National Academies Press: OpenBook
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×

Future Directions
for the Demography
of Aging

PROCEEDINGS OF A WORKSHOP

Mark D. Hayward and Malay K. Majmundar, Editors

Committee on Population

Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education

images

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, DC
www.nap.edu

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×

THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS 500 Fifth Street, NW Washington, DC 20001

This activity was supported by contracts between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Institute on Aging of the National Institutes of Health (HHSN26300110). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of any organization or agency that provided support for the project.

International Standard Book Number-13: 978-0-309-47410-8
International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-47410-8
Digital Object Identifier: https://doi.org/10.17226/25064

Additional copies of this publication are available for sale from the National Academies Press, 500 Fifth Street, NW, Keck 360, Washington, DC 20001; (800) 624-6242 or (202) 334-3313; http://www.nap.edu.

Copyright 2018 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.

Printed in the United States of America

Suggested citation: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2018). Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: https://doi.org/10.17226/25064.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×

images

The National Academy of Sciences was established in 1863 by an Act of Congress, signed by President Lincoln, as a private, nongovernmental institution to advise the nation on issues related to science and technology. Members are elected by their peers for outstanding contributions to research. Dr. Marcia McNutt is president.

The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to bring the practices of engineering to advising the nation. Members are elected by their peers for extraordinary contributions to engineering. Dr. C. D. Mote, Jr., is president.

The National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine) was established in 1970 under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences to advise the nation on medical and health issues. Members are elected by their peers for distinguished contributions to medicine and health. Dr. Victor J. Dzau is president.

The three Academies work together as the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to provide independent, objective analysis and advice to the nation and conduct other activities to solve complex problems and inform public policy decisions. The National Academies also encourage education and research, recognize outstanding contributions to knowledge, and increase public understanding in matters of science, engineering, and medicine.

Learn more about the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine at www.nationalacademies.org.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×

images

Consensus Study Reports published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine document the evidence-based consensus on the study’s statement of task by an authoring committee of experts. Reports typically include findings, conclusions, and recommendations based on information gathered by the committee and the committee’s deliberations. Each report has been subjected to a rigorous and independent peer-review process and it represents the position of the National Academies on the statement of task.

Proceedings published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine chronicle the presentations and discussions at a workshop, symposium, or other event convened by the National Academies. The statements and opinions contained in proceedings are those of the participants and are not endorsed by other participants, the planning committee, or the National Academies.

For information about other products and activities of the National Academies, please visit www.nationalacademies.org/about/whatwedo.

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×

STEERING COMMITTEE FOR A WORKSHOP ON THE FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR THE DEMOGRAPHY OF AGING

MARK D. HAYWARD (Chair), Population Research Center, Department of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin

VICKI A. FREEDMAN, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan

LINDA J. WAITE, Population Research Center, University of Chicago

DAVID R. WEIR, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan

REBECA WONG, Sealy Center on Aging, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston

MALAY K. MAJMUNDAR, Study Director

MARY GHITELMAN, Senior Program Assistant

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×

COMMITTEE ON POPULATION

KATHLEEN MULLAN HARRIS (Chair), Sociology Department, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

JERE R. BEHRMAN, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania

LISA F. BERKMAN, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

ANN K. BLANC, Population Council

VICKI A. FREEDMAN, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan

DANA A. GLEI, Georgetown University

MARK D. HAYWARD, Population Research Center, Department of Sociology, University of Texas at Austin

HILLARD S. KAPLAN, Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico

SARA S. MCLANAHAN, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing, Princeton University

EMILIO A. PARRADO, Department of Sociology and Population Studies Center, University of Pennsylvania

DAVID R. WEIR, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan

JOHN R. WILMOTH, Population Division/DESA, United Nations

MALAY K. MAJMUNDAR, Director

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×

Preface

Almost 25 years have passed since the Demography of Aging (1994) was published by the National Research Council. The volume was a major contribution that defined the contours of an emerging field. Nine major themes in the demography of aging were assessed by experts in the field. The themes were

  1. Formal demography of population aging, transfers, and the economic cycle
  2. Retirement and labor force behavior of the elderly
  3. Income, wealth, and intergenerational economic relations of the aged
  4. The elderly and their kin: patterns of availability and access
  5. Care of the elderly: division of labor among the family, market, and state
  6. Medical demography: interaction of disability dynamics and mortality
  7. Socioeconomic differences in adult mortality and health status
  8. Geographic concentration, migration, and population redistribution among the elderly
  9. Research on the demography of aging in developing countries.

The original volume stimulated the interest of a new generation of population scientists. It provided the scientific foundations for new research collaborations and interdisciplinary approaches, the development of innovative data resources, and the forging of institutional partnerships—all of which contributed to rapid advancements in scientific knowledge and the scaling up of scientific questions.

Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×

The current volume is, in many ways, the successor to the original volume. The Division of Behavioral and Social Research at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, through its Committee on Population, to produce an authoritative guide to new directions in demography of aging. The Steering Committee for a Workshop on the Future Directions for the Demography of Aging was appointed by the National Academies to carry out this project. The papers published in this volume were originally presented and discussed at a public workshop held in Washington, D.C., August 17–18, 2017.

