The term “Baby Boomers” refers to the large cohort of 78 million people born in the United States in the post-war period. It can be subdivided into Early Baby Boomers (EBBs, born 1948-53), Mid Baby Boomers (MBBs, born 1954-59) and Late Baby Boomers (LBBs, born 1960-64). EBBs are already entering retirement and by 2030 when LBBs become seniors, the number of Americans ages 65 and older will be over 70 million or 20% of the population. This is double the number in 2005 which represented 12% of the population (Institute of Medicine, 2008). While Baby Boomers have historically been active entrepreneurs, it is unclear how this trend will continue as they “retire”. This question has major implications for the economy and the health of the nation given that an extension of entrepreneurial activities into retirement should moderate the projected consumptions of Baby Boomers with respect to Social Security and Medicare, and the expected caregiving burdens on families and society. We propose a “big data”, systems-based study of the sociospatial (social and geographic, including network analyses) and biological (cognitive and genetic) factors that predict entrepreneurship in Baby Boomers as they age.

This study is the first effort that we know of to apply a “big data”, systems-based research framework to the study of entrepreneurship in older adults, specifically Baby Boomers. Recent policy shifts have increased the retirement age at which older workers are eligible to receive full Social Security benefits so as to mitigate the expected burden on Social Security and health care benefits once Boomers start retiring (Clarke, Marshall, & Weir, 2012). Rather than view Boomers’ retirement in entirely negative terms like the “Silver Tsunami” or the “Silver Surge,” evidence of their persistence in entrepreneurship could result in more favorable policy assessments of the anticipated draw-downs on Social Security and health care benefits.

The Boomers, Entrepreneurship, and Retirement 2030 research program has received funding from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. The program has also received institutional funding from the University of Michigan Office of Research.