Aging News

This e-newsletter is the 18th in a series funded by the University of Michigan Demography Center. This issue, "HIV/AIDS and Older Adults in the United States," reviews research sponsored by the National Institute of Aging, and other research, on aging and HIV/AIDS. (December 2009)

The NIA Demography and Economics of Aging Centers Program has been an important mechanism for promoting this research. Founded by NIA with supplemental support from the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research and the Fogarty Center at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the program has been instrumental in constructing critical databases, attracting and developing scholars, establishing international and interdisciplinary networks, and informing public policy. The program has expanded the demography and economics of aging rapidly in the United States, and now includes 14 Centers and more than 500 scientists. The program’s reach is global, with almost all 14 Centers involved in international projects, helping to develop the fields of demography and economics of aging in many countries. (November 2009)

The financial decisions facing older adults as they reach retirement age are increasingly more difficult. Even before recent financial crises brought into question the financial decisions made by individuals of all ages, cognitive aging patterns and the prevalence of dementia raised concerns about the ability of many older adults to manage their financial resources. Studies in behavioral economics and neuroeconomics have shed light on how individuals make decisions and have implications for the design of public and private pension plans and for management of chronic diseases. (October 2009)

Social and intimate connections change with age. These changes affect and are affected by health. Social connections come from a variety of sources—family and friends, shared living spaces, interaction with neighbors, and participation in community or religious organizations. For many people as they get older, their family structure changes as children leave home and spouses die. Also, as their friends die, the networks of older persons shrink. Many try to remain socially active through involvement with community organizations, church, and neighbors, but confronted with fewer and less intimate connections, older people may disengage from the social world. (October 2009)

The number of people over age 60 is expected to reach 1 billion by 2020 and almost 2 billion by 2050, representing 22 percent of the world’s population. This growth in the size and share of the elderly population will affect many aspects of economic development, including national labor forces: The ratio of people in older dependent age groups will increase relative to those in working-age groups. However, declining fertility rates may counterbalance this shift by reducing the number of people in younger dependent age groups. In addition, the new generation of older people will be healthier than previous generations and may remain active in the labor force for longer. Along with continued increases in the female labor force, these circumstances may alleviate the economic burden of global aging. David Bloom, economist and demographer at the Harvard School of Public Health, answered questions on this topic during a PRB Discuss Online. Read a transcript of the questions and answers. (June 2009)

Men and women face distinct challenges in late life. Paradoxically, men tend to have shorter lives but women have more health problems at any given age. Addressing why women live longer but have more health problems and why men die earlier can help reduce health care and long-term care costs for the elderly and narrow the gender health gap. Toshiko Kaneda, Population Reference Bureau; Zachary Zimmer, University of Utah; and Xianghua Fang and Zhe Tang, Capital Medical University, examined a sample of older adults in Beijing to determine gender differences in health and mortality after a five-year period. (June 2009)

This e-newsletter is the 17th in a series funded by the University of Michigan Demography Center. This issue, "Social Support, Networks, and Happiness," reviews research sponsored by the National Institute of Aging, and other research, on the relationships between aging and social connections. (June 2009)

Over the last several decades, many industries have experienced significant structural changes that have affected their employees. The airline industry, for example, has faced major policy and economic forces that have changed the demography of its workers, especially its flight attendants. Flight attendants have become older compared with the overall U.S. workforce over the last several decades. The ongoing economic crisis suggests that the population of flight attendants will age even more in the coming years as many workers are likely to postpone their retirement. (June 2009)

This e-newsletter is the 16th in a series funded by the University of Michigan Demography Center. This issue, "Effects of Early Life on Elderly Health," reviews research sponsored by the National Institute of Aging, and other research, on the effects of early life on adult and elderly health. (April 2009)

With continued population aging and increasing numbers of elderly, the loss of cognitive function among some older Americans foreshadows a potentially enormous social and economic burden on individuals, families, communities, and the nation. Three researchers present their findings on how education, income, better treatment of stroke and heart disease, and other factors affect the severe decline in cognitive ability among nearly 10 percent of U.S. elderly. (March 2009)

Recent population estimates from Brazil's national statistical office (IBGE) peg the national fertility rate at just 1.9 lifetime children per woman in 2007, lower than previous rates estimated by the UN, the U.S. Census Bureau, PRB, and other international organizations that estimate population measures. Notably, this new estimate is below the long-term replacement fertility rate of 2.1 children per woman—and below the 2.1 estimated for the United States in 2007. (February 2009)

This e-newsletter is the 15th in a series funded by the University of Michigan Demography Center. This issue, "Social Security Systems Around the World," reviews research sponsored by the National Institute of Aging, and other research, on the social security system in the United States and worldwide in order to better understand their effects and possible means of reform. (January 2009)

This Population Bulletin illustrates how to use new measures of population aging that take into account changes in longevity over time and place. None of the usual indicators of aging available adjust for increases in life expectancy. New measures described in this Population Bulletin take life expectancy differences into account. (BUL63.4; December 2008)

The U.S. population is aging. The ratio of elderly to the working-age population in the United States will roughly double over the next few decades, straining the finances of the U.S. Social Security system and other government programs. Ron Lee, professor of demography and economics at the University of California-Berkeley, answered participants questions on this topic. Read a transcript of the questions and answers. (November 2008)

This e-newsletter is the 13th in a series funded by the University of Michigan Demography Center. This issue, "Obesity, Economics, and Health," reviews research sponsored by the National Institute of Aging, and other research, on the health consequences of obesity and the factors associated with becoming obese. (September 2008)

This e-newsletter is the 14th in a series funded by the University of Michigan Demography Center. This issue, "Use of Biomarkers in Predicting Health and Mortality," reviews research sponsored by the National Institute of Aging and other institutions that investigates the link between biological risk factors and health or mortality in the older populations. (September 2008)

PRB has made a major update to its table of total fertility rates (TFRs) in countries with low or very low fertility rates. The newest tabulations suggest that fertility may be rising in some countries. We will have to wait to find out if this signals a more general trend. (September 2008)

The often-overlooked generation of the "Lucky Few," those born from 1929 to 1945, exemplifies the connections between generation size and relationships to previous generations. Elwood Carlson, Florida State University professor in sociology of population and author of The Lucky Few: Between the Greatest Generation and the Baby Boom, spoke at the Population Reference Bureau's monthly policy seminar on Sept. 10. (September 2008)

This e-newsletter is the 12th in a series funded by the University of Michigan Demography Center. This issue, "Older Workers and Retirement," reviews research sponsored by the National Institute of Aging, and other research, on how individuals make retirement decisions, the quality of these decisions, and their consequences. (June 2008)

This e-newsletter is the 11th in a series funded by the University of Michigan Demography Center. This issue, "Socioeconomic Status and Health Disparities in Old Age," highlights work by National Institute on Aging-supported researchers and others that aims to understand the underlying causes of persistent disparities between socioeconomic status and health. (June 2008)