The New Aging Politics and Change in America

Subjects:

• Sociology » Gerontology
• Political Science » Public Policy

Reviews:

• A well-written, thoughtful, and up-to-date book that puts the policies of aging in the US in historical perspective. Torres-Gil (UCLA) divides development of attitudes and policies for the aged into three groups. First is Young Aging (pre-1930), when elders were revered, respected, and cared for by families and church. Second is Modern Aging (1930-1990), when society regarded the old as poor, frail, and ill, and passed social legislation such as the Old Age and Survivors Insurance, and Medicare. The third period is the New Aging (1990 and forward), in which society faces the challenge of coping with intergenerational interests; with racial and ethnic diversity within aging populations; and with large numbers of elders because of increasing life span, as well as demographic cohort effects (e.g. baby boomers reaching retirement age). Chapters address the historical development of social policies, politics, economics, and speculation on aging in the 21st century. Torres-Gil suggests practical policies for the future, relating them to changing household structure, residential patterns, income distribution, labor force needs, and international migration patterns. Recommended for public, community college, undergraduate, and university libraries.
  —Choice
• . . . sweeping and comprehensive in what it attempts and in what it achieves as a framework for how to think about the past, present, and future of policy development and the policy process in relation to older Americans.
  —Journal of Aging and Social Policy

Table of Contents:

• Foreword by Arthur S. Flemming
• Preface
• Introduction
• The Three Forces of an Aging Society
• America at the Crossroads
• The Politics of the New Aging
• Economics of the New Aging
• The Aging of the Baby Boomers
• Programs, Benefits and Services: Preparing for the New Aging
• America in the Twenty-First Century
• Bibliography
• Glossary
• Index