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Wyoming becomming one of the nation’s oldest states
Wyoming’s population as a whole is slowly aging, and there is disagreement whether that will be bad or good for the state.
Casper Star Tribune
http://www.onewest.net
There is concern that workers will not be available to fill service and manufacturing jobs and that the already struggling health care sector will be pushed to the point of crisis.
"The implications will be profound," said Dick O’Gara, an economist at Laramie County Community College. "It’s not a good situation and it’s not what we want to see."
By 2020, Wyoming is expected to have the nation’s highest percentage of residents 65 and older and one of every two people in the state will be over 60, according to AARP Wyoming Director Rita Inoway.
But Inoway and Gov. Dave Freudenthal say that is not necessarily a bad thing for Wyoming.
"For too long, he thinks, the increasing number of seniors has been discussed as a problem or something to be dealt with. He’s interested in changing the discussion into opportunities and assets," Freudenthal spokeswoman Lara Azar said.
She said careful planning could result in economic opportunities that would encourage people of all ages to move here.
"We think business and civic leaders in Wyoming may be surprised by some of the data we have gathered on the emerging generation of retirees and by the possibilities the research presents," she said.
Freudenthal and the AARP plan to host a forum on the aging issue from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 5 at the Cheyenne Kiwanis Community House in Lions Park in Cheyenne.
State economist Wenlin Liu said Wyoming’s population reflects its boom-and-bust economy. Many people were lured to the state when the minerals industry boomed in the early 1980s.
The population started dropping when the boom ended a few years later, but rose again in the national recession of the early 1990s.
"When a recession happens, that discourages people from moving out of the state and more people started moving to the state," he said.
The trend reversed itself after the national economy started expanding again: More people left in pursuit of better opportunities. But the people started moving to Wyoming again when Wyoming’s economy became stronger than those of surrounding states.
"As soon as the national economy improves, the migration will be out again," Liu said.
Over the next decade, older-aged working citizens and retired citizens are expected to increase in number in Wyoming between 1 and 2.3 percent a year. Meanwhile, the number of younger adults is expected to decline.
O’Gara predicts a strong job market in communications, transportation and such professional services as health care and law. But he said if the population ages and is not offset with more young people or higher-paying jobs, declining income will dampen the economy.
"Retirees have less money to spend and that will drive a decreasing demand for goods and services across the economy," he said.
But Cheyenne resident Cheryl McVay, 54, takes a different view of her generation — the Baby Boom generation.
"We’re spenders," she said, distinguishing people her age from their Depression-era parents. "We’re not frugal."
The first baby boomers will turn 60 in three years.
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