Why Is Raising Kids the ‘Best Job in the World’ and Caring for the Elderly is the Worst?

“America has always self-identified as a youthful culture, so what happens when so much of the population gets old? A recent piece by the New York Times editorial board laid it out in black and white: By 2034, for the first time in U.S. history, there will be more people over 65 than under 18, and that gap will widen thereafter. The need to care for the growing number of old people is going to require our society to reorient itself toward the elderly. 

What could that look like? It may mean adjusting to the pace of an older workforce, learning patience as people take longer to move around. Perhaps older people will start working in child care alongside the younger people who typically do that work. Hopefully we’ll spend more time hanging out intergenerationally without making it corny.”