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Shock of Gray: The Aging of the World's Population and How it Pits Young Against Old, Child Against Parent, Worker Against Boss, Company Against Rival, and Nation Against Nation
The N ew Y ork T imes bes t selling au t hor of C hi n a , Inc . reports on t he as t ounding economic and poli t ical ramifica t ions of an aging world.
The world’s population is rapidly aging—by the year 2030, one billion people will be sixty-five or older. As the ratio of the old to the young grows ever larger, global aging has gone For the first time in history, the number of people over age fifty will be greater than those under age seventeen. Few of us understand the resulting massive effects on economies, jobs, and families. Everyone is touched by this issue—parents and children, rich and poor, retirees and workers—and now veteran journalist Ted C. Fishman masterfully and movingly explains how our world is being altered in ways no one ever expected.
What happens when too few young people must support older people? How do shrinking families cope with aging loved ones?
What happens when countries need millions of young workers but lack them? How do companies compete for young workers? Why, exactly, do they shed old workers?
How are entire industries being both created and destroyed by demographic change? How do communities and countries remake themselves for ever-growing populations of older citizens? Who will suffer? Who will benefit?
With vivid and witty reporting from American cities and around the world, and through compelling interviews with families, employers, workers, economists, gerontologists, government officials, health-care professionals, corporate executives, and small business owners, Fishman reveals the astonishing and interconnected effects of global aging, and why nations, cultures, and crucial human relationships are changing in this timely, brilliant, and important read.
The world’s population is rapidly aging—by the year 2030, one billion people will be sixty-five or older. As the ratio of the old to the young grows ever larger, global aging has gone For the first time in history, the number of people over age fifty will be greater than those under age seventeen. Few of us understand the resulting massive effects on economies, jobs, and families. Everyone is touched by this issue—parents and children, rich and poor, retirees and workers—and now veteran journalist Ted C. Fishman masterfully and movingly explains how our world is being altered in ways no one ever expected.
What happens when too few young people must support older people? How do shrinking families cope with aging loved ones?
What happens when countries need millions of young workers but lack them? How do companies compete for young workers? Why, exactly, do they shed old workers?
How are entire industries being both created and destroyed by demographic change? How do communities and countries remake themselves for ever-growing populations of older citizens? Who will suffer? Who will benefit?
With vivid and witty reporting from American cities and around the world, and through compelling interviews with families, employers, workers, economists, gerontologists, government officials, health-care professionals, corporate executives, and small business owners, Fishman reveals the astonishing and interconnected effects of global aging, and why nations, cultures, and crucial human relationships are changing in this timely, brilliant, and important read.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published October 19, 2010
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October 19, 2020
Thoughts on Ted C. Fishman’s Shock of Gray.
In the developed world, people are living longer and having fewer children. The culture is getting older in the aggregate, which means that our institutions will increasingly bow to economic and political pressure to cater to the interests and needs of the elderly. It would be silly to expect this to end all things, but it would not be silly to expect something to follow this shift. So, at the risk of engaging in some zero-sum thinking, let's tease out what conflicts might follow as the developed world increasingly turns into Florida.
What should we expect? We should expect increasingly reactionary politicians to find success in their nostalgic messages. We should expect education cuts to bolster pensions and social security. Nevertheless, pension plans will be stressed by the costs of caring for an elder class that pays fewer taxes while also hoarding wealth. We should not only expect skepticism for all things new but also deeply entrenched power structures backing that skepticism. At some margin, youth will hustle to extract wealth from the elderly rather than innovating new products and services. So rather than spreading the new cross fit or popularizing the new Bob Dylan, we’ll create more spas for the enfeebled and just replay Bob Dylan’s greatest hits. Other cultural products will increasingly become like Harley Davidson, a prestige product with an aura of vigor that is only bought and used by the elderly. It seems likely that people will at some margin choose to live with their generational cohorts and apart from their generational rivals, so rather than care homes we’ll have care states and cities.
Living longer should be a utopian thing, and yet when I describe it, why does it feel like a dystopian novel? Perhaps it's because the elderly are in some ways a burden. In my experience, they’re rarely wise, and they’re often lacking in compassion for anything unfamiliar. They’ve broadly lost their ability to contribute. Learning new things doesn’t interest them; instead, they want to add depth to what they already know and then find someone who shares or appreciates that depth. (It’s possible that this is already what’s happened to Facebook.) Further, maybe it’s wrong to ask more of them. You work and then you retire from public pursuits. You get old and face chronic illnesses. You get old after working to support the earlier generation and now it's your turn to be cared for--that's the deal. Sometimes the younger generation is obnoxious. Regardless, we mostly pay for the elderly through economic growth (we invest savings in public and investment programs and over time those savings compound as the young grow the economy) and population replacement (the old pass away, the young reproduce to expand the work force, or we increase immigration to expand the work force) or we don't and we leave the elderly without money to mostly suffer in the shadows. If getting old is a national expense, it’s about to increase just as economic growth would naturally be expected to slow.
We should want to live long and healthy lives and we should want our children to live in a dynamic culture and economy. What can be done?
A final thought. When I was in university, one of my professors noted that commercial culture markets to teens because they are predictable, easily manipulated through ad campaigns, and they have disposable income. After that age, he lamented, one enters a niche market. But we may soon live in a culture that directs the bulk of its resources to retirees who feel withdrawn from progress, growth, and world events. Is that more or less lamentable than, say, Britney Spears as a commercial culture phenomenon? I’d like to say we’re about to find out, but, to borrow a phrase from William Gibson: Florida is already here. It’s just not evenly distributed.
