National Academies Press: OpenBook

Demography of Aging (1994)

Chapter: Front Matter

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Demography of Aging. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4553.
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Demography of AGING

Linda G. Martin and Samuel H. Preston, Editors

Committee on Population 

Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education 

National Research Council


NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS 
Washington, D.C.
1994

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Demography of Aging. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4553.
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts is president of the National Academy of Sciences.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.

The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Kenneth I. Shine is president of the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Bruce M. Alberts and Dr. Robert M. White are chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.

Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 94-66697 

International Standard Book Number 0-309-05085-5

Additional copies of this report are available from:
National Academy Press,
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20418

B451

Copyright 1994 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Cover: Figures from B.J. Soldo and E.M. Agree, "America's Elderly" [Population Bulletin 43(3); pp. 10-11]. Used with permission.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Demography of Aging. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4553.
×

CONTRIBUTORS

JACQUELINE L. ANGEL, Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin

FRANK D. BEAN, Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin

RICHARD V. BURKHAUSER, Center for Policy Research, The Maxwell School, Syracuse University

VICKI A. FREEDMAN, Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

OMER R. GALLE, Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin

DOUGLAS HOLTZ-EAKIN, Metropolitan Studies Program and Economics Department, The Maxwell School, Syracuse University

KEVIN KINSELLA, Center for International Research, Bureau of the Census, U.S. Department of Commerce

RONALD D. LEE, Department of Demography, University of California, Berkeley

KENNETH G. MANTON, Center for Demographic Studies, Duke University

LINDA G. MARTIN, RAND, Santa Monica, California

GEORGE C. MYERS, Center for Demographic Studies, Duke University

SAMUEL H. PRESTON, Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania

JOSEPH F. QUINN, Department of Economics, Boston College

TIMOTHY M. SMEEDING, Metropolitan Studies Program and Economics Department, The Maxwell School, Syracuse University

BETH J. SOLDO, Department of Demography, Georgetown University

ERIC STALLARD, Center for Demographic Studies, Duke University

PAUL TAUBMAN, Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania

DOUGLAS A. WOLF, Center for Policy Research, The Maxwell School, Syracuse University

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Demography of Aging. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4553.
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COMMITTEE ON POPULATION

RONALD D. LEE (Chair),

Department of Demography, University of California, Berkeley

CAROLINE H. BLEDSOE,

Department of Anthropology, Northwestern University

JOSE-LUIS BOBADILLA,

Population, Health, and Nutrition Department, World Bank, Washington, D.C.

JOHN B. CASTERLINE,

Department of Sociology, Brown University

KENNETH H. HILL,

Department of Population Dynamics, Johns Hopkins University

DEAN T. JAMISON,

Center for Pacific Rim Studies, University of California, Los Angeles

LINDA G. MARTIN,

RAND, Santa Monica, California

MARK R. MONTGOMERY,

Department of Economics, State University of New York, Stony Brook

ANNE R. PEBLEY,

RAND, Santa Monica, California

SAMUEL H. PRESTON,

Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania and Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford

RONALD R. RINDFUSS,

Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

BETH J. SOLDO,

Department of Demography, Georgetown University

MARTA TIENDA,

Population Research Center, University of Chicago

AMY O. TSUI,

Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

JOHN HAAGA, Director

LINDA G. MARTIN, Director*

BARNEY COHEN, Research Associate

SUSAN COKE, Senior Project Assistant*

CHRISTINE A. COSTELLO, Program Officer

KAREN A. FOOTE, Research Associate

JAMES N. GRIBBLE, Program Officer**

CAROLE L. JOLLY, Senior Program Officer

PAULA J. MELVILLE, Senior Project Assistant

SUSAN SHUTTLEWORTH, Senior Project Assistant

*  

through June 1993

**  

through August 1993

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Demography of Aging. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4553.
×

Preface

The Committee on Population was established in 1983 to conduct scientific assessments of major population issues and to provide a forum for the discussion and analysis of important public policy issues related to population. It is concerned with questions about the measurement, determinants, and consequences of changes in population size, growth, and distribution that are important to scientists and policy makers in both developed and developing nations.

