Introduction to Sociology

Figure 1. The population pyramid in the United States is beginning to look more like a column than a pyramid.

There are several reasons why the United States is graying so rapidly. One of these is life expectancy: the average number of years a person born today may expect to live. When we review Census Bureau statistics grouping the elderly by age, it is clear that in the United States, at least, we are living longer. In 2010, there were about 80,000 centenarians in the United States. According to the CDC, the number of centenarians in the United States in 2014 was 72,197. ^[1]. They make up one of the fastest-growing segments of the population (Boston University School of Medicine 2014).

People over ninety years of age now account for 4.7 percent of the older population, defined as age sixty-five or above; this percentage is expected to reach 10 percent by the year 2050 (U.S. Census Bureau 2011). As of 2018, about 15.2 percent of the U.S. population is age 65 or older.^[2]
It is interesting to note that not all people in the United States age equally. Most glaring is the difference between men and women; as Figure 2 below shows, women have longer life expectancies than men. In 2010, there were ninety sixty-five-year-old men per one hundred sixty-five-year-old women. However, there were only eighty seventy-five-year-old men per one hundred seventy-five-year-old women, and only sixty eighty-five-year-old men per one hundred eighty-five-year-old women. Nevertheless, as the graph shows, the sex ratio actually increased over time, indicating that men are closing the gap between their life spans and those of women (U.S. Census Bureau 2010).


Figure 2. This U.S. Census graph shows that women live significantly longer than men. However, over the past two decades, men have narrowed the percentage by which women outlive them. (Graph courtesy of the U.S. Census Bureau)

TRY IT

2. 
   In most countries, elderly women _________ than elderly men.
   
   1. 
      Live a few years longer
      
   2. 
      Deal with issues of gaining better
      
   3. 
      Suffer fewer health problems
      
   4. 
      Are mistreated les
      

3. 
   The “graying of the United States” refers to _____________.
   
   1. 
      Dissatisfaction with retirement plans
      
   2. 
      Increased health problems such as Alzheimer’s
      
   3. 
      The increasing percentage of the population over sixty-five years old
      
   4. 
      Faster aging due to stress
      
4. 
   The measure that compares the number of men to women in a population is _______.
   
   1. 
      Sex ratio
      
   2. 
      Cohort
      
   3. 
      Disengagement
      
   4. 
      Baby boomer
      

Check your answers at the end of this document