Each year, more older adults are making a positive impact across America. As volunteers, employees, employers, educators, mentors, advocates, and more, they offer insight and experience that benefit the entire community. That’s why Older Americans Month (OAM) has been recognizing the contributions of this growing population for 56 years.
]]>According to the Population Reference Bureau,[1] the number and characteristics of America’s older residents is shifting dramatically. Here are some basic facts:
- The number of older Americans (those age 60 and older) will double from 46 million to more than 98 million by 2060;
- Older Americans by mid-century will make up nearly one-quarter of the population;
- The number of older Americans is becoming more racially and ethnically diverse;
- Older adults are working longer. By 2022 27 percent of older men and 20 percent of older women are expected to continue to be working beyond the age of 65; and
- The rural Midwest is becoming disproportionately older as young people move elsewhere.
Continue reading Regions and the Aging of America at National Association of Regional Councils.
]]>Demographic and socio-economic trends discussed in the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments’ (SEMCOG) 2045 Regional Forecast will necessitate some lifestyle changes in the greater Detroit, Michigan region. The biggest of these trends is the aging of the population and the lack of incoming young people. These trends will create a labor shortage that can impact a regional economy.
One in four people in Southeast Michigan will be over age 65 by 2045. The same will be true in Singapore except they will reach those numbers by 2030.
]]>I know. We all like block grants. They give us the flexibility we say we need to effectively implement programs, and they come with few strings attached. Such is the case for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG); youth, adult, and dislocated programs under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA); the Community Services Block Grant (CSBG); and the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to name a few.
In large part we are not wrong.
Continue reading The Problem with Block Grants at National Association of Regional Councils.
]]>Data recently released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Community Living (ACL) documents the continued increase in the number of older Americans.
As of today, about one in every seven persons, or nearly 15 percent of the population, is an older American.
Importantly:
- Those aged 65 and older increased by nearly ten million (a 30 percent increase) in the last decade—from 36.6 million in 2005 to 47.8 million in 2015;
- Those aged 85 and over are projected to triple from 6.3 million in 2015 to 14.6 million in 2040;
- Racial and ethnic minority populations have increased from 6.7 million in 2005 (18% of older adults) to 10.6 million in 2015 (22% of older adults);
- The number of Americans aged 45-64 who will reach 65 over the next two decades has increased by 15 percent; and
- The average life expectancy for those reaching 65 has increased by nearly 20 years.