In the developed world, people are living longer and having fewer children. The culture is getting older in the aggregate, which means that our institutions will increasingly bow to economic and political pressure to cater to the interests and needs of the elderly. It would be silly to expect this to end all things, but it would not be silly to expect something to follow this shift. So, at the risk of engaging in some zero-sum thinking, let's tease out what conflicts might follow as the developed world increasingly turns into Florida.
What should we expect? We should expect increasingly reactionary politicians to find success in their nostalgic messages. We should expect education cuts to bolster pensions and social security. Nevertheless, pension plans will be stressed by the costs of caring for an elder class that pays fewer taxes while also hoarding wealth. We should not only expect skepticism for all things new but also deeply entrenched power structures backing that skepticism. At some margin, youth will hustle to extract wealth from the elderly rather than innovating new products and services. So rather than spreading the new cross fit or popularizing the new Bob Dylan, we’ll create more spas for the enfeebled and just replay Bob Dylan’s greatest hits. Other cultural products will increasingly become like Harley Davidson, a prestige product with an aura of vigor that is only bought and used by the elderly. It seems likely that people will at some margin choose to live with their generational cohorts and apart from their generational rivals, so rather than care homes we’ll have care states and cities.
Living longer should be a utopian thing, and yet when I describe it, why does it feel like a dystopian novel? Perhaps it's because the elderly are in some ways a burden. In my experience, they’re rarely wise, and they’re often lacking in compassion for anything unfamiliar. They’ve broadly lost their ability to contribute. Learning new things doesn’t interest them; instead, they want to add depth to what they already know and then find someone who shares or appreciates that depth. (It’s possible that this is already what’s happened to Facebook.) Further, maybe it’s wrong to ask more of them. You work and then you retire from public pursuits. You get old and face chronic illnesses. You get old after working to support the earlier generation and now it's your turn to be cared for--that's the deal. Sometimes the younger generation is obnoxious. Regardless, we mostly pay for the elderly through economic growth (we invest savings in public and investment programs and over time those savings compound as the young grow the economy) and population replacement (the old pass away, the young reproduce to expand the work force, or we increase immigration to expand the work force) or we don't and we leave the elderly without money to mostly suffer in the shadows. If getting old is a national expense, it’s about to increase just as economic growth would naturally be expected to slow.
We should want to live long and healthy lives and we should want our children to live in a dynamic culture and economy. What can be done?
-We can try to goose growth through automation. I worry about this plan since growth seems to be increasingly concentrating into the pockets of the already wealthy who then hoard their earnings in foreign tax shelters.
-We can seed a message of openness to people who are now in their prime that population growth is, broadly speaking, in the national interest of many developed economies. That way, as they age they’ll be more resistant to xenophobic nationalism. After all, if we want the global population to stabilize or fall, national population growth means immigration. More concretely, I suspect this means more international travel and more post-secondary education amongst the now young so that they won't wind up like Boomers voting in the aggregate for Brexit and DT and against climate policies.
-We should probably be expanding our public retirement and health care programs.
-We should look for ways to curtail the costs of late-life health care. Here in Canada, we have passed initial assisted dying legislation, which I’d support for its easing of suffering in terminal patients alone. Although I find this thought unpleasant, palliative care is very expensive...
-We should reduce the taboo associated with discussions of aging.
-Because they will retain their political and economic power, we will need to find ways to speak to the elderly that doesn’t threaten their sense of personal dignity. Given how put upon many Boomers were by the largely harmless “OK Boomer” moment, I worry about the efficacy of this strategy. Still… It’s very hard to learn new things and I suspect at a certain point in life it only gets harder. I’ve noted during coronavirus that my elders have been especially impatient with evolving discoveries, often concluding that the scientists “don’t know what they’re talking about” rather than “scientists learn new things as they continue to study this problem that started a few months ago.” (This is not so far removed from the things my dad says about climate change based on what he learned about it in the 1970s.)
-I’m not sure what to do with culture, but I worry about it. When I look at big budget films and television, the first is increasingly shaped by market pressures (i.e. catering to Chinese interests) and that the second is already fading because it appeals almost solely to retirees (if you’re a Millennial reading this, I suspect you don’t realize how many cop shows run in prime time or how popular Fox News is). Perhaps the idea that culture should be packaged in expensive productions has been a mistake and that youth culture will regain some of its transgressive energy by catering to smaller budget productions.
-Maybe we should look to our elders and take more careful note of how they irritate us in our youth so that we can guard against that behavior as we age.
-I wonder if family finances will be rethought. In Dirt to Soil Gabe Brown turns his farm into a managed trust so that he can more easily pass it on to his son. I’m not sure what that would look like more broadly, but maybe families will begin to treat homes as multigenerational residences or they’ll convert their finances into some form of family based UBI. I’m not sure how that would work as a family becomes more complicated, and yet there must be places on the planet where people do something like this already.
-Perhaps we will turn our attention to intergenerational wealth transfer. If you're young, I think you'd want to find ways to unlock wealth hoarded by the older generation. Maybe tax cuts for inheritances passed on before one passes to reduce estate taxes will become more of a thing. Or maybe we'll find ways to allow families to pay into their children's tax sheltered savings accounts.
