Demographics

The recent headline says it all: America Is Running Out Of Family Caregivers, Just When It Needs Them Most. In this candid assessment of the caregiving crisis now taking hold in the US, The Wall Street Journal describes the factors contributing to an increasingly fragile and patchwork system of caregiving for our elder population.   First,…

While summer may equate with hotdogs and ice cream, those of you who hope for a long and healthy life may want to reach for something else. How about a grilled sweet potato with a side of beans?   If we’ve learned anything from the Blue Zones, i.e., those areas of…

From one perspective, the world appears to be entering dangerous, unchartered territory. The populations of most countries around the world are shrinking while at the same time they are aging. Fewer younger workers are available to support a larger number of retired older people. Fertility rates are at the lowest…

Those of you who are older women probably know about this. In a store or on the street, there are times when people don’t seem to notice you, almost as though you’re invisible. It’s a common feeling among women of a certain age, as society seems to have lost interest…

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…