Aging in America

The objective of this chapter is to analyze the expansion in the proportion of older people across the Americas and highlight the main social and economic forces causing this. Indeed, there is little doubt that the rapid increase in population aging across the globe is signaling some striking demographic changes (Gruber, Wise, Social security programs and retirement around the world: micro estimation. Amongst policymakers, there is concern about population aging and its consequences for nation-states, sovereign governments, and individuals (Estes et al, Social theory, social policy and ageing. The United Nations estimates that by the year 2025, the global population of those over 60 years will double, from 542 million in 1995 to around 1.2 billion people. The global population age of 65 or older was estimated at 461 million in 2004, an increase of 10.3 million just since 2003. Projections suggest that the annual net gain will continue to exceed 10 million over the next decade—more than 850,000 each month. In 1990, 26 nations had older populations of at least 2 million, and by 2000, older populations in 31 countries had reached the 2 million mark. UN projections for 2030 indicate that more than 60 countries will have at least 2 million people aged 65 or older.