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  Thriving in the Recession: Germany's Increasingly Powerful Seniors

Thriving in the Recession Germany's Increasingly Powerful Seniors

By SPIEGEL Staff

Part 2: 'The Next Generation Must Work Until They Are 70'

Economists like Börsch-Supan caution that these programs are just a beginning. To rescue future German prosperity, people will not just have to be significantly more productive, starting 2015. "The next generation will also have to work a lot longer and by that I mean until they're 69 or 70," says Börsch-Supan.

The question is whether human bodies can live up to that challenge. Börsch-Supan cites studies in which, contrary to widespread assumptions, economic productivity does not decline with age -- but they only count until the 65th birthday. So what happens after that? People who perform strenuous physical labor get tired. And how long can the aging brain keep up with the demands of the modern working world?

When Gisela Bachgardt, 67, is at work, her head resembles a mushroom with tentacles. Because Bachgardt is hard at work in a laboratory at the Leibniz Institute for Occupational Physiology. The wires sprouting from her head are connected to a computer and her current task is to recognize letter combinations, then press the appropriate keys in a certain order. The computer registers the speed of her reactions down to the millisecond; the purpose of the experiment to examine her attentiveness, her ability to recognize combinations and her speed.

Neurophysiologist Michael Falkenstein is trying to prove that after a certain age intelligence is mainly a question of fitness. As part of the experiment, Falkenstein has had Bachgardt spend the last four months exercising while members of a control group relaxed. After she has completed all the tasks Falkenstein quickly scans a confusing array of colorful graphs and lines moving across his computer screen. He looks satisfied. His hypothesis seems to be correct.

The Three Ls -- Magic Formula For Fruitful Old Age

Researchers call the magic formula for fruitful and active twilight years "three big L's". Learning, loving and laughing. Add good nutrition, and those who abide by the three L's stand a good chance of delaying the natural deterioration of the brain by several years.

"On the other hand, monotony, smoking, noise and stress decrease intelligence," Falkenstein explains. Stress causes the body to release cortisone, a dangerous substance in high doses. When Falkenstein studied the brains of automobile assembly line workers, he found holes in cognition already appearing in the mid-40s. Some of those gaps were appearing in areas where the brain assesses actions.

Stress is also detrimental, particularly to the production of dopamine. This is a neurotransmitter that promotes communication between nerve pathways. If levels of dopamine decline, as they do in old age, things quieten down in the brain. "This is probably one of the fundamental reasons that almost all thought processes begin to slow down," says Falkenstein. As a rule though this dopamine go-slow only becomes noticeable between the ages of 70 or 80 -- mainly because routine helps to offset such deficits for a long time.

But the characteristics of old age also have their advantages. Slower, thoughtful people make fewer mistakes, for example. And in addition to having a larger vocabulary (the part of the brain relevant to this continues to grow until well into old age) older people have better interpersonal skills, getting along better with co-workers and customers. Their life experience enables them to better assess these kinds of situations.

Research shows that society can expect more from the elderly in the 21st century. And, indeed, most of them want to be given the chance to do more. In particular, highly qualified people -- doctors, managers and master craftsmen -- perceive forced retirement as some sort of punishment.

Older people want to be active. Retirees are flocking to clubs and associations, where they helpfully serve as treasurers or secretaries, or they're starting up their own organizations, businesses or clubs. In fact, older people make up almost half of Germany's two major political parties, the SPD and the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Additionally it seems that many retirees, instead of joining various organizations, would rather be back at work. According to a survey by the German research institute Forsa, a quarter of all people aged 60 to 80 want a paid job. Fourteen percent of those have one -- and that ratio is increasing.

Older people have gone back to work in their own businesses or medical practices. Or they're providing consultancy services to former employers -- or they've joined foundations like the Senior Expert Service, which sends about 7,000 business professionals abroad every year to do things like train Ugandan healthcare workers or help set up workshops in Cambodia.

Germany's Next Top Model is Over 60

Munich native Christa Höhs, 68, is one of these kinds of older people. Höhs is an attractive woman with high cheekbones and salt-and-pepper hair, who used to work as a fashion model in the United States. And at an age when others are planning early retirement, she decided to set up her own company.

After some success as a model in the US Höhs had wanted to return to Germany. A mistake, career-wise. In an attempt to continue in the field, she sent out dozens of applications -- but to no avail. At which stage the enterprising senior founded her own agency for older models.

Höhs already knew that there were an increasing number of older people in Germany with a lot of time and even more money. The annual purchasing power of Germans aged over 60 is estimated at €316 billion ($442 billion). Höhs' company, Senior Models, has been a success and today, the attractive older men and women her agency represents appear in ads for everything from skin creams to tourism to garden furniture.

Yes, it was difficult at first, Höhs admitted and she had trouble drumming up business. In fact, it took her years to convince "those young things at the advertising agencies" that senior citizens might be a good group to focus their efforts on. Because after all, Höhs said, "life after 65 is about so much more than adult diapers."

MARKUS DEGGERICH, SIMONE KAISER, CAROLINE SCHMIDT, GERALD TRAUFETTER

Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan