Minority Groups The four largest minority groups in the United States are African Americans, spanic Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans. Using the Internet, research about the above mentioned minority groups in the United States. Based on your research and understanding, respond to the following: The proportion of older people in developed as well as developing nations of the world has been increasing. An aging population creates new economic and social challenges for nations. Using the Internet, research about the economic or social challenges of nations with an aging population. Based on your research and understanding, compare and contrast seniors in the U.S. with seniors in another country of your choice. Your comparison should include, but should not be limited to, the following: will affect different societies in different ways. The United Nations divides the world’s nations into two groups—the more developed and the less developed—based on their demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. “The less developed regions include all regions of Africa, Asia (excluding Japan), Latin America and the Caribbean, and Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand). The more developed regions include all other regions plus the three countries excluded from the less developed regions” (United Nations, , p. iv). The , such as France, Sweden, and the United States, will have large proportions of older people in their populations. The proportion of older people in most of these countries has increased gradually over many decades. Their populations will get older in the future. Some developed countries, such as Japan, had relatively young populations until recently. They have seen rapid population aging in recent years. The , such as China and Viet Nam, already have large numbers of older people. In 2000, for example, the majority of the world’s older persons (54%) lived in Asia (Kinsella & Velkoff, ). These countries also have large numbers of young people (due to high ). For this reason, compared with the developed nations, they will have lower of older people in their populations. Still, the of older people will put new demands on these societies. The less developed nations also include very undeveloped nations, such as the countries of Africa, Oceania, parts of the Caribbean, and parts of Latin America. These will have large numbers of older people in their populations. They will have the least resources to cope with the demands of population aging. Each type of society will face population aging in the years ahead. Each will face different challenges as their older populations grow. And each will need to make different responses to the challenge of population aging. This chapter (1) looks at population aging in three types of societies, (2) describes some of the challenges created by population aging, and (3) considers population aging in the United States and its impact on American society. When we talk about aging we generally refer to a person or even an animal or a thing. But what do we mean when we say that populations age? Demographers, experts in the study of population change, use at least three measures to describe population aging: (1) the in a population, (2) the of the population, and (3) the increased proportion of older people. These measures allow comparisons between societies and between a single society at two point
s in time. A population ages when any of these measures increase. Populations with large numbers of older people or with high proportions of older people are said to be old or aging societies. The following discussions of societies will often make reference to the number or proportion of older people in the society. Be aware that a society can have a large number of older people, but still have a relatively small proportion of its population in old age. The less developed nations show this pattern. This kind of society will have a high birth rate and a large number of young people. More developed nations will have a low birth rate and a high proportion of older people. Each of these types of societies faces different challenges as they respond to population aging. The describes a pattern of population change that took place in Western nations over the past 250 years. The will probably go through this transition, and some of these nations have already started the process. shows the population trends over time that created the transition. The developed nations that have gone through the demographic transition—from high to low birth and —face new issues related to a large older population. For one thing, the demographic transition leads to a new perspective on the life cycle. Nearly all children can now expect to live to old age. Most middle-aged people can expect to live a decade or more in retirement, and many older people will live to late old age. A larger population than ever before will live more than 100 years. The developing nations that go through this transition will experience similar benefits and challenges as their populations age (see ). The less developed nations of Africa, Asia, Oceania, the Caribbean, and Latin America make up three quarters of the world’s population. Most of these nations have young populations with a small proportion of older people. In some cases they have as few as 2% of their populations age 65 and over. These countries will age in the years ahead, though they will still have relatively small proportions of older people. African nations (some of the least developed nations) will average only a little over 4% age 65 and over in the year 2025. Overall the developing nations will average only about 8% in that year (United Nations, ). gh birth rates will keep the of older people relatively low in these countries, but these nations will see explosive growth in the of older people. “By the year 2025,” Myers ( , p. 27) says, “over two-thirds of the world’s older population will be found in the developing countries.” Asia will gain over a quarter of a billion older people. China alone will have 194 million people age 65 and over by 2025. (By comparison, the entire U.S. population will be about 346 million people in that year [United Nations, ].) gh in the past and greater survival of older people in the present will produce this explosive growth. An increase in older people in developing nations will strain current social, health, and economic programs. Sennott-Miller ( ) says that developing nations need more information about their older populations, and they need to plan for an aging society. Countries with social programs and pension plans in place will need to adapt these programs to serve more older people. China provides a good example of a developing nation that faces the challenge of population aging.