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Directions (21-25): Read the following passage carefully and answer the given questions.
In a world in which nearly half the population is over the age of 50, we will have to start thinking of older people differently. The first thing we will have to recognise is that our very notion of old age is faulty. In the mid-to-late 1800 s, medical theory suggested that the only healthy thing for older adults to do was rest. This gave birth to the first government pensions, corporate retirement policies, dedicated old-age homes. Surviving till today is this idea that older people are “supposed” to be consumers of ideas, work, products and culture, but never producers.
Today, ask anyone over the age of 60 or so if she wants to sit in a rocking chair for the rest of her life and she’ll laugh you out of the room. Yet, this outmoded norm concerning the capabilities and goals of older people persists. It remains at the core of misguided products, policies, workplace expectations. Living longer and better may mean working longer. It may mean a lifetime of learning and growth. We may see older adults in roles to which we are not accustomed: retail, manufacturing, teaching and delivering healthcare (not just receiving it). The energy we draw from our older population may grow to become one of our most valuable resources. Businesses founded by people over the age of 50 are already major sources of employment across the nation. Products designed with older people in mind must evolve. An aging society has given rise to a new multi-trillion-dollar market of consumers who want not just to betaken care of but also live out aspirations once considered impossible in old age. These products, services and experiences will become a source of economic growth and innovation, Infrastructure from housing to transportation must be reengineered. Workplaces will have to learn to utilise the unique skills and institutions knowledge of older workers, and resist the age-old urge to age-discriminate. We as individuals will have to rethink old age, both for the sake of those older than us and for our own future selves.
In a world in which nearly half the population is over the age of 50, we will have to start thinking of older people differently. The first thing we will have to recognise is that our very notion of old age is faulty. In the mid-to-late 1800 s, medical theory suggested that the only healthy thing for older adults to do was rest. This gave birth to the first government pensions, corporate retirement policies, dedicated old-age homes. Surviving till today is this idea that older people are “supposed” to be consumers of ideas, work, products and culture, but never producers.
Today, ask anyone over the age of 60 or so if she wants to sit in a rocking chair for the rest of her life and she’ll laugh you out of the room. Yet, this outmoded norm concerning the capabilities and goals of older people persists. It remains at the core of misguided products, policies, workplace expectations. Living longer and better may mean working longer. It may mean a lifetime of learning and growth. We may see older adults in roles to which we are not accustomed: retail, manufacturing, teaching and delivering healthcare (not just receiving it). The energy we draw from our older population may grow to become one of our most valuable resources. Businesses founded by people over the age of 50 are already major sources of employment across the nation. Products designed with older people in mind must evolve. An aging society has given rise to a new multi-trillion-dollar market of consumers who want not just to betaken care of but also live out aspirations once considered impossible in old age. These products, services and experiences will become a source of economic growth and innovation, Infrastructure from housing to transportation must be reengineered. Workplaces will have to learn to utilise the unique skills and institutions knowledge of older workers, and resist the age-old urge to age-discriminate. We as individuals will have to rethink old age, both for the sake of those older than us and for our own future selves.
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