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13 Apr 2015
Index

AIR Index: Does 65 Truly Define “Older Americans”?

Older machine worker with younger traineeA range of policies serving America’s older citizens uses 65 as the cutoff age, but that number no longer means what it once did. The normal retirement age for Social Security, for example, has already risen from 65 to 66 and is scheduled to rise again soon to 67. In the issue brief, Is 65 the Best Cutoff for Defining “Older Americans”?, experts with AIR’s Center on Aging look at the historical use of age 65 in policymaking and pore over the research on socioeconomic characteristics to see if its use is still appropriate today. This index highlights the brief's key facts. 

Year the United States passed and implemented Social Security, adopting age 65, which was also being used by other countries: 1935

______________________

Year that Medicare, which also uses the same eligibility age, passed: 1965

______________________

Average age retired workers start receiving Social Security benefits in 2009: 63.8
In 1970: 64.2
In 1945: 69.5

______________________

Years of life expectancy in 1940:
For men: 61.4
For women: 65.7

______________________

Years of life expectancy in 2012:
For men: 76.3
For women: 81.1

______________________

Percent of self-identifying retirees in 2014 who still work for pay: 27
Percent of current workers who expect to keep working in retirement: 65

 

Source: Is 65 the Best Cutoff for Defining “Older Americans”? (2015)

Related Work

16 Sep 2014
Video

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.
Older people in a classroom
30 Jan 2015
Brief

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

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.

Further Reading

  • Dementia Less Prevalent Among the More Highly Educated, Says Report Produced With Help From AIR Experts
  • Is 65 the Best Cutoff for Defining “Older Americans?”
  • Medicare at 50: Conscientious Reform
  • Medicare Enrollment Maze Puts Older Americans at Risk for Financial Penalties and Coverage Gaps
  • Medicare Enrollment Maze Puts Seniors at Risk for Penalties and Coverage Gaps
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Topic

Aging

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