Title: Who Are the Elderly? Aging in Society | Introduction to Sociology
Headings: Who Are the Elderly? Aging in Society
Who Are the Elderly? Aging in Society
Learning Objectives
Studying Aging Populations
Phases of Aging: The Young-Old, Middle-Old, and Old-Old
The Graying of the United States
Baby Boomers
Aging around the World
Summary
Question #1
Short Answer
Glossary
Further Research
References

Content: The elderly are often lumped together to include everyone over the age of sixty-five. But a sixty-five-year-old’s experience of life is much different from a ninety-year-old’s. The United States’ older adult population can be divided into three life-stage subgroups: the young-old (approximately sixty-five to seventy-four years old), the middle-old (ages seventy-five to eighty-four years old), and the old-old (over age eighty-five). Today’s young-old age group is generally happier, healthier, and financially better off than the young-old of previous generations. In the United States, people are better able to prepare for aging because resources are more widely available. Also, many people are making proactive quality-of-life decisions about their old age while they are still young. In the past, family members made care decisions when an elderly person reached a health crisis, often leaving the elderly person with little choice about what would happen. The elderly are now able to choose housing, for example, that allows them some independence while still providing care when it is needed. Living wills, retirement planning, and medical power of attorney are other concerns that are increasingly handled in advance.