The Graying of America
Date: 2015-10-07; view: 587.
The Baby Boomers
Population Trends
According to the 2000 census, the median (middle/center) age of Americans was 35. Almost three quarters are 18 or older, with the largest group between 35 and 44 years old. Further, women outnumber men in the general population, 51 to 49 percent. (Census map courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau).
The greatest population density lies on the East Coast between Boston and Washington D.C., with D.C. (at 9316 persons per square mile), New Jersey, and Rhode Island having the greatest number of person per square mile. The most sparsely populated states are Wyoming, Montana and Alaska (having only 1.1 persons per square mile). New York State, with 19,000,000 residents, had a population density of 402 per square mile.
Current Issues
The term Baby Boomer is used to describe middle-aged Americans. Economic prosperity followed the end of World War Two, which resulted in many jobs and increased income for workers. Because of this, many people felt comfortable having large families. The sharp increase in the number of children born between 1946 and 1964 created a baby boom. That means anyone (in the year 2002) between the age 38 and 56 falls into the Baby Boomer category. About 77,000,000 Americans fall into the Baby Boomer category.
At this time, more than 12% of all Americans are over age 65. Because of the large Baby Boomer population group, about 35% of Americans will be eligible for retirement (or already are retired) in the next twenty years. To put that into a different perspective, that translates to about 100,000,000 people.
The number of retired or ready-to-retire Americans is significantly higher than the number of Americans who will be left in the workplace. Because retirees will outnumber workers within the next two decades, it has been said that without significant planning, Americas elderly are in danger of losing Social Security benefits in the next twenty years. The federal government has discussed several reform options for Social Security and Medicare funding, but political rivalry has prevented any agreements.
Population & Immigration Revisited
The number of people in the United States increased slowly between the 1990 and 2000 Census. In 1990, there were about 248,710,000 Americans. In 2000, there were nearly 285,000,000 Americans. That's an overall population increase of about 14 percent. However, the number of babies born in the United States (birth rate) has been on the decline.
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, in 1990 the birth rate was 16.7 live births per 1,000 people and by 2000 it decreased to 14.7. Why is the population level staying fairly steady if the birth rate is decreasing? Immigration. Workers, students, political, religious and economic refugees still come to the United States seeking safety and/or a higher standard of living. In 1990, 8 percent of the population was born outside the United States. In 2000, that number increased to 11 percent