Information Sharing at the UM Population Studies Center
The potential demography: a tool for evaluating differences among countries in the European Union
Gian Carlo Blangiardo and Stefania M. L. Rimoldi
Genus: Journal of Population Sciences*
Spring 2013
*This journal has just become an open access journal: http://www.genus-journal.org/
Sunday’s Washington Post had an article on the divergent amounts spent on the elderly versus children. This was the theme of Sam Preston’s 1984 PAA Presidential address:
Feds spend $7 on elderly for every $1 on kids
Ezra Klein | Washington Post (WonkBlog)
February 15, 2013
The bulk of this article is based on a report from the Urban Institute.
Kids’ Share 2012: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children Through 2011
Julia Isaacs, et.al. | The Urban Institute
Children and the Elderly: Divergent Paths for America’s Dependents
Sam Preston | Demography
November 1984
Getting to the Root of Aging by Annette Baudisch and James W. Vaupel
from recent issue of Science
As people live longer, the question arises of how malleable aging is and whether it can be slowed or postponed. The classic evolutionary theories of aging (1—4) provide the theoretical framework that has guided aging research for 60 years. Are the theories consistent with recent evidence?
National Academy of Sciences news release: The aging of the U.S. population will have broad economic consequences for the country, particularly for federal programs that support the elderly, and its long-term effects on all generations will be mediated by how — and how quickly — the nation responds, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Research Council. More information at http://www8.nationalacademies.org/onpinews/newsitem.aspx?RecordID=13465
Census 2010 Brief: The Older Population, 2010
Executive Summary
Census 2010 News Brief
And some projections to 2050
THE NEXT FOUR DECADES: The Older Population in the United States: 2010 to 2050
Population Estimates and Projections | Census Bureau
May 2010
Here’s a nice article that compares the demographic future of China and the US. It would be nice reading in a demographic methods course:
Demography: China’s Achilles Heel
The Economist
April 21, 2012
Death Gets in the Way of Old-Age Gains
Carl Bialik | Wall Street Journal
March 2, 2012
This study suggests that a previously detected slowdown in mortality growth after age 88 didn’t exist among Americans born between 1875 and 1895. This finding coupled with a lower-than-expected count of U.S. centenarians in the 2010 census, has some demographers re-examining their beliefs about how well people who survive to old ages stave off death.
Mortality Measurement at Advanced Ages: A Study of the Social Security Administration Death Master File
Leonid A. Gavrilov and Natalia S. Gavrilova | North American Actuarial Journal
Volume 15, Number 4
By: AARP Research & Strategic Analysis (Surveys and Statistics)
Source: AARP
From the summary:
This set of fact sheets provides a one-page overview of quick facts on Social Security for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Information is provided about each state’s older population, average personal income, Social Security beneficiaries, Social Security benefits, Social Security’s role in lifting retirees out of poverty, and Social Security’s income percentages among older residents’ income.
Childhood Health and Differences in Late-Life Health Outcomes between England and the United States
By: James Banks, Zoe Oldfield, James P. Smith
Source: RAND Corporation
In this paper the authors examine the link between retrospectively reported measures of childhood health and the prevalence of various major and minor diseases at older ages. Their analysis is based on comparable retrospective questionnaires placed in the Health and Retirement Study and the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing — nationally representative surveys of the age 50 plus population in America and England respectively. They show that the origins of poorer adult health among older Americans compared to the English trace right back into the childhood years — the American middle and old-age population report higher rates of specific childhood health conditions than their English counterparts. The transmission into poor health in mid life and older ages of these higher rates of childhood illnesses also appears to be higher in America compared to England. Both factors contribute to higher rates of adult illness in the United States compared to England although even in combination they do not explain the full extent of the country difference in late-life health outcomes.
Source: Population Reference Bureau
By: Suzanne Bianchi
Most research on the gender gap in unpaid caregiving in the United States has focused on young families. During the childrearing years, women provide the bulk of child care, although the time men spend caring for their children has increased in recent years.
As part of PRB’s 2010-2011 Policy Seminar series, Suzanne Bianchi, a University of California Los Angeles sociology professor, examined new research on caregiving in later life—a time when men and women may spend their time in similar ways as they enter their retirement years. The study, conducted with Joan Kahn and Brittany McGill of the University of Maryland, explored whether retirement and marital status made a difference in how men and women helped others. Specifically, they set out to learn whether men replaced paid work with time spent helping others after retirement and whether divorced people spent less time caring for kin, reflecting weakened family ties.
View webcast, “Gender and Intergenerational Transfer of Time Later in Life,” Suzanne Bianchi (Time: 45 min)