Challenges for middle-income elders in an aging society

The United States is becoming an “aging society," in which the number of people older than age sixty exceeds the number of those younger than age fifteen. This transformation has major implications for many aspects of American life. The fundamental challenge relates to our core societal institutions-education, work and retirement, health care, housing, and the like-which were not designed to support a population with our future age distribution. While the most disadvantaged are at greatest risk of losses in physical and emotional well-being and economic security, it has become apparent that middle-income elders will face formidable economic challenges, and related reductions in access to health care and secure housing, in the next ten years. Innovative privateand public-sector initiatives, including both specific public policies as well as individual programs targeting access to health care, housing, and economic security, are needed to support this very large group. For the past decade the Research Network on an Aging Society, an interdisciplinary group of scholars, has been working to identify the critical elements of successful adaptation and to formulate strategies to develop the policies and programs referred to above and assess their effectiveness. Here I present an overview of such policy development and assessment strategies, with a special focus on the housing and other needs of the large older middle class of the future.