Analyzed census data to investigate the relative effects of the different demographic factors underlying the growth of the extreme aged population (those 85 years and older). Found declining mortality to be most responsible for the growth of this population since 1940. (Author/ABB)

Profiles oldest-old Americans, those aged 85 years and over, including their demographic, socioeconomic, and relational characteristics. Concludes that the data which emerge are not as negative as might be feared. (Author/ABL)

Discusses differences between past and future young-old populations to illustrate changes in mortality, work, and family patterns that represent new potential for families and life careers. Notes that while demographic and cultural changes could create new chasms between worlds of men and women, they could also lead to increased convergence in…

Discusses inevitability of population aging, issues of population aging, and need for countries to incorporate aging policies. Maintains that developed countries with low fertility and mortality rates are already experiencing population aging and projected declines in fertility in other developing countries will mean substantial population aging…

Discusses conventional indices for measuring the aging of populations. Proposes a new index for measuring the aging of populations using the proportions of all available age categories. Focuses on changes in the structure of a population. (RC)

Analyzes trends in the percentage of older women living alone in 21 European and North American countries over the period 1960-92. The trend toward substantial increases in the percentage in elderly women living alone is shown to result mainly from demographic changes, with little evidence of a role for economic variables. (JPS)

Examined correlates of education, income, and poverty among a national sample of elderly Black adults (N=581). Analyses indicated gender, marital status, age, employment status, urbanicity, and region were all important predictors of these measures of socio-economic status. Highlights demographic differences and overall depressed socio-economic…

Argues that increasing longevity suggests the value of a life course focus in family policy. Gerontologists can make a contribution by documenting and describing the gaps between needs and resources of families at all life stages, developing family indicators of social change, and sensitizing the public to the unintended consequences of current…

Conceptualizes aging as the dynamic process of cohorts moving through the life course in historical time. Provides a strategy for developing research on life course structure, age differences between cohorts, and how and why aging is experienced differentially by various segments of a cohort. (SNR)

Examines how 1990 state elderly populations have been affected by "new elderly births" (a state's population, ages 55-59 in 1985, which survived to ages 60-64 in 1990) as well as by migration components. During the 1985-90 period, elderly births exerted a greater impact than migration on elderly gains and demographic composition for all…