According to a report recently released by the Windham Aging group 14,015 people or 31% of the Windham County area is over the age of 60 and that number is projected to increase while the numbers for lower age groups is projected to decrease. The numbers are similar for the state as well as the rest of the country. The bottom line is that the average age of our population is growing and there will be a lot of older people in the years to come.
Our society currently doesn’t have the capacity to deal with the elderly population that we have. There are not enough home care providers and nursing homes and it is almost impossible for someone to stay at home as they age and become infirm unless they have an unlimited amount of financial resources.
We have never had a national discussion about how our government should support the aging population. Most other developed countries around the world provide more support for the elderly but the United States has left matters to be solved by chance. If you have enough money you may be able to age gracefully, but most of us do not have those kind of resources. It is rare for people to make concrete plans for life after 60.