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This chapter assesses Baby Boom retirement prospects, comparing the outlook for this cohort with experiences of previous generations. The impact of aging is assessed using the Social Security's Model of Income in the Near Term and project retirement incomes for a representative group of individuals born between 1926 and 1965. Results indicate that Baby Boomers can expect to have higher real incomes and lower poverty rates in retirement than current retirees. However, the gains in family income are not equally distributed: for instance, never-married Boomer women will be relatively better off while high school Boomer dropouts will be relatively worse off than current retirees. Boomers' post-retirement incomes are not predicted to rise as much as pre-retirement incomes. Additionally, certain population subgroups will remain economically vulnerable, including divorced women, never-married men, Hispanics, high school dropouts, those with weak labor force attachments, and those with the lowest lifetime earnings.

The older population is becoming increasingly diverse. Despite such significant demographic trends, the majority of regional housing strategies and regional spatial strategies barely mention older people, age inequality or age-related social trends. Housing expenditure continues to be focused on new-build family housing or the so-called ‘economically active’ younger age groups, and all too often regeneration is youth-focused, with older people ignored or marginalized. The homes being built do not address population ageing. Another problem encountered is housing inequalities between different sectors of the older population. As a response, emerging and necessary policy measures such as the Lifetime Homes Standards and the concept of the ‘lifetime neighbourhood’ was implemented.

This chapter investigates the older U.S. population trends in forms of assistance with daily activities and disparities in assistance by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Significant disparities in assistance are evident by racial/ethnic and socioeconomic status. The chances of using any help and the chances of using nothing have both declined in relation to the use of assistive technology (AT) alone, the increases in which appear to be widely experienced. Higher levels of education are connected with higher probabilities of using technology independently to carry out daily activities. The chapter shows that, for most groups, increases in AT appear to be offset by decreases both in the use of help and in unassisted difficulty, with declines in the latter twice as large as declines in help.

This chapter provides a portrait of what the older population looks like in the second decade of the twenty-first century cross-sectionally in aggregate, in time and place. It recounts life stories of today's older population and reflects the cumulative life stories of older people who were born between 1915 and 1955. It also talks about the older population from the beginning of the twentieth century until the 1950s that lived in a world of relative poverty in small towns and rural Canada, where paying for healthcare was a private transaction. The chapter cites the older population who rewrote the political stories of the 1950s and 1960s that resulted in a social insurance and public pension system. It explains how Canada went from being a country that was mainly made up of small towns and rural communities, to a country that quickly became urban and suburban where today's newer cohorts of the older population grew up.

This chapter deals with the profile of the rural and remote older population, which is predicated on the assumptions of the diversity of the older population living in rural and remote Canada. It talks about the construction of the profile around several major themes, such as being older and living in rural and remote parts of Canada and the challenges and barriers to living in rural and remote areas. It also covers social inclusion, engagement, and ageism, and food and income security. The chapter examines the shared characteristics of the older population living in rural and remote communities that distinguish them from the urban population of Canada. It cites the higher proportions of low-income people and older people, and higher proportions of people and older people with less education, including the higher rates of smoking, obesity, and mortality.

This chapter discusses the aging demographic in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and across Canada that is changing the way communities function. It examines the intersection of age and diversity that compound the daily experience of aging, which subject older adults to a 'double jeopardy' in accessing important spaces, services, and opportunities for health and wellbeing. It also mentions age-friendly community development, popularized by the World Health Organization's Age-Friendly Cities Guide, which encompasses an approach to the physical, social, and political fabric of cities and includes a careful consideration of older-adult lived experience. The chapter highlights the age-friendly development theory, which considers the social capital as a foundational component to healthy and sustainable aging infrastructure. It analyzes the experiences of two of the most at-risk or isolated communities among the overall older adult population in Saskatoon: the members of the LGBTQ community, and those experiencing physical or cognitive frailty.

This chapter discusses the World Health Organization's (WHO) launch of the Age-Friendly Cities (AFCs) program as a response to the global trend towards aging populations and increasing urbanization. It outlines the WHO's anticipation that by 2050, approximately 22 percent of the global population will be over the age of 60 years, with the majority residing in sub/urban areas. It examines the intensity of older adults that will be felt in small and mid-sized cities where the mean older adult dependency ratio will grow by 103 percent and 90 percent respectfully by 2036. The chapter considers the certainty of demographic change and the heterogeneity of the older adult population, which acquires a time-sensitive need to understand how to support older adults who desire to age in place or live safely and independently in their existing communities. It looks at academic literature that links built environments and human health.

This chapter provides a snapshot of Canadian rural demographic trends, an overview of the state-of-the-art thinking on rural aging, and contextual framing for in-depth research. It cites key debates on rural aging in relation to the built-environment and the extent to which it disserves the older population. It also talks about the limitations associated with lack of funding, service availability, and geographical isolation in rural environments. The chapter highlights the importance of service accessibility, particularly to the almost quarter of a million low-income, older-adult rural residents. It summarizes the existing research on aging in Canadian rural communities and further unpacks the challenges and benefits of rural aging.

Japan’s population is 127 million. In 40 years’ time, it is expected to have fallen by a third. That might not have been a big problem for health if it were not for the shifting balance between generations. The over-65s will grow from 26% of the population to nearly 40%. Meanwhile the working age population will shrink at about 1% a year. Supporting Japan’s elderly population is placing a growing financial and physical strain on its younger generations. In this chapter, Mark Britnell analyses the structures in place to increase the number of Japanese healthcare workers, and to keep the national healthcare at its high standard.

In China, the growth of the middle class, lifting so many from poverty, is enabled by the very same urbanization and industrialization that is affecting the physical and mental health of many. From cancer to diabetes, obesity to cardiovascular disease, the chronic diseases of wealth are rising rapidly in China, while the health system is failing to keep up with people’s soaring demand for quality healthcare. But it should not be forgotten how far China has already come—implementing the world’s largest basic healthcare coverage. In this chapter, Mark Britnell discusses whether it can pick up the pace in terms of the reach and depth of care provision, with many patients still incurring significant out-of-pocket expenses. Looking forward, he also analyses the developments needed in China to provide healthcare for the growing older population.