ABSTRACT
America’s elderly population, defined here as those aged sixty-five and older, is the fastest-growing age group in the population (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1998b). In 1998, more than one out of every ten residents (34 million), or 12.7 percent of the total population, were sixty-five years old or over. This represents a dramatic increase from the beginning of the 1900s when those sixty-five or older numbered just 4 percent of the population. U.S. Census Bureau projections forecast a continued rapid growth of the older population in the twenty-first century (1998b). During the next three decades, the population aged sixty-five and over will more than double, while the number of elders over the age of eighty-five is expected to triple. Figure 9.1 shows the actual and projected growth of the older population from the base year of 1900 through 2040 and reflects the extraordinary rise of this segment of the population. The net effects of this trend are changing the way America lives, looks, and works.
