Aging Trends
The State of 50+ America 2005
Research Report
Jules Lichtenstein, AARP Public Policy Institute
John Gist, AARP Public Policy Institute
Lisa Southworth, AARP Public Policy Institute
April 2005
AARP’s second annual report card on the quality of life of Americans age 50 and older tries to answer basic questions about how well they have fared in recent years. Have they made progress toward greater economic and health care security? Are pre-retirees better prepared for retirement than a decade ago? How healthy are they, and how well is the health system serving them in terms of insurance coverage, access and cost? How well connected do they feel to their families, neighbors and communities? Do they enjoy a healthy level of social engagement and participation? How do people age 50 and older assess their own well being and prospects for the future?
The survey finds some signs of improvement in health and economic welfare over the past decade, but at the same time there are notable causes of concern. Real incomes of the 50+ population are lower today than in the late 1990s, leading to a greater dependence on the most stable source of retirement income – Social Security. Health care costs are also a prominent source of anxiety, especially for those whose debt levels have increased in the previous year. As a result of the decline in traditional pensions, reductions in retiree health benefits, weakness in job growth, uncertainty in the stock market, and threats to the Social Security system posed by proposals to partially privatize the system, the future remains uncertain.
The report concludes with individual commentaries by Peter Lee, president and CEO of the Pacific Business Group on Health; Alice Rivlin of the Brookings Institution and Georgetown University, and Gail Wilensky of Project Hope. (53 pages)
Pub ID: D18211