The aging of America will reshape how we live and will transform nearly every aspect of contemporary society. Renowned life course sociologist Deborah Carr provides a lively, nuanced, and timely portrait of aging in the United States. The US population is older than ever before, raising new challenges for families, caregivers, health care systems, and social programs like Social Security and Medicare.

Organized in seven chapters, Aging in America covers these topics:

• the history of aging and the development of theoretical approaches


• how cultural changes shape our views on aging


• the demographic characteristics of older adults today


• older adults' family lives and social relationships


• the health of older adults and social disparities in who gets sick


• how public policies affect the well-being of older adults and their families


• how baby boomers, Gen Xers, and millennials will experience old age

Drawing on state-of-the-art data, current events, and pop culture, this portrait of an aging population challenges outdated myths and vividly shows how future cohorts of older adults will differ from the generations before them.