Social Structures: Demographic Changes and the Well-Being of Older Persons / Edition 1

by K. Warner Schaie PhD, Peter Uhlenberg PhD

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780826124074
Publisher:	Springer Publishing Company
Publication date:	03/23/2007
Series:	Social Impact on Aging Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	312
Product dimensions:	6.38(w) x 9.48(h) x 0.93(d)

About the Author

K. Warner Schaie, PhD, is the Evan Pugh Professor of Human Development and Psychology at Pennsylvania State University. He also holds an appointment as Affiliate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the University of Washington.

Peter Uhlenberg, PhD, is Professor of Sociology and Fellow of the Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Table of Contents

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. Smith Futures 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