RASCAL REPORT
An eye on baby boomers since 2022
George Carlin on Aging
Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids? If you're less than ten years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions. “How old are you?” “I'm four and a half.” You're four and a half going on 5.
You get into your teens, and you simply jump to the next number. “How old are you?” “I'm gonna be 16.” You could be 12, but you're gonna be 16. Eventually.
Then the great day arrives and you become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony. You BECOME 21!!
Then you turn 30. What happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk. He TURNED; we had to throw him out. What's wrong? What changed?
You BECOME 21. You TURN 30; You're PUSHING 40. You REACH 50. Then you MAKE IT to 60. By then you've built up so much speed, you HIT 70. After that, it's a day by day thing. You HIT Wednesday…
You get into your 80's; you HIT lunch, you HIT 4:30. And it doesn't end there…
Into the '90s, you start going backward. “I was JUST 92.” Then a strange thing happens; if you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. “I'm 100 and a half.”
He’s unimpressed with his physique, but wins bodybuilding competitions … at 90
Like many in the US who are grappling with pressure to look better, Jim Arrington is unimpressed with his physique – but he says that self-perception has motivated him to keep winning bodybuilding competitions at age 90. The nonagenarian great-grandfather speaks about how he has achieved a level of physical fitness which is superior to that of many people more than half his age in an interview published by Guinness World Records, which first recognized him as the planet’s oldest bodybuilder in 2015. Arrington, who lives in the Los Angeles area, used part of the interview to explain his “very low opinion” of his physical shape, chiseled as it is.
Gen Z hates boomers, everyone hates millennials, and no one cares about Gen X. But there’s more to these generational feuds than you think.
Gen Z is soft, millennials are embarrassing, boomers are evil, and no one has thought about Gen X in years. Even if we can't remember exactly which ages define each cohort, many people can offer up these generational stereotypes on command. These supposedly profound differences have been used to explain shifting attitudes about certain colors, the rising popularity of spicy foods, and even the perceived onset of adulthood. But while generational framings are ubiquitous, just how real are these fault lines?
These companies are so serious about keeping older employees that they’re offering ‘Grandparent Leave’
It’s no secret that the COVID pandemic accelerated a wave of retirements among older American workers. In 2021, the workforce participation rate for those aged 55 and over fell by nearly 2%, and retirees likely accounted for 2 million of the 3.5 million people missing from the labor force in 2022, according to Fed Chair Jerome Powell. In an effort to hold onto older workers, who will account for at least 25% of the U.S. workforce by 2029, some employers have started offering a new benefit: grandparent leave, or paid time off to employees upon the birth or adoption of a grandchild
‘Massive shift’: Older people will exceed a quarter of G7′s workforce by 2031, report says
A whopping 150 million jobs will shift to workers over the age of 55 by 2030, according to a new global study from Bain & Company. In the Group of Seven countries, Bain predicts, older and experienced workers will make up more than quarter of the workforce by 2031. “That’s a massive shift,” Andrew Schwedel, partner at Bain & Company, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia” on Tuesday. “Japan is already at the vanguard of this with almost 40% of the workforce over age 55. Europe and the U.S. are not far behind, [with] anywhere from 25 to 30%.
This woman went viral for her "Boomer Mom" character
We chatted with the woman known as Boomer Mom about her hilarious impressions and how they were birthed. She did not send us home with leftovers. We obviously give boomers a ton of crap, but in our defense, they kind of deserve it. Not only did their generation vote for the man who created trickle-down-economics, thus decimating the middle class, but they also have the kind of real estate wealth most folks can only dream of. In an effort to make them slightly more palatable via comedy, Kristen Marie, known as Boomer Mom on TikTok, creates videos where she lightly pokes fun at their generation. Although it's difficult to ignore what they did to the environment, it's nice to have a little laugh while the Earth rapidly heats up. Distractify chatted with Kristen about her persona because we needed to get into the mind of the person who crawls into the minds of Baby Boomers.