Population aging in Korea is projected to be the most rapid among Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries between 2000 and 2050. However, social spending in Korea remains low, reflecting Korea's relatively young population, limited health and long-term care insurance coverage, and immaturity of its pension system.…

After a long decline, the Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) of older men in the United States leveled off in the 1980s, and began to increase in the late 1990s. We examine how changes in Social Security rules affected these trends. We attribute only a small portion of the decline from the 1960s-80s to the increasing generosity of Social…

In the late 1990s, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation made grants to study people's attitudes toward retirement and to determine what factors influenced their decisions to retire. Although faculty were not talking to college administrators or human-resources departments about health care, the researchers found to their surprise that when they…

This book contains 15 articles on older workers and the challenges of health insurance, Social Security, retirement, job loss, and working until older ages. Following an introduction by the editors, the articles are organized in five sections that also include commentaries on the articles. The following are included in Section 1, "Charting…

Until the beginning of 1994, federal law permitted mandatory retirement of tenured faculty at age 70. The Committee on Mandatory Retirement in Higher Education, formed by the National Research Council, was charged by Congress to examine potential effects on colleges, universities, and faculty members of ending the exemption for tenured faculty…

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine racial/ethnic differences in the relationship between functional disability and the use of health care services in a nationally representative sample of older adults by using the Andersen behavioral model of health services utilization. Design and Methods: The study used 12 years of longitudinal…

Life Care at Home (LCAH) provides benefits similar to continuing care retirement community (CCRC) at less cost to elderly who prefer to stay at home. Surveyed CCRC applicants and found that nearly one-half were interested in LCAH. Applicants interested in LCAH were concerned about community living, lifestyle changes in a CCRC, and cost. (Author/NB)

A national survey of the needs, resources, and future expectations of veterans aged 55 and over produced findings that the Veterans Administration (VA) will use over the next decade to plan facilities and programs to meet those needs. Findings indicated veterans had a higher educational level and were less likely to be at the lower end of the…

Survey data based on a random sample of retirement villages' residents in Florida (N=519) considered retirement plans. Individuals were more likely to have made detailed plans for: Health Insurance (85 percent); Income (71 percent); Will (70 percent); Housing (67 percent); Health Care (55 percent); Leisure Pursuits (39 percent). A retirement…

Current Population Survey data (1979, 1983, 1988, 1993) and a 1991 employer survey showed that the probability a newly hired worker was aged 55-65 was significantly lower in companies with health care plans and with relatively costly plans. Neither cost nor presence of pension plans significantly affected employment of older workers. (SK)

Purpose: We attempt to determine whether older workers and early retirees avoid managed care plans and to explore whether health plan choices are linked to the health status of workers or their spouses. Design and Methods: We use the responses of those born between 1931 and 1941 to the 1994 and 1998 waves of the Health and Retirement Survey. We…

This booklet is designed to guide readers through the different stages of retirement planning, starting with goal setting. It is suitable for personal use by adults or for classroom use in junior high through adult consumer education classes. The booklet explains how to determine one's current financial status as well as how to estimate retirement…

The interaction of an aging population and the national budget can best be seen through programs for older people. The key to understanding this interaction lies in linking budget and program costs with demographics, and in observing data over time. Data from three federal budget programs, Social Security's Old-Age and Survivors Insurance and…

This paper begins by noting that at the time that Medicare was enacted in 1965, the plans for funding Medicare through a mix of public and private financing mechanisms seemed quite adequate. It goes on to explain how, 20 years later, the situation is changing enough to create a need to examine whether there is a fairer or more efficient way to…

This statistical handbook contains 378 tables and charts illustrating the changes in the United States' aging population based on data collected during the 1990 census and several other surveys. The tables and charts are organized by topic as follows: demographics (age and sex distribution, life expectancy, race and ethnicity, geographic…