Katy Read had an interesting story recently in the Star Tribune asking about what language we should use to refer to older people. One thought that comes to mind is "people."
She writes:
It's an interesting question.
A few years ago Ecumen commissioned a statewide survey of baby boomers on a variety of topics related to their future and aging. One question tested a couple of phrases, asking which they found most appealing: senior, elder, older adult and third ager. We didn't include "senior citizen" because it just seems dated.
- 48% favored "senior"
- 40% favored "older adult"
- 9 % favored "elder"
- 2% favored "third ager"
