Aging in the United States

Abstract

As we have shown in the Introduction, ageing in the United States is not merely a reflection of the country’s high level of economic development, because longevity gains in some ethnic groups are offset by continued poverty in other sectors of the population, and high fertility levels among specific immigrant groups, such as Hispanics. Due to these and other changes working through US society, the country is actually predicted to fall down the international ageing table, from 23rd in 1975 to 50th by 2050, but nonetheless with 84 million people aged 65 years or more. Given that these 84 million live within the number one economy in the world (notwithstanding the rise of the Chinese and Indian economies) this means that many millions of people in the US are more likely to be able to access economic resources at a higher level than many of their counterparts in other parts of the globe. However, being part of the leading economy may also mean that their aspirations may also be unrealistically high, in that they may desire more second homes in sunny climes, more winter cruises, more expensive technological support systems, for instance, than may be feasible, whether in a strictly economic, social, political or environmental sense. In this chapter we explore a number of such issues, focusing on the many millions of US citizens who are growing old in such a wealthy society.