Encore: Finding Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life

The movement of millions of sixty-somethings into a new phase in their working lives constitutes one of the most significant social trends in this country in nearly half a century. Encore describes the competing visions for work that are already lining up to capture the hearts and minds, and the time, of waves of baby boomers who are not content, or affluent enough, to spend their next twenty or thirty years on the golf course. Baby boomers are searching for a calling in the second half of life; they are moving beyond midlife yet refusing to phase out or fade away.

If the old dream of the Golden Years was the Freedom from Work, the dream of this new wave is the Freedom to Work—in new ways, on new terms, to new ends. As their numbers begin to swell, these individuals hold the potential not only to transform work in America, but to create a society that balances the joys and responsibilities of contribution across the generations—in other words, one that works better for everyone.

Marc Freedman is founder and CEO of Civic Ventures. A former visiting fellow of King's College, University of London, a frequent commentator in the national media, and the author of both Prime Time and The Kindness of Strangers , Freedman spearheaded the creation of The Experience Corps and The Purpose Prize. He lives in San Francisco.