The Baby Boomer generation, the same crowd that
sat around smoking groovy cigarettes, listening to Bob Dylan, and vigorously
celebrating the development of the contraceptive pill, have found themselves
thrust into the centre of another socio-economic epoch: the golden age of
aging.
Better education, improved healthcare and a steady
increase in living conditions have led to a boom in life expectancy. We live in
an age where conventional demographics have been turned on their head. The 2008
US Census Bureau report: An Aging World revealed for example that:
- The proportion of people over 65 is predicted to outweigh the number of children under five by the year 2018.
- Life expectancy now exceeds 80 years old in 11 developed countries.
Unprecedented longevity, coupled with a drop in
fertility rates has produced more ‘top-heavy’ families comprising fewer
children and a greater proportion of elders. This means that by 2040, more than
one out of every four Europeans is likely to be at least 65-years-old.
You might therefore assume that the shelves of all
reputable book shops would be buckling under the weight of tomes on retirement
aging and sex; but aside from the stacks of financial guides (that would be
more use prescribed to insomniacs as sleeping aids) you’d be wrong. Instead you
will find a busty celebrity’s fifth autobiography of the year (surely there’s
only so much you can say about the changing size of your own breasts?).
Apparently not.
As well as enjoying record longevity in the 21st
century, sexually active life expectancy is also at an historic high for both
sexes. By 55, men have an average of 15 years of sexually active years compared
to 10 years for women. I have spoken to many people who still have exciting and
experimental sex-lives well into their 80’s and beyond.
