Social Services for the Elderly

Paper Summary:

This paper look at how demographics have changed recently resulting in a greater need to provide help for the growing numbers of elderly people. The author goes on to describe current responses to this issue as well as look at situations where there is no family support and the fact there there is no official policy that can or will change this situation any time in the near future.

Outline:
Description of the Issue
Policy Responses to the Issue

From the Paper:

"Social services for the elderly are in greater need than they ever have been before as the population is aging greatly. A gradual aging trend, that began in the 1970s with decreased fertility and increased longevity, with a short increase in fertility following the depression and reaching into the 1950's know as the baby boom the population of the US has aged significantly over the years. According to the US Census Bureau the population had a median age of 22.9 in 1900 which changed to between 30.7 and 32 by 2000. The projection of age increase is for between 30.9 and 43.7 by 2050. Yet, the most startling aspect of this change is the growth of the old and very old population groups, which have slowly but steadily increased over the last 100 years from just over 3,000 aged 65+ in 1900 to a projected total of nearly 65,000 by 2050, with a breakdown of 65-74 at around 30,000, 75-84 at around 17,000 and the final 10,000 being those over the age of 85, or what is known as the very old. (Espenshade & Braun, 1983, p. 27-29) "The fastest growing segment of the population is those aged 85 and older." (Wiatrowski, 2001, p. 3)"

Sample of Sources Used:

• Boomers Slow Down, but Won't Quit; Active Hobbies Part-Time Work, Volunteering to Fill Retirement Years. (2005, December 27). The Washington Times, p. A01.
• Dart, J. (2001, May 2). Faith-Based Leader. The Christian Century, 118, 9.
• Environmental Reality: A Tidbit from a Bradley Lecture at the American Enterprise Institute, in Which Gregg Easterbrook Previewed His Forthcoming Book the Progress Paradox. (2003, July/August). The American Enterprise, 14, 46.
• Lamm, R. D., & Blank, R. H. (2005, July/August). The Challenge of an Aging Society: The Future of U.S. Health Care Must Involve Some Form of Rationing, Argue a Former Governor and a Medical-Policy Scholar. the Problem Is Not Simply How to Control Costs, but How to Achieve Social Justice. The Futurist, 39, 23.
• O'Higgins, K. (1990). 9 KINSHIP AND AGING IN IRELAND. In Aiding and Aging: The Coming Crisis in Support for the Elderly by Kin and State (pp. 182-184). New York: Greenwood Press.

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