A final thought. When I was in university, one of my professors noted that commercial culture markets to teens because they are predictable, easily manipulated through ad campaigns, and they have disposable income. After that age, he lamented, one enters a niche market. But we may soon live in a culture that directs the bulk of its resources to retirees who feel withdrawn from progress, growth, and world events. Is that more or less lamentable than, say, Britney Spears as a commercial culture phenomenon? I’d like to say we’re about to find out, but, to borrow a phrase from William Gibson: Florida is already here. It’s just not evenly distributed.
December 30, 2022
I read this book eight or nine years ago. However, I was stuck in the first chapter. I found it difficult to absorb and comprehend. Over my working life and vacations, I have been exposed to Europe, North America, South America, Asia, and ANZ. I am a senior (65+) living in a retirement village. Therefore, I have better positions and knowledge to read this book and make commentaries.
The author of this book, Ted C Fishman, is a veteran journalist. Hence, the book is literary journalism. However, this book is more like a collection of news articles focusing on the ageing experiences of different ethnicities in multiple countries at different time. The author outlined the readers with field surveys and studies of locations dealing with the accelerated growth of elderly populations, including Sarasota, Spain, Rockford, Japan, and China.
However, I have concerns if how many of these surveys and studies were anecdotal and whether they needed to be organised cohesively. In the book, there is far too much detail on the demographics of retirees around the globe and not enough discussion of how governments or relevant organisations seek to address the situation. I don’t expect to find solutions in the book, but I would appreciate understanding potential answers to the issues elaborated. Yes, the book has a little bit of everything.
The global population is getting older rapidly while the proportion of working-age people contracts. At the same time, the fertility rates keep falling. Some wealthy governments claim their countries are still not rich. They complained that they need to collect adequate tax revenue, and rising health costs have hampered their ability to pay for the growing demand for social services. As a result, there are fewer working-age adults (20-64) for every citizen aged 65 years or older. As life outcomes have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic for older people over the last three years. Governments are encouraging older people to keep working and paying taxes by gradually raising the retirement age.
In an ideal grey-haired society, when we are retired,
• We can financially support ourselves. We don’t want to become a liability or burden to our children or society.
• We can continue to work if we are still healthy and energetic. So, ageism won’t stop us from working longer. However, in reality, in some highly competitive countries, those who lose jobs at 45 or older might face difficulty getting suitable employment.
• Even if we are senile, we still have our social circles. For example, we are happy to babysit if we have grandchildren; we can be volunteers or contributors. We want to keep ourselves agile and valuable.
• If we don’t have the financial capacity, our society can provide a safety net to help us with a sort of age pension and allow us to live a dignified retirement. The government should legislate aged care regulations to look after senior citizens and not put aside caring for the geriatric population to their children or dependents.
• The sixty can be the new forty. The new old age can be extended to 75 or older. In a perfect world, our community should have a balanced workforce to support the older population. Therefore, we may need to support diverse skill migration to rejuvenate the labour forces.
Those outdated Confucian values, popularly in Asian society, of 'respect and care for your elders' were written and obeyed at a time when life expectancy was thirty-five and when the demands on pious children were much lighter. However, in countries still highly influenced by Confucian doctrines, most governments claim their nations are still poor. The ageing population and shrinking dependency ratios have led them to compel adult children to shoulder the burden of their parents’ care.
The monetary value can be significant when parents rely on their children to support their living expenses. The costs must cover food, transportation, accommodation, medical care, and others. So how can the payments from children be reliable and conflict & stress-free? How would parents stand up and feel dignified if they can only survive under children’s mercy?
It is unfathomable when many children can’t support themselves and their families today; how much can they look after their old parents? Besides, it is not uncommon to have such a gloomy prospect when the youngest-old (65-74) children need to use their retirement funds to look after the oldest-old (85+) parents. Then, when their parents pass away, the children will not have much left for themselves.
Since the mid-1990s, policymakers in Bangladesh, China, India, and Singapore have developed filial-support laws to allow parents with grievances to sue their dishonourable children for alimony. However, the efficiency and sustainability of the family-support mechanisms have been challenged in recent decades by notable increases in life expectancy and the prevalence of chronic diseases. As a result, Japan and Singapore have enacted policies that expand social and financial services, such as welfare-state services for older people.
Can affluent Asian nations embrace more inclusive, forward-thinking policies through taxation to pay social services and pensions for their senior citizens as wealthy Europeans, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are implementing now? Or can the government raise employees’ pension (superannuation) contributions so they can have a much higher income when they retire? The government might lose tax revenues, but it will remarkably help retirees improve their well beings. The government has no excuse not to establish a substantial aged-care infrastructure; although it can incur a higher budget, it can create more jobs and receive more income tax.
Countries with higher skilled migration have avoided the ageing population issue. They have provided a strong economy, multiculturalism, established healthcare, a work-life balance working environment, a diverse landscape, and a friendly population to attract the most skilled workers to select these countries as attractive destinations for work. Japan has the highest percentage of people older than 65. After closing the immigration for a long time, they are looking to allow foreigners in specific blue-collar jobs to stay in Japan indefinitely, starting as early as 2022. Over the last several decades, China has driven and participated in the mass global age arbitrage that makes the nation a driver of globalisation. However, due to the long-standing “One Child Policy”, its low fertility rate could turn the World’s Factory title into India in the conceivable future.
There are many wise ways to improve the livelihood of senior people. I hope my above remarks can address some issues in the book.
