Significant demographic changes are altering the structure of the American population. Larger numbers of immigrants are entering the work force, will become part of our aging population, and increasingly, are providing care for the elderly. Family structures and communities are evolving as marriage, childbearing, divorce, and cohabitation trends are changing. The working population that supports the elderly, physically and economically, is also changing and will most likely become smaller and less able to support this growing population.
What does this mean for the well-being of our aging population and our efforts to ensure the quality of life for our elderly now and that we will want to enjoy ourselves as we become part of this older population?
In this volume Drs. Schaie and Uhlenberg and a host of leading scholars look at the current structure of the American population in an effort to determine the impact it will have on the lives of the elderly and those growing older with disabilities and chronic illness. They examine the effects of the aging baby boomers on health care, migration and immigration and how it can support or tax health care networks, cultural issues regarding access to health care, and changing cultural attitudes towards marriage and family that are affecting the relationships between the elderly and their communities.
Tabella dei contenuti
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Contributors
Preface
Older Immigrants, Judith Treas & Jeanne Batalova Commentary: Older Immigrants: Cultural Issues in Access to Health Care, Charlotte Ikels Commentary: Immigration and an Aging America: Downward Spiral or Virtuous Circle? Charles Hirschman Population Aging and Benefit Sustainability: The Impact of Baby Boomer Aging on the Health Care System, Stephen Crystal Commentary: What Havoc Will the Boomers Wreak? Robert L. Kane Commentary: Demographic Reflections on the Aging of the Baby Boom and its Implications for Health Care, Vicki A. Freedman Perspectives on the Economic Implications of the Aging of Baby Boomers, Eric R. Kingson and Nancy H. SmithFutures for the Baby Boom: Described, Inscribed, and Prescribed,
David J. Ekerdt
Immigration Effects on Health Care for Older People, Jacqueline L. Angel Commentary: Migration and Health Care for Older People: Developing a Global Perspective, Chris Phillipson Commentary: Immigration, Race/Ethnicity, and Health Care, Robert A. Hummer The Aging of the Second Demographic Transition, Mary Elizabeth Hughes & Linda J. Waite Commentary: The Second Demographic Transition, Aging Families and the Aging of the Institutionalized Life Course, Dale Dannefer & Robin S. Patterson Commentary: Some Thoughts on Aging, Marriage, and Well-Being in Later Life, David M. Blau The Impact of Demographic Changes on Relations Between Age Groups and Generations: A Comparative Perspective, Gunhild O. Hagestad & Peter Uhlenberg Commentary: The Future of Intergenerational Relationships – Variability and Vulnerabilities, Maximiliane E. Szinovacz Commentary: Demographic Transitions, Age and Culture, Christine L. Fry Author Index
Subject Index
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Circa l’autore
Peter Uhlenberg, Ph D, is Professor of Sociology and Fellow of the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.