Disability and Health News for Seniors

Author: Disabled World - Contact Details
Updated/Revised Date: 2022/04/09
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Synopsis: Disability news and health articles of interest to seniors, the elderly, and baby boomers. Baby Boomers Comprise Nearly 28% of the Adult US Population. The U.S. Census Bureau considers a baby boomer to be someone born during the demographic birth boom between 1946 and 1964. In 2011, the first of the baby boom generation reached what used to be known as retirement age - and for the next 18 years, U.S. boomers will be turning 65 at a rate of about 8,000 a day!

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Old age consists of ages nearing or surpassing the life expectancy of human beings, and thus the end of the human life cycle. Euphemisms and terms for old people include, old people (worldwide usage), seniors (American usage), senior citizens (British and American usage), older adults (in the social sciences), the elderly, and elders (in many cultures, including the cultures of aboriginal people).

Baby boomer is a term used to describe a person who was born during the demographic Post-World War II baby boom. The baby boom had profound demographic, cultural, economic, and political implications. The term baby boomer is used around the world. However, it can have entirely unique implications in different areas; in some areas it refers merely to the time, rather than an actual "baby boom."

In 2011, the first of the baby boom generation reached what used to be known as retirement age - and for the next 18 years, U.S. boomers will be turning 65 at about 8,000 a day!

In the 1960s, as the relatively large numbers of young people became teenagers and young adults, they, and those around them, created a very specific rhetoric around their cohort, and the change they were bringing about. This rhetoric had an important impact in the self perceptions of the boomers, as well as their tendency to define the world in terms of generations, which was a relatively new phenomenon.

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An elderly couple wearing backpacks and with their backs to the camera stroll hand in hand leisurely through a city area.
An elderly couple wearing backpacks and with their backs to the camera stroll hand in hand leisurely through a city area.
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Baby Boomers Comprise Nearly 28% of Adult US Population

In 2050, the total number of Americans aged 65 and older will be 88 million, double the number estimated for 2010. As an economic and political force, researchers say that older adults hold a tremendous amount of social power.

The U.S. Census Bureau considers a baby boomer to be someone born during the demographic birth boom between 1946 and 1964.

The medical study of the aging process is gerontology, and the study of diseases that afflict the elderly is geriatrics.

The boundary between middle age and old age cannot be defined exactly because it does not have the same meaning in all societies.

In many parts of the world, people are considered old because of certain changes in their activities or social roles. Examples: people may be considered old when they become grandparents, or when they begin to do less or different work, retirement.

In North America and Europe, people are often considered old if they have lived a certain number of years.

The effects of aging can cause wrinkles and liver spots on the skin, change of hair color to gray or white or loss of hair (or both), lessened hearing and sight abilities, loss of reaction time and agility or reduced ability to think clearly or recall memories.

Seniors: Facts and Statistics

Senior citizen is a common euphemism for an old person used in American English, and sometimes in British English. It implies or means that the person being referred to is retired. This in turn usually implies or in fact means that the person is over the retirement age, which varies according to country. Synonyms include old age pensioner or pensioner in British English, and retiree and senior in American English. Some dictionaries describe widespread usage of "senior citizen" for people over the age of 65.

The Issue of Ageism in America Today - Thomas C. Weiss - (2012-09-12)

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Cite This Page (APA): Disabled World. (2022, April 9). Disability and Health News for Seniors. Disabled World. Retrieved December 4, 2023 from www.disabled-world.com/news/seniors/

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