Life After Work: Latinos and "Retirement"

I've been doing some research on the web lately to try and find some information on the aging experiences of Hispanics and how they might differ from other minority groups, and have been successful.

I came across one tidbit in particular that did not surprise me. Studies show that elderly Hispanics--more than any other ethnic group--end up living in communities or with relatives instead of nursing homes. What did surprise me is that most of these senior citizens end up living in "barrios" which, more often than not, are in poor and crowded areas, which heightens crime rights--potentially endangering these senior citizens. Though these settings provide a sense of comfort and familiarity, they may not be able to provide proper health assistance, safety, or monitoring that many elderly people do require.

Building on this topic, many elderly Latinos spent most of their adult life making a living by doing manual labor, and thus are not able to support themselves once they reach and age or health that they cannot perform this work. In fact, the website where I've been pulling much of information has this to say about the topic: "Hispanic American are also more likely to be unemployed than Black and White elderly Americans. As a consequence, elderly Hispanics, especially those 75 and over, are found to experience high rates of poverty."

Though these figures can be a little off-putting, there are some redeeming qualities to relationship between the family structure and the elderly Hispanic. Since, more often than not, elderly Latinos live with their children and their childrens' children, the elderly Hispanic can play a key role in child rearing (which may offset the financial burden of daycare, after school care, etc.) and create a multi-generational sense of history and morality that is often found lacking in many households.

Next: Tracing my grandmother's first step on NJ soil to age 77; what her journey can tell us about other Latino men and women...