupation, etc.-- way past their 50's. I'm 70 - and my business just continues to excel!