“A change is happening in Maine with wide-ranging effects: State is seeing more deaths than births”

A change is happening in Maine with wide-ranging effects: State is seeing more deaths than births,” by Brian MacQuarrie, Boston Globe

“But across the state, the rapid aging of Maine’s population — a trend known by some as the “silver tsunami” — has reached a crucial tipping point, many say. As baby boomers head into retirement, and many young people move away in search of opportunity, Maine is one of only two states, along with West Virginia, where deaths now outnumber births. That gulf is reshaping life here in myriad ways, from shrinking the workforce to intensifying the demand for services for the elderly, and it will only widen in the coming years, demographers predict. … Across the state, municipalities are struggling to fill jobs from a static labor pool, competing for police officers, firefighters, and even snowplow drivers. Health care providers are scrambling to find workers, and local taxes are rising, some of them to finance programs for older residents.”

LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform):

Welcome to the front cusp of the aging boomer generation. “As Maine goes, so goes the nation?