Fertility and Family Planning among the Elderly in Taiwan, or Integrating the Demography of Aging into Population Studies

This is Professor Hermalin's 1993 Presidential Address to the Population Association of America. In it he considers the question of what demographers have to offer the study of aging. The author, who has historically focused on fertility and family planning, has responded to population aging in many countries by shifting his attention to aging research and anticipates that others will do the same. In this address he (1) points to several areas of ongoing population research in which potentially interesting connections can be forged with the demography of aging; (2) indicates several direct and low-cost expansions of current practices which would greatly enhance existing knowledge knowledge of the demography of aging and enrich the research potential; and (3) suggests several substantive and methodological arenas in which research on aging may challenge current ways of thinking.