The author of this book, Ted C Fishman, is a veteran journalist. Hence, the book is literary journalism. However, this book is more like a collection of news articles focusing on the ageing experiences of different ethnicities in multiple countries at different time. The author outlined the readers with field surveys and studies of locations dealing with the accelerated growth of elderly populations, including Sarasota, Spain, Rockford, Japan, and China.
However, I have concerns if how many of these surveys and studies were anecdotal and whether they needed to be organised cohesively. In the book, there is far too much detail on the demographics of retirees around the globe and not enough discussion of how governments or relevant organisations seek to address the situation. I don’t expect to find solutions in the book, but I would appreciate understanding potential answers to the issues elaborated. Yes, the book has a little bit of everything.
The global population is getting older rapidly while the proportion of working-age people contracts. At the same time, the fertility rates keep falling. Some wealthy governments claim their countries are still not rich. They complained that they need to collect adequate tax revenue, and rising health costs have hampered their ability to pay for the growing demand for social services. As a result, there are fewer working-age adults (20-64) for every citizen aged 65 years or older. As life outcomes have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic for older people over the last three years. Governments are encouraging older people to keep working and paying taxes by gradually raising the retirement age.
In an ideal grey-haired society, when we are retired,
• We can financially support ourselves. We don’t want to become a liability or burden to our children or society.
• We can continue to work if we are still healthy and energetic. So, ageism won’t stop us from working longer. However, in reality, in some highly competitive countries, those who lose jobs at 45 or older might face difficulty getting suitable employment.
• Even if we are senile, we still have our social circles. For example, we are happy to babysit if we have grandchildren; we can be volunteers or contributors. We want to keep ourselves agile and valuable.
• If we don’t have the financial capacity, our society can provide a safety net to help us with a sort of age pension and allow us to live a dignified retirement. The government should legislate aged care regulations to look after senior citizens and not put aside caring for the geriatric population to their children or dependents.
• The sixty can be the new forty. The new old age can be extended to 75 or older. In a perfect world, our community should have a balanced workforce to support the older population. Therefore, we may need to support diverse skill migration to rejuvenate the labour forces.
Those outdated Confucian values, popularly in Asian society, of 'respect and care for your elders' were written and obeyed at a time when life expectancy was thirty-five and when the demands on pious children were much lighter. However, in countries still highly influenced by Confucian doctrines, most governments claim their nations are still poor. The ageing population and shrinking dependency ratios have led them to compel adult children to shoulder the burden of their parents’ care.
The monetary value can be significant when parents rely on their children to support their living expenses. The costs must cover food, transportation, accommodation, medical care, and others. So how can the payments from children be reliable and conflict & stress-free? How would parents stand up and feel dignified if they can only survive under children’s mercy?
It is unfathomable when many children can’t support themselves and their families today; how much can they look after their old parents? Besides, it is not uncommon to have such a gloomy prospect when the youngest-old (65-74) children need to use their retirement funds to look after the oldest-old (85+) parents. Then, when their parents pass away, the children will not have much left for themselves.
Since the mid-1990s, policymakers in Bangladesh, China, India, and Singapore have developed filial-support laws to allow parents with grievances to sue their dishonourable children for alimony. However, the efficiency and sustainability of the family-support mechanisms have been challenged in recent decades by notable increases in life expectancy and the prevalence of chronic diseases. As a result, Japan and Singapore have enacted policies that expand social and financial services, such as welfare-state services for older people.
Can affluent Asian nations embrace more inclusive, forward-thinking policies through taxation to pay social services and pensions for their senior citizens as wealthy Europeans, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand are implementing now? Or can the government raise employees’ pension (superannuation) contributions so they can have a much higher income when they retire? The government might lose tax revenues, but it will remarkably help retirees improve their well beings. The government has no excuse not to establish a substantial aged-care infrastructure; although it can incur a higher budget, it can create more jobs and receive more income tax.
Countries with higher skilled migration have avoided the ageing population issue. They have provided a strong economy, multiculturalism, established healthcare, a work-life balance working environment, a diverse landscape, and a friendly population to attract the most skilled workers to select these countries as attractive destinations for work. Japan has the highest percentage of people older than 65. After closing the immigration for a long time, they are looking to allow foreigners in specific blue-collar jobs to stay in Japan indefinitely, starting as early as 2022. Over the last several decades, China has driven and participated in the mass global age arbitrage that makes the nation a driver of globalisation. However, due to the long-standing “One Child Policy”, its low fertility rate could turn the World’s Factory title into India in the conceivable future.
There are many wise ways to improve the livelihood of senior people. I hope my above remarks can address some issues in the book.
February 14, 2011
Really thought-provoking: the Confucian values of 'respect your elders' were written and obeyed at the time when life expectancy is 35; that within 50 years, Japan went from being one of the youngest nations to one of the oldest; that the Greatest Generation was the first generation to grow old as a class; and the Baby Boomers are the first generation to live with the expectation of becoming old. It's also terrifying - and not just because of all the old people on the roads - thinking about what the impact will be on the economy and society.
Malcolm Gladwell's article on the dependency ratio and Henry Fairlie's article "Greedy Geezers" from the New Republic, March 28, 1988 (also published in Bite the Hand That Feeds You: Essays and Provocations), also do a good job of discussing the issue of an aging population.
