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30 Jan 2015
Brief

Is 65 the Best Cutoff for Defining “Older Americans?”

Marilyn Moon, Jing Guo, and V. Eloesa McSorley

Baby Boomers are aging and the Congress is changing; public policy issues on aging have never been more important. Do the issues that define “old age” really begin at 65? Although Americans are living longer, other changes in health status and workforce behavior could be used to argue that age 65 is too late to begin to worry about the challenges of an aging population.

Older people in a classroomTwo key areas of concern when considering age from a policy perspective are the health and economic status (including labor force behavior) of older individuals. These variables affect not only the well-being of older Americans but the pocketbooks of American taxpayers. If age for program eligibility can be increased without harming older Americans, billions of dollars in government spending could potentially be saved.

In an effort to enlighten this debate, the Center on Aging developed this brief, in which AIR researchers explore data on income, resources, health, and family structure to look at how well age 65 captures a good cutoff for eligibility for programs and for discussing issues facing older Americans. 

PDF icon Is 65 the Best Cutoff for Defining “Older Americans?”

Related Work

16 Sep 2014
Video

lss-moon-230x164-300dpi.jpg

Long Story Short: Is 65 Still a Good Policy Benchmark for Aging?

Sixty-five has long been a benchmark age for public programs such as Social Security and Medicare, but many experts question whether it should be changed for today's aging society. In this video interview, Marilyn Moon, AIR Institute Fellow and director of AIR's Center on Aging, explains whether 65 is still a good milestone for aging, health, and retirement.
Topic: 
Health, Aging, Redesigning Healthcare Delivery

Further Reading

  • Dementia Less Prevalent Among the More Highly Educated, Says Report Produced With Help From AIR Experts
  • AIR Index: Does 65 Truly Define “Older Americans”?
  • Medicare at 50: Conscientious Reform
  • The Changing Economic Status of Seniors
  • Marilyn Moon Demystifies Medicare Reform
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AIR Institute Fellow Marilyn Moon

Marilyn Moon

Institute Fellow

Topic

Health
Aging

Related Center

Center on Aging

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