The committee has a history of activities relating to the demography of aging. Of particular concern have been cross-national research and policy issues, as reflected in its 1988 workshop on aging in developing countries, sponsored by the National Institute of Aging, which focused on health, family, and economic issues. However, the committee has also had an interest in domestic issues of population aging, exemplified in its 1987 publication, Demographic Change and the Well-Being of Children and the Elderly. That report, which summarized the discussion and included three papers from a 1985 workshop, considered the status of children and the elderly in the United States, possible demographic factors influencing their status, and their well-being relative to groups of similar ages in other developed countries. The report also discussed the effects of changes in age structure on the economic and fiscal health of the country, at both the local and the federal levels. More recently, the committee cosponsored, with the Division of Health Promotion and Disease Prevention of the Institute of Medicine and the Committee on National Statistics of the National Re-

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Demography of Aging. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4553.
×

search Council, a workshop on forecasting life expectancy, with an emphasis on the United States.

In January 1992, at the request of the Office of Demography of Aging of the National Institute on Aging, the Committee on Population convened a small planning meeting of experts on the demography of aging. This group proposed developing a volume that delineates the field of the demography of aging, highlights the contributions that the demography of aging can make to policy formulation, and summarizes what is known and promising areas for future research in specific subfields. At the planning meeting, it was proposed that papers be commissioned on eight topics:

formal demography of age structure and the life course;

retirement and labor force behavior;

wealth and income;

family demography;

social and medical support: division of labor among families, market, and state;

medical demography;

socioeconomic differentials in health and mortality; and

migration and population redistribution.

The Committee accepted the proposal of the planning group and began to develop the plan for this volume. Authors were selected for each topic, and they were asked to address the following cross-cutting issues, when possible:

  • data availability and needs;

  • conceptual issues (e.g., micro versus macro approaches, cohort aspects);

  • measurement;

  • prospects for international comparisons;

  • research design;

  • heterogeneity; and

  • projections.

The committee subsequently decided to add a ninth paper on aging research in developing countries. This set of topics is believed to provide an extensive road map to the subject comprised by the term "demography of aging."

This volume presents revised versions of the nine papers, which were originally presented and discussed at a workshop at the National Research Council in Washington, D.C., on December 10-11, 1992. Also included as an appendix is a letter report to the National Institute on Aging from the committee that summarizes the committee's assessments of and recommen-

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Demography of Aging. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4553.
×

dations for data collection and research that emerged from the papers and discussion.

The Committee on Population and the editors of this volume are grateful to the National Institute on Aging and in particular to the Office of Demography of Aging and its director, Richard Suzman, for financial support, guidance, and assistance. We would also like to thank the participants at the December 1992 workshop for their insightful comments and suggestions and especially recognize the contributions of the formal discussants: James M. Poterba, James W. Vaupel, George Kaplan, Lee Lillard, Robert J. Willis, John B. Casterline, Linda J. Waite, George C. Myers, and John Knodel.

Susan M. Coke, Paula J. Melville, and Susan Shuttleworth all provided superb administrative assistance in organizing the workshop and producing this volume. Florence Poillon and Mendelle T. Berenson skillfully edited the papers, Elaine McGarraugh meticulously prepared the volume for publication, and Eugenia Grohman patiently guided us through the review and production processes. We thank them all. We are also enormously grateful to Barney Cohen for overseeing the final stage of the project and for keeping us more or less on schedule.

LINDA G. MARTIN AND SAMUEL H. PRESTON, EDITORS

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Contents

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Demography of Aging. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4553.
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Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Research Council. 1994. Demography of Aging. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4553.
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Demography of AGING

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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.

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