2006 State Report > Introduction
Introduction: Opporunties and Challenges
For the past 10 years, a series of Mature Adults Count publications has recorded and tracked statistics about South Carolinians aged 50 and above. This is the latest report, Mature Adults Count: Opportunities, Challenges and Choices. It describes how our older population is in the process of doubling in size, and how decision-makers and policymakers may find both opportunity and challenge as they make choices about how our state will react to the tremendous demographic changes that are occurring in South Carolina.
The state's 60-plus population is expected to double to 1.3 million by 2025. South Carolina's growth rate of older adults over the past decade ranked ninth in the nation.
Maturing baby boomers comprise a senior community growing from two directions: the in-migration of retirees moving to our state and our indigenous aging population. These demographic changes will result in two senior communities with different expectations and needs for public services.
Our more affluent in-migrants will fuel the economy while expecting scenic beauty, recreational and cultural opportunities and modest taxes while our less fortunate seniors will depend on state services including Medicaid, housing, transportation, and other social services. The synergy between the two senior communities can benefit our state economically if we plan well for our future.
In April 2005 the state held a state-level White House Conference on Aging in Myrtle Beach and in December the federal government held the National White House Conference on Aging Washington DC. As a result of these conferences, a number of critical issues noted in earlier issues of the Mature Adults Count reports have begun to be addressed. The Baby Boom generation is fast becoming the Senior Boom. The growth of the senior population in South Carolina presents both business opportunities and challenges that must be addressed in a partnership between the corporate community and public sector if we are to assure a sustainable quality of life.
South Carolina's Critical Issues
- Maximizing the opportunities that the in-migration of affluent mature adults presents for economic growth and improving our tax base.
- Encouraging the private sector to create the services our aging population is clearly willing to purchase.
- Planning to meet our aging population's health needs and support a sustainable quality of life.
- Managing the workforce issues presented by caregivers who are torn between careers and family responsibilities.
- Encouraging personal responsibility so that certain inevitable services like long-term care are purchased by individuals rather than funded as entitlements.