Malcolm Gladwell's article on the dependency ratio and Henry Fairlie's article "Greedy Geezers" from the New Republic, March 28, 1988 (also published in Bite the Hand That Feeds You: Essays and Provocations), also do a good job of discussing the issue of an aging population.
September 5, 2011
This book reads like a collection of magazine articles with little to unify it besides the theme: how the world is getting older. There's really no unique insights to be found if you are familiar with the controvery of an aging world-books like Leisureville cover aspects of what he writes about in greater depth and detail. Other than that, it's mostly useful if you want a snapshot approach of issues aging raises, but without any real analysis or suggestions for a solution.
June 17, 2020
I was expecting another tale of an ineffective geriatric healthcare system similar to "A Bittersweet Season" or "The failure of long term care". What I got was a much wider view of how different nations are handling aging populations.
From china's apathy and age arbitrage to the United States millions of immigrant workers demanding rights and pay this book gives a great overview of how west and east alike are dealing with an unprecedented demographic shift in populations.
The only downside is it reads a bit like a book for MBA students (oversimplified, repetitive and statistical pitfalls all over the place)
From china's apathy and age arbitrage to the United States millions of immigrant workers demanding rights and pay this book gives a great overview of how west and east alike are dealing with an unprecedented demographic shift in populations.
The only downside is it reads a bit like a book for MBA students (oversimplified, repetitive and statistical pitfalls all over the place)
May 19, 2020
Written in the style of Thomas Friedman’s “The World is Flat.” Interesting read if you’re, say, 35 years old. Depressing if like me you’re 70.
November 22, 2012
Shock of Gray, Ted C. Fishman, Scribner, 2010
Reviewed by Graham Mulligan
The subtitle to this book describes the broad themes as: ‘The aging of the world’s population and how it pits young against old, child against parent, worker against boss, company against rival, and nation against nation”. The world’s population is getting older and as it does it is bringing new challenges for all societies. Fishman warns, “the number of old and very old is climbing, and we all have a lot of work to figure out how this change will affect us personally and communally in the next few decades”. Discrimination against older people is a key force in the world today and the author takes us on a worldwide journey as he describes how this plays out.
Factors that change young societies into aging ones are the same factors that make globalization attractive: literacy and education that allows greater participation in the workforce; better public healthcare enabling people to live longer, healthier lives; the movement of populations from low productivity agriculture jobs to high productivity urban jobs and the increased participation of women in the workforce. The choices facing all governments that have aging populations are either to provide for aging and reduce expenditure on everything else or lower their commitment to provide for the aging portion of their population and spend on everything else.
Fishman’s writing style and scholarship is fast paced and thorough. In an entertaining opening chapter entitled Greetings from Florida, God’s Waiting Room, he describes the retirement scene in Sarasota where staying active mentally and physically is the goal. “Migrants who come to Sarasota in the second half of life, or its final third, quarter or tenth, do not come to grow old and fade. They come for rejuvenation. They come to spread their wings.” The top retirement complex is Plymouth Harbor (you can see it here http://plymouthharbor.org) but there is a price. Service jobs are low paid jobs and there are a lot of service jobs looking after the elderly.
Spain and Japan are two places where the phenomenon of living longer can be studied because both countries are going through this earlier than most. Spain is the fastest aging country in Europe and a replacement younger population isn’t going to come from within. So what are the choices? Fishman describes how Spanish authorities seek to replace the working age population with immigrants. Immigration is coming from traditional sources like Morocco or Latin America, where Spanish speaking workers looking for a better life (money) can easily come to work and send home remittances to raise the living standard of family members back home. Contrast this to Japan where a tight racially pure society spurns immigration. By 2050 Japan will have 41 million fewer inhabitants! Tokyo and its contiguous urban areas has a population of 35 million people, a quarter of the country’s people. Fishman describes the urban culture of the city where old men are called “Big Junk” or “Soggy Leaves” (ouch). Women, on the other hand, are caught in a life-long trap of servitude, first to their children and then to their parents who are living now longer than ever before. Both Spain and Japan are healthy places to live and growing old, very old, is common and food, it seems, is the reason.
North American cities hollowed out by globalizing multinational corporations and the recent recession seek to adapt to the double blow of economic change and demographic change by asserting a new vigorous response. One interesting example is Kalamazoo where something called ‘The Promise’ offers a no-strings-attached pledge to provide every schoolchild in the city tuition money to attend any public college or university in Michigan. The idea is to draw people to the community and keep them engaged. Another phenomenon known as a NORC (Naturally Occurring Retirement Community) is seen as a stable way of life without giving up social connections. Self-organized communities of older citizens live in close proximity in condominiums or suburban neighborhoods in places like metropolitan Phoenix or Atlanta or Kelowna.
Fishman’s last example of an aging society is China. This comes as a surprise when we think of the rapidly developing China we see on the news but when we look at the numbers we see a different picture. In 2009 the over-sixty population equaled 167 million people. By 2050 one in three Chinese citizens will be over sixty!
Next in line for the aging of its population (and currently undergoing rapid transforming globalization) is India. After that comes Africa.
Reviewed by Graham Mulligan
The subtitle to this book describes the broad themes as: ‘The aging of the world’s population and how it pits young against old, child against parent, worker against boss, company against rival, and nation against nation”. The world’s population is getting older and as it does it is bringing new challenges for all societies. Fishman warns, “the number of old and very old is climbing, and we all have a lot of work to figure out how this change will affect us personally and communally in the next few decades”. Discrimination against older people is a key force in the world today and the author takes us on a worldwide journey as he describes how this plays out.
