Discuss trends in aging and explain how life expectancy has changed in the United States during the 20th century

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Over the past two decades, the U.S. population has been aging. The median age (the age at which half the people are younger and half are older) has increased by 6 years

— from 30 in 1980 to 36.8 in 2010 . This change was partly a result of the Baby Boomers (people born between 1946 and 1964) moving into middle age and partly a result of more people living longer. Referred to as the "graying of America," the aging of the U.S. population resulted from an increase in life expectancy combined with stabilizing of birth rates. Life expectancy is the average number of years that a group of people born in the same year could expect to live. Based on the death rates in the year of birth, life expectancy shows the average length of life of a cohort—a group of people within a specified period of time. Cohorts can be established on the basis of one, five, or ten- year intervals; they may also be defined by events taking place at the time of their birth, such as Depression-era babies or Baby Boomers. For the cohort born in 2011, for example, life expectancy at birth was 78.7 years for the overall U.S. population. There are significant racial-ethnic and sex differences in life expectancy. Although the life expectancy of people of color has improved over the past 50 years, higher rates of illness and disability—attributed to poverty, inadequate health care, and greater exposure to environmental risk factors—still persist.