Today’s young people will live longer, healthier lives than their grandparents, but will spend more of it on the job, whether they like it or not.
A survey by the Municipal Retirees Organization Ontario (MROO) finds that 73% of respondents believe it is quite likely that youth currently under age 19 will work longer than they did before retiring.
MROO members, all of whom receive a pension under the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System plan, have mixed views of what the future holds for today’s youth.
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Members are optimistic about the health and longevity today’s young people will enjoy:
- 39% expect today’s young people, when adults, will enjoy a level of physical health and fitness better than theirs at the same age, while another 32% expect it will be the same as theirs;
- 48% believe that today’s youth will live longer than they will; 31% think their lives will be about as long as their own; and
- 61% foresee that medical advances will enable current young people to enjoy their retirement years with fewer chronic diseases.
Members are less sure how well the health system will serve today’s younger generation:
- 29% think the health system will be better able to meet the needs of today’s youth as they age; 30% state that the health system will meet their needs less well than it has met their own; and
- 39% expect that the health system will be better able than it is currently to support today’s youth, when retired, in their homes, rather than in hospitals or nursing homes; another 40% are unsure.
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Members are more pessimistic about the job prospects and future standard of living of today’s youth:
- 48% expect today’s young people, when adults, will enjoy a standard of living lower than what they enjoyed themselves during their working years; 25% think it will be about the same;
- 64% predict today’s youth, as adults, will have more stressful lives than theirs; 26% expect their lives to be no more or less stressful; and
- 53% forecast that, because of shrinking job opportunities, today’s younger generation will have fewer children.
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Members are pessimistic about retirement prospects for today’s youth:
- 55% expect that the younger generation will be financially poorer off in retirement;
- 73% find it quite likely that today’s youth will have to work longer than they did, whether they want to or not, to have sufficient savings for an adequate retirement; and
- 46% are pessimistic that the Canada Pension Plan and other public programs will have adapted to provide an adequate retirement income by the time today’s youth retire; 39% are unsure whether that will happen.
“While our members were quick to point out that they don’t have a crystal ball, some clear predictions emerged from the survey responses,” says MROO president William Harford. “Many are quite concerned about what the future holds for their grandchildren.”