In New Book, Expert on Boomers Argues for a New Social Compact to Encourage People to Work in "Encore Careers" that Provide Income, Meaning and Impact

SAN FRANCISCO — Civic Ventures, a think tank and program incubator helping society achieve the greatest return on experience, today announced the release of a new book — Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life (PublicAffairs Books, 2007) — by its founder and CEO Marc Freedman.

"In one of the most significant social trends of the new century and the biggest transformation of the American workforce since the women's movement," Freedman writes, "members of the baby boom generation are inventing a new stage of work, an ‘encore career’ that falls between the end of midlife careers and the beginning of true old age and is focused on work that matters. It is a development that is distinct, significant and historic."

But, Freedman notes, employers and policymakers are completely unprepared to make the most of this opportunity. They must act quickly to adopt revolutionary changes — Freedman recommends a Reverse GI Bill, Encore Fellowships, and expanded health coverage for those between 50 and 65, among other things — to encourage and help boomers find long-term work that combines income, personal fulfillment, and the chance to make a significant contribution to the well-being to the country.

"For half a century, we’ve told older Americans to stop contributing — in fact, we have encouraged them to leave the workplace by age 65, and earlier if at all possible, through financial incentives, security, support, and the pull of a leisure-filled life," Freedman says.

"For 50 years this contract worked, but things have changed. As boomers live longer, healthier lives, society faces labor shortages and fiscal crisis. We need to forge a new compact around longer working lives, one that will create a society that balances the joys and responsibilities of contribution across the generations."

In the book, Freedman offers a compelling vision of work for boomers, "one that swaps the old dream of the freedom from work for one that is about the freedom to work — on new terms, in new ways and to new ends."

Encore careers, Freedman believes, could simultaneously ease individuals’ financial needs, alleviate the fiscal crisis, fill critical labor shortages in fields including education and health care, provide a generation with continued sense of purpose, and silence the dire predictions that surround the aging of the boomers.

Encore is punctuated by the stories of men and women who are pioneers in this burgeoning movement toward work that matters in the second half of life — individuals like Beverly Ryder, who left a corporate career to work on revitalizing the Los Angeles public schools; Robert Chambers, who left his job as a used car salesman to create a better way for poor people in New Hampshire to buy quality cars; and Ed Speedling, who left 30 years as a hospital executive and academic to help solve the problem of homelessness in Philadelphia.

Encore has already received high praise. "In this timely and important book, Marc Freedman overturns the conventional wisdom about work, retirement, and even the American Dream," says Daniel H. Pink, author of A Whole New Mind and Free Agent Nation. "If you’re a boomer — especially if you’re a boomer running for President — put Encore at the top of your reading pile. This is the rare book that can change the national conversation."

"This remarkable book is as inspiring as it is important, as compelling for individuals as it is for society," says Sherry Lansing, CEO, Sherry Lansing Foundation, former chairman of Paramount Pictures. "Every movement needs a visionary, and baby boomers eager for meaningful second acts are lucky to have Marc Freedman."

Freedman is author of The Kindness of Strangers and Prime Time: How Baby Boomers Will Revolutionize Retirement and Transform America, which The New York Times called an "inspiring, informative, mind-opening book." Freedman is a frequent commentator in the national media and co-founder of Experience Corps, a national service program for Americans over 55, and The Purpose Prize, five $100,000 awards to social innovators over 60.

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About Civic Ventures
Civic Ventures is a think tank and program incubator, working to help society achieve the greatest return on experience. For more information about Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the Second Half of Life, visit www.encore.org.