Factors that change young societies into aging ones are the same factors that make globalization attractive: literacy and education that allows greater participation in the workforce; better public healthcare enabling people to live longer, healthier lives; the movement of populations from low productivity agriculture jobs to high productivity urban jobs and the increased participation of women in the workforce. The choices facing all governments that have aging populations are either to provide for aging and reduce expenditure on everything else or lower their commitment to provide for the aging portion of their population and spend on everything else.
Fishman’s writing style and scholarship is fast paced and thorough. In an entertaining opening chapter entitled Greetings from Florida, God’s Waiting Room, he describes the retirement scene in Sarasota where staying active mentally and physically is the goal. “Migrants who come to Sarasota in the second half of life, or its final third, quarter or tenth, do not come to grow old and fade. They come for rejuvenation. They come to spread their wings.” The top retirement complex is Plymouth Harbor (you can see it here http://plymouthharbor.org) but there is a price. Service jobs are low paid jobs and there are a lot of service jobs looking after the elderly.
Spain and Japan are two places where the phenomenon of living longer can be studied because both countries are going through this earlier than most. Spain is the fastest aging country in Europe and a replacement younger population isn’t going to come from within. So what are the choices? Fishman describes how Spanish authorities seek to replace the working age population with immigrants. Immigration is coming from traditional sources like Morocco or Latin America, where Spanish speaking workers looking for a better life (money) can easily come to work and send home remittances to raise the living standard of family members back home. Contrast this to Japan where a tight racially pure society spurns immigration. By 2050 Japan will have 41 million fewer inhabitants! Tokyo and its contiguous urban areas has a population of 35 million people, a quarter of the country’s people. Fishman describes the urban culture of the city where old men are called “Big Junk” or “Soggy Leaves” (ouch). Women, on the other hand, are caught in a life-long trap of servitude, first to their children and then to their parents who are living now longer than ever before. Both Spain and Japan are healthy places to live and growing old, very old, is common and food, it seems, is the reason.
North American cities hollowed out by globalizing multinational corporations and the recent recession seek to adapt to the double blow of economic change and demographic change by asserting a new vigorous response. One interesting example is Kalamazoo where something called ‘The Promise’ offers a no-strings-attached pledge to provide every schoolchild in the city tuition money to attend any public college or university in Michigan. The idea is to draw people to the community and keep them engaged. Another phenomenon known as a NORC (Naturally Occurring Retirement Community) is seen as a stable way of life without giving up social connections. Self-organized communities of older citizens live in close proximity in condominiums or suburban neighborhoods in places like metropolitan Phoenix or Atlanta or Kelowna.
Fishman’s last example of an aging society is China. This comes as a surprise when we think of the rapidly developing China we see on the news but when we look at the numbers we see a different picture. In 2009 the over-sixty population equaled 167 million people. By 2050 one in three Chinese citizens will be over sixty!
Next in line for the aging of its population (and currently undergoing rapid transforming globalization) is India. After that comes Africa.
April 13, 2014
I love it, when a book furthers my knowledge in a field that I had no idea even existed :) This one did just that.
The sociological, economic, philosophycal and political aspects of people aging differently than before (there are more older people every year, and their lifespan is getting longer every year) are vast...and this book focuses on identifying the problems. It gives a lot of very well organised information on what is happening in different parts of the world, and how will the situation probably progress. The author speaks of different "solutions", or ways of dealing with this change that were implimented in some places. It's all well written and highly informative. I've never given much thought to this topic (being a 23 year old "kid"...at least that's how I feel after reading this book :) ) so I feel well informed now. Or at least...much more than I was before :)
The one drawback of this book (at least for me) were the statistics. I like some statistical information in every field....but there were so many numbers here it was ridiculous. I suppose people who don't read this book just out of curiosity (as I did) might benefit from them, but to me, they were irritating, boring and superfluous. That being said....I did get through them, and I don't regret it. Reading this book was a time well spent.
The sociological, economic, philosophycal and political aspects of people aging differently than before (there are more older people every year, and their lifespan is getting longer every year) are vast...and this book focuses on identifying the problems. It gives a lot of very well organised information on what is happening in different parts of the world, and how will the situation probably progress. The author speaks of different "solutions", or ways of dealing with this change that were implimented in some places. It's all well written and highly informative. I've never given much thought to this topic (being a 23 year old "kid"...at least that's how I feel after reading this book :) ) so I feel well informed now. Or at least...much more than I was before :)
The one drawback of this book (at least for me) were the statistics. I like some statistical information in every field....but there were so many numbers here it was ridiculous. I suppose people who don't read this book just out of curiosity (as I did) might benefit from them, but to me, they were irritating, boring and superfluous. That being said....I did get through them, and I don't regret it. Reading this book was a time well spent.
November 7, 2011
This book is a bit academic, but a "must read" for aging baby boomers. Much of the subject matter has been predicted in "The Blue Chair", an interesting futuristic novel. In many ways the book confirms what we are living in caring for aging parents. In other ways the book gives a global perspective that we miss in the focus on our daily lives. The profound effects of shifting populations, draining young people from poorer countries in exchange for seeding economic growth and change in their homelands, shrinking populations in the developed world creating openings for the most enterprising
from other countries and the wealth drain from young to old in our constant pursuit of longevity at any price are just a few of the timely, important issues raised in this book.
