Ideas: The 20 New Years

Advances in life expectancy are giving Americans literally 20 more years of life, compared to people born just decades ago. They're 20 "new" years because they're creating a new life stage-after children are mostly grown, and before retirement.

Picture the life span as a rubber band. When it's stretched, the real elasticity, the real growth, is in the middle. That's what's happening with the large numbers of Americans in their 40s and 50s. They're living those 20 additional years right in the middle of adulthood.

Some people jump to the conclusion that a longer life-span means adding unhealthy years on to the end of life. But research from Duke University says that healthy life expectancy is growing just as fast as life expectancy. A new standard of energy and vitality is pushing old age through the 70s and beyond.

With an average of two children, American men and women spend only 35 percent of the years between ages 20 and 70 in parenting. So for women in particular, this life stage is completely new: decades with few or no family responsibilities, now that parents' needs for care generally come later in life. Those who fear being "sandwiched" between care for children and care for parents are thinking of the old three-generation family, rather than the four generations (or more) that go with longer lives.

What are Americans doing with their 20 new years? Those with resources are going back to school, changing careers, starting businesses, or climbing down the career ladder and even off it to devote time to family and community. Others are building funds for retirement. Those who have been by-passed by the new economy are just trying to get by.