Finding Meaning in Later Life

Gathering and Harvesting the Fruits of Women’s Experience

Marcia Nimmer

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• Print ISBN: 9780815382942
• eBook ISBN: 9781351137751
• Topic: Psychology
• Subtopic: Developmental Psychology
• Index: Psychology

Finding Meaning in Later Life: Gathering and Harvesting the Fruits of Women's Experience is an exploration in understanding the psychological tasks inherent for women in creating and maintaining purpose as they mature and enter their later years. With ever-increasing lifespan for elders, it becomes important for a society that glorifies youth to meet the challenges of this developmental milestone.

Many books and articles on post-midlife are written from a biological and behavioral stance—with quantitative data supporting concrete lifestyle recommendations for "successful aging." Using this lens, successful aging is often defined as having good to excellent health, no disabilities in activities of daily living, good cognitive functioning, and living in the community. That "received wisdom" leads to the conundrum that the only path to successful aging is by not aging! This book challenges current thoughts on aging, expanding our perspective such that purpose and meaning in later years derives from inner resources that are not dependent on biological and physical states of being. Its conclusions stem from the direct experience and voices of mature women, obtained through qualitative research. The results of this study shed light on existential theories, bringing them to life with added weight and traction. Ultimately, the ideas explored here unfold as a map to navigate this often-misunderstood stage in life.

1 The Need for a New Outlook

It’s not how old you are, it’s how you are old.

(Anonymous)

Only privileged individuals are allowed to grow old. For those who are fortunate enough to age, life can be a gift in which one can bask in nature, the company of close friends and family, and chosen passions and interests. Nonetheless, the aging process can be daunting in a society that glorifies youth, physical beauty, productivity, and efficiency. The slow progression of loss often associated with the aging process is often difficult to endure. Loss of one’s young self, diminishing physicality, and eventually the loss of loved ones comes with great heartache. The unknown author’s words above are pertinent for these reasons. The challenge in later life is how to glean meaning and purpose in life in spite of the obstacles in the aging process. In other words, how can older adults gather and harvest the fruits of experience?

The purpose of this book is to expand our thinking on what it means for women post-midlife to age in our society today. The ideas and conclusions drawn here are based on interviews with women between the ages of 63 and 73 who shared their stories and reflections, joys and tribulations about this developmental life stage. The interviews focused on how women “live through” life after many of the goals and tasks of earlier adulthood have already been met and accomplished. Prior to delving into these women’s lived experience, however, it is important to look at where we currently stand as a society in relation to the aging process. It is only through understanding the process of aging in the past and the present that we can entertain ideas about redefining the future and answering the question of how individuals can create and maintain meaning in their lives post-midlife.

Lifespan Demographics

What does it mean to be old? People are now living longer than previous generations and older adults compose a much larger segment of the population than ever before. In 1935, life expectancy was 61.7 years old and people could start collecting pension checks at age 62.¹ Lifespan demographics have changed dramatically in the ensuing years. According to a report published on October 8, 2014, by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a typical toddler born in 2012 can expect to live 78.8 years.² Further, projected life expectancy by the mid-century in developed countries will be 82 years.³ In light of longer life spans, the idea that a person passes directly from post-midlife to old age is being re-evaluated. Sociologists, entrepreneurs, and demographers have called for envisioning a new stage of life beyond midlife to serve as a bridge between midlife and old age.⁴ As a matter of nomenclature, “The Third Chapter,” “The Third Age,” and “The Encore Stage,” have been proposed as monikers for identifying a time in life when a person is neither old nor young.⁵ This renaming and redefining of the later period of life recognizes that society has held on to an outdated idea that post-midlife is a time of relaxation and leisure. Twenty years of indolence seems healthy for neither the economy nor for individuals’ physical and mental health. It is the task of this book to seek to understand how individuals post-midlife can create meaningful and productive penultimate acts.

Current Social Perspectives on Aging

Late life, covering a span of over three decades following age 50, can be perceived and understood in many different ways.⁶ This period can be defined by physical appearance, key life events (e.g., retirement or some other disengagement) or social roles (e.g., grandparenthood or elder statesman duties). Later life has also been divided by some demographers and gerontologists into two different subgroups: the “young old” and the “old old.”⁷ Due to the high variability of individuals in later life, it is difficult to make general statements and assumptions about this portion of the population. Further, the highly complex nature surrounding patterns of aging makes it difficult to generalize about the process of aging and its effects on contemporary life. An overview of the social issues surrounding aging reveals that the current wide scope does not completely address the heterogeneity of this population nor the myriad of social policies that deserve attention.

Social policy analysts are being asked to examine issues around aging more carefully in light of demographic aging—an increase in the population that is 65 years and older. Based on the demographic data, global aging has expanded throughout the world.⁸ In the United States, older persons (i.e., 65+ years) included 39.6 million individuals in 2009, representing 12.9% of the population or one in every eight Americans.⁹ By 2030, demographers predict that there will be approximately 72.1 million older persons, more than twice their number in 2000.¹⁰ By 2050 this age segment is predicted to number over 88.5 million adults.¹¹ This steady increase in the older adult population in the United States and the world at large will result in significant implications that will affect many social policy domains: the general economy, the healthcare system, the need for housing, and the general welfare of the individual older adult.¹²

The General Economy

Traditionally, societies supported older people via a system of intergenerational reciprocity.¹³ In the family system, adults provide for young children, and, when these children grow up, they often care for their older parents. This support system extends from the family unit to society at large: Adults in the labor market subsidize the public programs that provide health care and income support for older dependents and health care and education for younger ones.¹⁴ This intergenerational reciprocity functions optimally when birth cohorts generate enough “working age” adults to support both the younger and older members of society.¹⁵ In most of Europe, North America, and Asia, there is a steady decrease in the number of working age people available to support older adults, a number that is predicted to continue to decline due to decreased fertility rates.¹⁶ China, for example, is particularly concerned about its dependency ratio and is considering a change in the 36-year-old one child law in which families will be allowed to have two children.¹⁷ If the new policy takes effect, experts warn that it will take decades to relieve the demographic crisis.

In addition to this challenging dependency ratio, the budgetary needs for older adults have increased with the growing number of adults living longer.¹⁸ Thus, contemporary society faces a shrinking pool of younger workers being asked to support a larger pool of older retirees over a longer period of time.¹⁹ However, these unfavorable dependency ratios are not seen as dire by all health service researchers.²⁰ For example, Knickman and Snell cite statistics demonstrating that the United States prospered through the 1960s with dependency ratios less favorable than will be experienced in 2030, and tha...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Acknowledgments
• 1 The Need for a New Outlook
• 2 How We Age: Theories and Research
• 3 Women’s Voices and Lived Experience: Existential Pursuits and Affirmation of Life
• 4 Women’s Voices and Lived Experience: Human Relationships and Resiliency
• 5 Treatment Implications for Therapists Working with Older Adults
• 6 Where Do We Go from Here?
• 7 Final Thoughts: Big Data, Depth Psychology, and Poetry
• Appendix A: Methodology
• Appendix B: Screening and Interview Guides
• References
• Index