This is one of the most thought provoking books I've read in a long time. It has changed some of my
own decisions about end of life issues in raising ethical questions and choices we need to consider as we age. The creativity of the old in solving some of their own problems was inspiring. The amount
of resources spent on keeping people alive is shocking when viewed from the perspective of future
generations being shortchanged to pay for all of it.
from other countries and the wealth drain from young to old in our constant pursuit of longevity at any price are just a few of the timely, important issues raised in this book.
This is one of the most thought provoking books I've read in a long time. It has changed some of my
own decisions about end of life issues in raising ethical questions and choices we need to consider as we age. The creativity of the old in solving some of their own problems was inspiring. The amount
of resources spent on keeping people alive is shocking when viewed from the perspective of future
generations being shortchanged to pay for all of it.
March 5, 2014
This is the book I took with me on my recent trip to Panama. It wasn’t an easy read because the book it’s full of stats which are overwhelming to read and interpret. However, I found the book interesting in seeing the correlation between economic markets and personal issues like family planning and elder care. Here are some interesting points I took from the book:
◦People live longer: by 2050 the number of people over a hundred is expected to reach 3.2 million. In the year 2000 there were only 180,000 people over a hundred.
◦Spain, Japan and China have particularly longer longevity rates than other countries. In Spain this longevity is in part attributed to the Mediterranean diet: cheese, olives, air-cured hams, fish, vegetables, cereals. Eating in Spain is a social affair which could also prove that those with a tight social network end up living longer, healthier lives.
◦Families are shrinking. In Spain, Japan and China the number of children couples have has significantly decreased. Having to work to provide for their families, adults get married later which influences the number of children they end up having...read more on my blog http://luciastravels.com/2014/02/09/s...
◦People live longer: by 2050 the number of people over a hundred is expected to reach 3.2 million. In the year 2000 there were only 180,000 people over a hundred.
◦Spain, Japan and China have particularly longer longevity rates than other countries. In Spain this longevity is in part attributed to the Mediterranean diet: cheese, olives, air-cured hams, fish, vegetables, cereals. Eating in Spain is a social affair which could also prove that those with a tight social network end up living longer, healthier lives.
◦Families are shrinking. In Spain, Japan and China the number of children couples have has significantly decreased. Having to work to provide for their families, adults get married later which influences the number of children they end up having...read more on my blog http://luciastravels.com/2014/02/09/s...
May 15, 2012
If you haven't thought much about the implications of worldwide aging, "Shock of Gray" will give you much to consider. The book as structured as a sort of "field survey" of areas that are dealing firsthand with accelerated growth of senior populations: Sarasota, Spain, Rockford, Japan and China. These lengthy vignettes are divided by chapters that deal with aging in a more general sense. All of this is peppered with fascinating statistics to describe the not-so-distant future, when (for example) there will be 2,000,000 centenarians by 2030.
The book is intriguing and not a little frightening, as the reader is drawn into the question of how societies will deal with the expected large increases in their "Retired/Employed" ratio, and how the older generations will cope with the need for care, status and companionship. Fishman provides loads of details and observations but avoids wholesale prescriptions and solutions. If anything, he catalogs the ways different societies approach aging -- and then leaves the reader to "wait and see" how these different approaches will turn out.
The book is intriguing and not a little frightening, as the reader is drawn into the question of how societies will deal with the expected large increases in their "Retired/Employed" ratio, and how the older generations will cope with the need for care, status and companionship. Fishman provides loads of details and observations but avoids wholesale prescriptions and solutions. If anything, he catalogs the ways different societies approach aging -- and then leaves the reader to "wait and see" how these different approaches will turn out.
March 20, 2013
The greatest feature of this book is the authors ability to not "take a side" on the topic. He gives the facts straight as they are, and leaves it for you to develop an opinion on it. That might be one of the reasons why I have little to say in regards to reading this book.
At any rate, I would say that I found it very interesting to see how China is dealing with the problem of an ever aging population and who's job it is to take care of them. Clearly The United States has a problem in regards to supporting the baby boomers that will soon make the medical costs for the elderly even worse. Yet, it doesn't seem to be on anyone's minds. My generation has so many problems looming on the horizon, mostly created by the reckless actions of the previous, and partly due to short sighted thinking of those that have been running the show. The dangerous part is that my generation largely has no opinion on any of these looming problems, and I fear that by time they wake up, it will be too late and the debt will have buried us alive.
At any rate, I would say that I found it very interesting to see how China is dealing with the problem of an ever aging population and who's job it is to take care of them. Clearly The United States has a problem in regards to supporting the baby boomers that will soon make the medical costs for the elderly even worse. Yet, it doesn't seem to be on anyone's minds. My generation has so many problems looming on the horizon, mostly created by the reckless actions of the previous, and partly due to short sighted thinking of those that have been running the show. The dangerous part is that my generation largely has no opinion on any of these looming problems, and I fear that by time they wake up, it will be too late and the debt will have buried us alive.
June 5, 2016
Terrible. I really tried too - I made it to page 240/360- but it wasn't getting any better. The aging of the worlds population is an incredibly interesting topic, but somehow this book spent hundreds of pages not actually discussing anything concrete. Everything was anecdotal, often things were contradictory, and nothing was organized in a cohesive way. I would often end a section having to fish back through the text for what the purpose of the section had been. The author also had a wonderful habit of making broad-sweeping claims with no evidence to back it up or reasoning for the argument - he would just make a claim, and then proceed to a specific person's story on how that claim fit for them. For someone who claims to understand how everyone is affected by aging population, he seems to think it necessary to explain why it is terrible for a daughter to take care of her mother and how that's so hard for her. Hundreds of pages on something we all know already - THAT was a broad-sweeping claim that he could have left alone.
