Following tremendous growth in the population of West Germany until the early 1970s, the population stabilized with a slower birth rate but higher foreign immigration. The population is becoming increasingly older. About 28 percent of the German population is aged 55 or older; by the year 2030, this figure will be about 44 percent. In 1985, the…

This document, examining transition to retirement from a sociological perspective, consists of four sections and a 14-item bibliography. The first section traces the evolution of West German retirement from what was considered a new phenomenon into what is now commonly assumed to be a normal or even natural life stage. The second section discusses…

A problem with gerontology theory is that it focuses on a social view of the aged, ignoring individual and cultural variables. A person is judged to have aged successfully if he has adjusted to society's definition of an "elderly person." Similarly, most studies of programs and options for the aged reflect the view of the service…

In the last two decades, problems associated with aging have caused increased public concern. As a result of recent research in the Federal Republic of Germany, the science of gerontology has revealed new information about the living conditions and living standards of the elderly. The image of older people is still a negative one and passing…

German people are thinking about how senior citizens, who comprise about 15% of the population, can live a better life. Women predominate among the senior citizens in Germany. Investigators into the educational needs of older women living alone found that a very small number take part in further educational opportunities. Two major problems of…

Interviews conducted with 31 older, retired adults in Dortmund, West Germany, concerning their use of cable television and its effect on their everyday lives are the focal point of this qualitative study. Also discussed is a quantitative study of a larger sample of German citizens over age 14 in the same geographic area before cable television was…

In the Federal Republic of Germany, a welfare state, the elderly profit from social security measures to a lesser extent than does the rest of the population. As of yet, the older population has had very little importance in the political arena. Many policy outcomes directly affecting the living conditions of the older population are uncontrolled…

This volume contains 19 papers that were presented at a conference addressing critical issues related to employment options for older persons. They are arranged in four sections that cover early retirement policies and their implications; older workers of Asia and the Pacific; the impact of technological change on the employment prospects of older…