The workshop discussion made evident that major new advances had been made in the last two decades, but also that new trends and research directions have emerged that call for innovative conceptual, design, and measurement approaches. Changes in fertility, life expectancy, and population-age structure have had profound effects on the opportunities and constraints facing individuals, their families, and their communities. The older population has become more racially/ethnically diverse. Kin relationships have become more complex and fluid, and more people now approaching old age have been divorced and many have never been married. Population health now spans a web of health processes including biological risk, disability, cognition, and disease. The health and well-being of the older population are now seen as the consequences of long-run and cumulative effects of social, economic, and contextual factors over the entire life course.

The current volume reviews these recent trends and also discusses future directions for research on a range of topics that are central to current research in the demography of aging. For example, how is the older population changing in its racial/ethnic composition, and what is the role of nativity in shaping health and well-being? What are the major debates about how life course socioeconomic conditions influence health at older ages, and what are the major biological and behavioral pathways? What health problems are looming for future birth cohorts, and how is inequality in health shaping national trends? How are changes in life course exposures linked to cognitive aging and the future of dementia? How is disability associated with disease, the environment, and relationships? How does “place,” defined at a variety of levels, influence health? How is the timing and nature of retirement changing, and how are changes in health interacting with retirement? How is the incorporation of new technologies and measures leading to a better understanding of aging? How is the growth of global data resources in aging changing our understanding of population aging both in developing and developed countries?

These questions represent only a subset of the rich array of issues taken up in this volume. Looking back over the past two decades of demography of aging research shows remarkable advances in our understanding of the health and well-being of the older population. Equally exciting is that this

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×

volume sets the stage for the next two decades of innovative research—a period of rapid growth in the older American population.

Many people have been responsible for the development and production of this volume. We gratefully acknowledge NIA for guidance and financial support. Special thanks also go to the members of the workshop steering committee: Vicki A. Freedman, Linda J. Waite, David R. Weir, and Rebeca Wong. They helped shape the contents of this volume by laying out the specific topics to be addressed; identifying leading scholars in the field to write papers on those topics; and providing valuable feedback to the paper authors before, during, and after the workshop.

Several staff members of the National Academies also made significant contributions to the volume. Mary Ghitelman ensured that the workshop ran smoothly, assisted in preparing the manuscript, and provided key logistical and administrative support throughout the project. Thanks are also due to Kirsten Sampson Snyder for managing the report review process, Yvonne Wise for managing the report production process, and Robert Katt for his skillful editing.

This Proceedings of a Workshop was reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the National Academies in making each published proceedings as sound as possible and to ensure that it meets the institutional standards for quality, objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.

We thank the following individuals for their review of this proceedings: Jennifer Ailshire, Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, University of Southern California; Lisa F. Berkman, Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Harvard University; Gary Burtless, Economic Studies, Brookings Institution; William H. Dow, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley; Pamela Herd, Robert M. LaFollette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin–Madison; Jennifer J. Manly, Gertrude H. Sergievsky Center and the Taub Institute for Research in Aging and Alzheimer’s, Columbia University; Jennifer Karas Montez, Department of Sociology, Syracuse University; Fernando Riosmena, Population Program and Institute of Behavioral Science, University of Colorado Boulder; Robert F. Schoeni, Population Studies Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan; Judith A. Seltzer, California Center for Population Research and Department of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles; Cássio M. Turra, Demography Department, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; and Debra J. Umberson, Population Research Center, University of Texas at Austin.

Although the reviewers listed above provided many constructive com-

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×

ments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the content of the proceedings nor did they see the final draft before its release. The review of this proceedings was overseen by Kirsten Sampson Snyder, Reports Office, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. She was responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this proceedings was carried out in accordance with standards of the National Academies and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content rests entirely with the authors and the National Academies.

Mark D. Hayward, Chair
Malay K. Majmundar, Study Director
Steering Committee for a Workshop on the
Future Directions for the Demography of Aging

Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×
Page R1
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×
Page R2
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×
Page R3
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×
Page R4
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×
Page R5
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×
Page R6
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×
Page R7
Page viii Cite
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×
Page R8
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×
Page R9
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×
Page R10
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×
Page R11
Suggested Citation:"Front Matter." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2018. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/25064.
×
Page R12
Next: PART I: Health Trends and Disparities »
Future Directions for the Demography of Aging: Proceedings of a Workshop Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $75.00 Buy Ebook | $59.99
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

Almost 25 years have passed since the Demography of Aging (1994) was published by the National Research Council. Future Directions for the Demography of Aging is, in many ways, the successor to that original volume. The Division of Behavioral and Social Research at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) asked the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine to produce an authoritative guide to new directions in demography of aging. The papers published in this report were originally presented and discussed at a public workshop held in Washington, D.C., August 17-18, 2017.

The workshop discussion made evident that major new advances had been made in the last two decades, but also that new trends and research directions have emerged that call for innovative conceptual, design, and measurement approaches. The report reviews these recent trends and also discusses future directions for research on a range of topics that are central to current research in the demography of aging. Looking back over the past two decades of demography of aging research shows remarkable advances in our understanding of the health and well-being of the older population. Equally exciting is that this report sets the stage for the next two decades of innovative research–a period of rapid growth in the older American population.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!