September 8, 2015
The Shock of Grey is a very worthwhile read for the data presented and the stories that bring to life the promise and perils of the globalization of aging. Author Ted Fishman travels the world to illustrate how the aging of the earth's population is impacting societies and economies. Through advances in medical science and technology, diet and drinking water, vaccines against many diseases, drugs and other life extending advances people are proving that 60 is the new 40 or at least 50. In fifteen years there will be a billion people over 65.
Much has been written about the aging of the Baby boomer Americans but this book goes far beyond the shores of the US to examine what is already happening in Japan, Spain, China and many other countries. The only shortcoming is the lack of recommendations or analysis on what should be done today to prepare for the grey societies of tomorrow.
Much has been written about the aging of the Baby boomer Americans but this book goes far beyond the shores of the US to examine what is already happening in Japan, Spain, China and many other countries. The only shortcoming is the lack of recommendations or analysis on what should be done today to prepare for the grey societies of tomorrow.
February 27, 2011
This was an intriguing read, with statistics that surprised me. I assumed it was largely the US and Europe who were caught in the aging-baby-boomer phenomenon but Japan and China too will be fighting the same global concerns with the aging of their population by 2050. Developed countries will need to adapt much more quickly than they have in the last two or three decades, according to this author, if they are to leverage the older worker. The book also had quite a bit of insight on lifestyle impact on aging and the value of healthy familial relationships and long-term friendships.
July 12, 2011
I had read the author's "China Inc." several years ago and loved it so based upon the author and an interest in the topic I delved into this title. Far too much detail on individual portraits of retirees worldwide and not enough discussion of how governments are seeking to address the situation. I didn't expect to find answers here but I would have appreciated hearing about potential solutions to the issues presented. "While America Aged" is a better choice if you would like a primer on the topic.
October 5, 2012
I liked the comparisons of aging in different countries. I was aware of Japan's aging population, but the chapter on Spain surprised me. I am originally from Rockford, Illinois and appreciated the chapter on this aging dying industrial city. Read this book concurrently with Katherine Newman's The Accordion Family. The two books compliment each other about generations and globalization. I recommend both books.
January 28, 2011
Important for all of us to read because every single one of us is about to be affected by the preponderance of old people, and mighty important for us in our 60s to prepare as best we can for our old age and for our family - and I don't mean just financially. Everyone will have to adjust their lives, priorities, schedules, and attitudes. The whole world will be doing this with us. Fascinating chapters on Japan, Ecuador, China.
August 6, 2012
a very interesting book about the aging of populations everywhere in the world..the trend will continue to get worsen. Author uses quite a few examples on the generation "gap"...in various countries and taking on the problem of the system in USA..globalization and the speed of technology is pulling family apart not just on income gap, cultural gap, and the age gap..a very good insight on what are going to happen in the next 30 years.
December 14, 2010
I'm glad I delved into this book. It's a little dry and textbooky but also packed with information about what our rapidly aging world is all about. If anyone in their teens asks you what work they should consider going into, please tell them either nursing or geriatric health care. They'll never be unemployed.
December 24, 2011
The multi-dimentionality of this book is outstanding. It is only after reading Fishman's research that one realizes the one fundamental force that is driving relationships of all sorts... that the world is getting surprisingly older. As the book enumerates, Aging pits "Young Against Old, Child Against Parent, Worker Against Boss, Company Against Rival, and Nation Against Nation".
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February 13, 2012The subtitle sums it up: The aging of the world’s population and how it pits young against old, child aginst parent, worker against boss, company against rival, and nation against nation. It alternated between chapters on a specific place and larger theme based chapters. Read for Futurist book club
May 16, 2014
This was a book for one of my book clubs and I probably would not have known of it or read if not for that. It was ok. I think some of the material may now be a little dated. Some of the facts were interesting and came me something to think about. I will admit to skimming some of the statistical areas. But as someone who is aging, I did find it somewhat interesting.
December 14, 2010
A great look into the aging population of the world and how it impacts globalization and country economics. I found it informative and it has broadened my perspective on the world. A great read for anyone looking to dive into the subject of globalization and world population statistics.
December 25, 2010
Excellent!, using the examples of Spain, Sarasota, Fla., Yokyo, and Rockford, Ill. weaves a suggestive map of forces being unleashed in USA and globally. Readable prose, and good storytelling make for a book worth re-reading.
September 3, 2015
This was very long and informative, and the main solutions that I took away were: 1) have a lot of children to care for elders, or 2) Educate your children so that the family can store up wealth to care for elders.
May 12, 2013
Give me a break. This is about the upteenth book I have read lately that has ONE really interesting idea and is basically only worth about one blog to describe.
The whole book is summed up on the cover page. It doesn't take examples ad nauseum to convince me of his point.
The whole book is summed up on the cover page. It doesn't take examples ad nauseum to convince me of his point.
November 18, 2011
If you are curious about the future, on the macro and microlevel, you need to read this book.
April 27, 2012
A brilliant book on the implications (positive and negative) of an aging population.
July 19, 2012
Fascinating look at aging demographics around the world and potential impact on economics, culture and more.
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