One of the start-ups I worked with in 2022 is planning to address one of the fastest growing markets on the planet: Those 55 and older. It isn’t a trendy demographic, but all of the wealthiest western nations are aging rapidly–especially the United States. We all know that the Boomers’ generation was a demographic anomaly, a massive bulge in the birth rate following World War II. But few realize how big that bulge was and fewer still recognize how transformative that generation has been. From the campus protests in the 1960s to their careers in the 1970s through the early “oughts” (2000+) and now on into their retirements, they are rewriting the rules.
As part of my due diligence, I researched the “senior” marketplace to discover these new rules. I put the word “senior” in quotes because it is no longer a term accepted by Boomers; they don’t like it. Unfortunately, I have not found a suitable replacement, so for the moment I will call us “older Americans”; I’m well aware that others around the world are aging as well. I just happen to know the older American experience a lot more… intimately.
Anyway, here are a few factoids that may surprise you:
- Americans over age 50 are the most affluent group in history. They represent a mere 35% of the population and yet control 76% of total net worth by household.
- Older Americans net household worth is approximately three times that of those under 50.
- The labor shortage is real: It takes 2.2 children per family, on average, to fill the jobs vacated by the previous generation. Americans have been reproducing at 1.8 children per family for the last 30 years or more.
- There are not nearly enough caregivers to service all who will need it in the coming years. Older Americans want to live in their own homes as long as possible, so those who can assist them with remaining independent are in short supply.
That last bullet point is the focus today. Although I doubt technology alone can address all the needs of older Americans, there is a technological breakthrough that is going to be a quickly become a major boon to the quality of life of those just a bit older than I am: autonomous vehicles.
Interestingly, it will be yet another case where technological change begets cultural change.
First, consider that freedom of movement is one of the most significant requirements for independent living. It is also a pre-requisite for good health: If you cannot get to the doctor, your health declines. If you cannot get to the store to buy fresh vegetables and good food, your health declines. And if you never leave your home at all, your mental health declines, which in turn adversely affects all other facets of health.
Autonomous vehicles (AVs) available on demand mean that older American have freedom of movement for considerably longer. It is not hard to imagine a healthy 90 year old using an AV to go to the doctor or the grocery store–and returning to their own home.
An interesting aside: Once our hypothetical older American gets home, a monitoring platform called Sentinaire can securely keep track of a person’s physical health within their home, notifying family or others in case of a fall or other indications of stress.
The Sentinaire’s camera system has its logic on the network “edge”, that is, in the camera itself. This means that there is no chance of a hacker snooping on data sent to the cloud–because there isn’t any. The internet connection is used for notifications, not real-time image data.
Back at the AV ranch: Autonomous vehicles are not some bizarro sci-fi fantasy–they’re imminent.
