Among the elderly, women and black people are more likely to be admitted to the hospital from exposure to wildfire smoke than men and people of other races.
The oldest of the U.S. baby boomers turned 65 in 2011, inaugurating a new era of challenges for the country’s long-term care system. In response to this ongoing demographic shift, the nursing home industry has introduced assisted living facilities that can accommodate a range of lesser ailments — and potentially attract healthier and wealthier residents. How this expansion may indirectly influence the quality of care provided by the nursing homes is unclear.
Whether it is the flow of displaced persons to Europe from the Middle East and North Africa or the ebbs and flows of Mexicans across America’s southern border, issues of migration, immigration and population movement controls are often politically radioactive.
The Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC) was created by Congress in 1974 to insure all private-sector pensions against employer bankruptcy and underfunding. By 2006, the PBGC was responsible for insuring pensions for 44 million working and retired Americans.
As baby-boomers have aged, so has the population of the United States. This has consequences, in particular for the nation’s labor force. In the 20 years from 1990 to 2010, the labor force in the United States grew 24.4%, keeping pace with the country’s population growth of 26%. From 2010 to 2030, however, while the population will climb an additional 17.5%, the labor force is expected to grow only 10.5%.
