It’s all about lifestage–not age. USA Today writes that age is diminishing in importance as a factor limiting what people do with their lives. Crux of the story:

Age used to be an important way to organize life, but now, the picture is changing: People are living longer and often staying healthy into their 70s and 80s; many go back to school and start second careers. Meanwhile, more young college graduates are delaying entry into a tight job market. Some opt for grad school or public service; many put off marriage and family. And children seem to grow up faster, trading toys for cellphones and buddy lists while still in elementary school. In many ways, the confluence of these threads has made a person’s chronological age less relevant. And those new attitudes about age are spawning laws and policies that reflect such changes.

The paper cites examples, including an increasing number of young people covered by their parents’ health care insurance up to age 30; the U.S. Army’s decision to lift the maximum enrollment age from 40 to 42; and the FAA’s decision to lift the maximum age for pilots from 60 to 65. Increasing longevity opens up a range of new options to people in their 70s and beyond.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 at 12:38 pm and is filed under Aging, Culture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.