Demographics

Here’s a stark statistic you may not know: The United States has 5% of the world’s population yet houses 25% of the world’s prison population. Our controversial system of imprisonment, with long sentences and narrow release parameters, has led to a mass incarceration crisis in our country. And along with that crisis…

There’s no dispute that the US population, as well as the global population, is aging. In the US, our median population age is now 37.9, whereas in 1970 it was 28.1. And in parts of the country- for example, New England, the Midwest, and Appalachia- younger people have left and the…

The statistics are grim: Currently, over 6 million Americans have Alzheimer’s or mild cognitive impairment, and those numbers are expected to double in the coming years unless an effective treatment is found. Few of us escape the devastation that Alzheimer’s can cause, as almost all of us know someone stricken…

They say that money can’t buy you love- but what about a longer life? Those with significant financial resources may be able to obtain the health care and supports needed to increase life expectancy, and thus create the latest arena of inequality. According to Bloomberg, longevity inequality is the successor to…

We’ve all experienced the sensations: not feeling as energetic as usual, forgetting some common thoughts, feeling more susceptible to aches and pains. And we ask ourselves: Is this normal aging? Or is something wrong? Well, in a recent piece in Kaiser Health News, writer Bruce Horovitz lays out some general…

Around the world, burgeoning older populations are testing the limits of formal and informal caregiving systems in place. In the US, for example, few realize the connection between our national debate over immigration and our potentially shrinking pool of paid caregivers for our growing senior population. In Japan, given the…