Helping Older Adults Stay Engaged in Work and Civic Life

The Experience Wave is a project supported by The Atlantic Philanthropies that advances federal and state policies that will make it easier for mid-life and older adults to stay engaged in work and community life. In 2006, the first of the baby boom generation turned 60 and will begin retiring in the next few years. Baby boomers, or people born between 1946 and 1964, represent over a quarter of the U.S. population. They are healthier and better educated than previous generations, making them a tremendous resource of experience, talent, and knowledge for the public, private and nonprofit sectors. In addition, over the next decade at least one-third of people in their 60s and 70s report that they will continue to work, primarily because they have insufficient savings for retirement or they need health insurance offered by employers.

Our work will advance the interests of mid-life and older people by promoting policies that:

• Remove barriers and provide wider opportunities for older people to continue working when they are willing and able, or re-enter the workforce if they have already retired;
• Enhance lifelong learning for older people and consider the unique needs of mature and older workers who want to advance in or change careers through accessible, high quality, and affordable education and training; and
• Open doors for older people to engage in meaningful charitable or "pro bono" work.

Our success will have broad social impact. Older people engaged in work and civic life will be healthier and more financially secure, thus less dependent on federal and state programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security. As workforce shortages increasingly affect the economy, all sectors - public, nonprofit and private business - will benefit from the availability of mature and older workers who are experienced, talented, and well trained. Furthermore, community-based nonprofit organizations will benefit as older people become more fully engaged in charitable work, allowing nonprofits to increase their impact.

To achieve our goals, work is already underway to:

• Convene experts in the fields of aging, philanthropy, employment, and education to guide the development of federal and state policies;
• Work with lawmakers in Congress and state legislatures to pass legislation that will open doors for mature and older workers to do paid and charitable work; and
• Through media outreach, begin a positive and informed national public dialogue about the coming "experience wave" of mature and older workers and the value that they will inevitably add to the public, private, and nonprofit sectors.

For more information, contact:

Experience Wave
2120 L St. NW, Suite 600
Washington, DC 20037
(202) 478-6127
info@experiencewave.org
www.experiencewave.org