THE VIEW FROM HERE

Aging population: our state’s growing problem

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“Will you still need me; will you still feed me; when I’m 64?”

I was 8 years old when the Beatles released that song in 1967, and it seemed quite probable to me then I would need help feeding myself by the time I hit 64. If I hit 64.

The average life expectancy for men at that time was 66.8 years, and I had good reason to believe I would come in under the average.

My dad had a massive heart attack when he was just 50 years old. It probably would have killed him had it happened 10 years earlier. Doctors at the University of Colorado Medical Center in Denver used what was then experimental, cutting-edge procedures to save his life. Those same procedures, refined and improved over the years, now save thousands of lives every day.

My 64th birthday is this week, and I’m happy to report I’m still able to eat without assistance.

Lots of folks who would have died at a younger age in the past are alive, healthy and looking forward to the future. In 1990, there were 3.1 million Americans aged 65 or older. Today there are 54.1 million.

That population shift is happening faster in New Mexico than most states. By the end of the decade, we’re expected to be fourth in the nation in the percentage of population age 65 and older.

New Mexico grew by just 2.8 percent overall in the last decade, compared to the national average of 7.4 percent, according to the most recent Census. Neighboring states had a growth rate of 14.2 percent.

Our working-age population (18-64) fell by 2 percent, while the senior population grew by 38 percent, according to a report by the state Legislature. We’ve had a net migration of working-age residents every year since 2012, and our birth rate is down by 21 percent since 2010.

The population decrease among working-age residents would have been greater if not for jobs created in New Mexico from oil and gas drilling in the Permian Basin. That will only make the challenge for our state more difficult as the nation shifts to cleaner energy sources.

These trends will present an enormous challenge for the state in the years ahead as more residents demand services without contributing to the workforce.

The solution is not to discourage retirees from moving here, but rather to ensure that the young men and women graduating from our high schools and universities have the jobs they need to stay here.

We’ve been talking about ending the “brain drain” since I moved here 20 years ago. Our survival as a vibrant, healthy state now depends on it.

Walter Rubel can be reached at waltrubel@gmail.com

Walt Rubel

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