The U.S. population is aging. Social Security projections suggest that between 2013 and 2050, the population aged 65 and over will almost double, from 45 million to 86 million. One key driver of population aging is ongoing increases in life expectancy. Average U.S. life expectancy was 67 years for males and 73 years for females five decades ago; the averages are now 76 and 81, respectively. It has long been the case that better-educated, higher-income people enjoy longer life expectancies than less-educated, lower-income people. The causes include early life conditions, behavioral factors (such as nutrition, exercise, and smoking behaviors), stress, and access to health care services, all of which can vary across education and income. Our major entitlement programs - Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and Supplemental Security Income - have come to deliver disproportionately larger lifetime benefits to higher-income people because, on average, they are increasingly collecting those benefits over more years than others. This report studies the impact the growing gap in life expectancy has on the present value of lifetime benefits that people with higher or lower earnings will receive from major entitlement programs. The analysis presented in The Growing Gap in Life Expectancy by Income goes beyond an examination of the existing literature by providing the first comprehensive estimates of how lifetime benefits are affected by the changing distribution of life expectancy. The report also explores, from a lifetime benefit perspective, how the growing gap in longevity affects traditional policy analyses of reforms to the nation's leading entitlement programs. This in-depth analysis of the economic impacts of the longevity gap will inform debate and assist decision makers, economists, and researchers.

Reviews recent trends, reforms and lessons learned in the 29 OECD countries as they relate to ageing.

This book reviews recent trends, reforms and lessons learned in the 29 OECD countries as they relate to ageing.

The past fifteen years have seen longterm care policies in the countries of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) undergo substantial transformations, either through major policy reforms or through accumulated minor policy changes. This book brings together data from many OECD countries to compare key changes in national policies, examine the successes or failures of new approaches, and offer policy strategies for the future. Drawing on fifteen years of evidence and bringing together contributors from a number of perspectives throughout the OECD, it will be essential for those studying--or making--policy.

As the United States and the rest of the world face the unprecedented challenge of aging populations, this volume draws together for the first time state-of-the-art work from the emerging field of the demography of aging. The nine chapters, written by experts from a variety of disciplines, highlight data sources and research approaches, results, and proposed strategies on a topic with major policy implications for labor forces, economic well-being, health care, and the need for social and family supports.

The United States is in the midst of a major demographic shift. In the coming decades, people aged 65 and over will make up an increasingly large percentage of the population: The ratio of people aged 65+ to people aged 20-64 will rise by 80%. This shift is happening for two reasons: people are living longer, and many couples are choosing to have fewer children and to have those children somewhat later in life. The resulting demographic shift will present the nation with economic challenges, both to absorb the costs and to leverage the benefits of an aging population. Aging and the Macroeconomy: Long-Term Implications of an Older Population presents the fundamental factors driving the aging of the U.S. population, as well as its societal implications and likely long-term macroeconomic effects in a global context. The report finds that, while population aging does not pose an insurmountable challenge to the nation, it is imperative that sensible policies are implemented soon to allow companies and households to respond. It offers four practical approaches for preparing resources to support the future consumption of households and for adapting to the new economic landscape.

`Ageing in Society brings forth exciting new questions, fresh perspectives, and a necessary critical approach to key issues - this is indeed an authoritative introduction. The authors not only have made significant contributions to gerontology, but offer the reader considerations for what could be, not just what is, the design of old age in society. The book will inform students in ways that so many texts in the area, satisfied with comfortable bromides, do not′ - Jaber Gubrium, Editor of Journal of Aging Studies, University of Missouri-Columbia `This completely revised Third Edition of Ageing in Society presents one of the most comprehensive pictures of ageing today. Emphasising the dual processes of ageing societies and the experience of ageing, the book offers the reader - student or researcher alike - cogent discussions of the most up to date perspectives and evidence available. The contributors are all leading experts in their fields - comprising a range of important disciplines as they apply to ageing. Ageing in Society is a cutting edge text on one of the most important subjects facing the modern world - a must for all students of ageing′ - Mike Bury, Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of London `The Third Edition of the comprehensive textbook Ageing in Society extends its scope to include continental Europe, allowing broader as well as deeper insights into recent trends in gerontology. Gerontologists and practitioners are urged not to stop reading before they have reached the insightful last chapter "Ageing into the future"!′ - Professor Dorly Deeg, Editor-in-Chief European Journal of Ageing The Third Edition of this popular and widely-used text provides a comprehensive introduction to the study of ageing, exploring the key theories, concepts and methods which the behavioural and social sciences contribute to the subject. Thoroughly revised and updated, Ageing in Society reflects new trends in gerontology, incorporating recent developments in theory and research as well as major international and interdisciplinary perspectives. A new chapter on cognitive ageing has been added and key themes, such as social protection, retirement, health and illness, and cultural images of old age are also critically examined. Ageing in Society was developed by the British Society of Gerontology to fulfil the need for an authoritative introduction to social gerontology. As such, it is an ideal resource for students and lecturers in the social and behavioural sciences, as well as for students and practitioners in health and social care.