Chapter 2-A New Jersey Perspective: Demographic and Statistical Data__ Older Americans Act Activities in New Jersey.. Chapter 3-Questionnaire to New Jersey Area Agencies on Aging Offices__ Appendix A Questionnaire to New Jersey Aging Organizations. Appendix B-New Jersey Planning and Service Areas (map and list)_ Appendix C-State Benefits for Older Persons... Appendix D-Federal Programs Benefitting the Elderly Appendix E-Summary of Issues and Recommendations, by Major Topics, of the New Jersey Governor's Conference on Aging (March (V) It is now a well-documented fact that American society is growing older. Each day there is an increase of about 1500 individuals in the 65-and-over population. In 1900, there were slightly more than 3 million individuals aged 65 or above in the United States out of a total population of about 75 million. Those figures have increased respectively to 24 million and 226 million, and the trend will continue until, at the end of this century, there will be roughly 31 million persons aged 65 and above-about ten times the number there were in 1900. The proportion will have increased from four percent to roughly thirteen percent. (See Chart 1 on the following page.) It is not just our society which is growing older, however. If we look at the 65-and-over population group we can see that it, too, is growing in average age as well as in numbers. (See Chart 2 on the following page.) Thus, the nation will not only be affected by a larger proportion of its citizens above the age of 65, but that group itself will be older. Today, the fastest growing age group in the country is that of individuals aged 75 and above. It should be remembered, too, that individuals 55 and above have the highest electoral participation rates of any age group in the country. Their strong civic awareness, coupled with their increased numbers, means they will be an increasingly potent social and political force in our country. 1 Much of the demographic information included in this section is taken from Report No. 81-32EPW, "Social Characteristics and Economic Status of the U.S. Aged Population" by Tom Gabe of the Education and Public Welfare Division, Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress (Jan.. 27, 1981). Charts are excerpted from the "Chartbook on Aging in America" published by the 1981 White House Conference on Aging (December 1981). (1) Source: U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. National Center for Health Statistics. "Vital Statistics of the United States, 1975." (PHS) 79-1114. The increase in the nation's elderly population is not due primarily to greater longevity, though that is partially the reason. Statistics on longevity and lifespan show that the most dramatic change has been the reduction of mortality at birth. For instance, the difference in life expectancy at birth in 1900 and 1975 was 25.3 years, from 47.3 years in 1900 to 72.5 years in 1975. By contrast, a white male 65 years old in 1900 could expect to live, on the average, an additional 11.5 years, compared to 13.7 years for a white male who turned 65 in 1974, a difference of only 2.2 years. (See Table 1.) With the reduction in infant mortality, there has also been a decline in the birth rate over the last century (with the exception of the post-World War II "baby boom," which lasted from about 1947 to about 1964). Although the birth rate has again risen slightly, the trend has been consistently downward. The significance of this fact was cited in a working paper from the President's Commission on Pension Policy:2 During the last century, the United States had high birth rates, high mortality rates, and high immigration. Retirement was not a major issue in the 1800's, partly because there were so few people who reached a retirement age and also because for those who did there was a large, young workforce to support them, publicly or privately. But since 1800, birth rates, mortality and immigration have all decreased significantly, producing a more even age distribution in society. In 1800 an average of eight children was born to each woman who survived to the age of 44. During the 19th Century birth rates fell by 53 percent. By the early 1930's the rate had dropped to the replacement rate, approximately 2.1 children per woman. Immediately after World War II the birth rate rose rapidly to a peak in the late 1950's that was 60 percent higher than the Depression years "baby bust" trough. Since the late 1950's the fertility rate has been cut in half, creating another baby bust trough on the other side of the baby boom. While people have a tendency to speak of life expectancy in absolute terms, demographic data show a wide disparity between men and women, and even between races. Whereas in 1900 whites regardless of sex had a longer average life expectancy than nonwhites, that is no longer the case. Women today, regardless of race, tend to live longer than men and life expectancy among those aged 75 and above is greater among nonwhites than among whites. With this greater longevity among women, we find increasingly that the problems of the aged and particularly of the aged living in poverty, are the problems of women. In 1978, there were about 146 women age 65 and above for every 100 men in the same category. This inequality in numbers grows even wider with advancing age. (See Table 2 on the following page.) 2 "The Demographics of Aging: Implications for Pension Policy," by Barbara Boyle Torrey in "Aging: Agenda for the Eighties," published by the National Journal (1979). |