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Press Releases | |
Apr 07, 2000
Contact:
Two New Studies Aim at Baby Boomers in the 21st Century
Darren Johnson
(631) 287 8313
Fax: (631) 283 4081Sixty-eight percent of Baby Boomers said that they couldn't identify with the word "retirement" in a 1999 study conducted by Southampton College's National Center for Women and Retirement Research (NCWRR). To Gerontology Professor and NCWRR Director Christopher Hayes that number is alarmingly high considering the oldest Boomers are nearing retirement age.
So, armed with nearly $250,000 in grants, Hayes will lead two unique studies that seek better planning for America's largest generation, so-called Baby Boomers born between 1946-64. Graduate students in Southampton College's Gerontology program will play a significant role in conducting the research.
The National Endowment for Financial Education (NEFE) recently awarded Hayes $119,000 to find ways to overcome the challenges caused by antiquated and negative generalizations about the retirement experience. The non-profit NCWRR will research and create publications for Boomers on topics such as saving, investing, estate planning, maximizing pensions and health care. During a 14-month initiative, Hayes will lead focus groups to redefine and perhaps find a new word for retirement and identify self-help information that will motivate millions of Baby Boomers to plan for the later stages of their life.
This cutting-edge initiative is the first-ever effort to outline a new landscape of later adulthood that is in keeping with the ideals and values of the Baby Boom population. Local individuals interested in participating in the study should call the NCWRR at (631) 287-2888.
Hayes' second grant comes from General Electric's Center for Financial Learning to aid a research project titled "Secure Tomorrow's Autonomy Today." The grant of $128,000 will go toward surveying 3500 Baby Boomers at the national level. The goal is to ascertain the public's least understood areas of long term care insurance and to identify the reasons why many Boomers go without it.