This text was adapted by The Saylor Foundation under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 0 License without attribution as requested by the work’s original creator or licensee. Preface

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• 
  Although the number of older Americans will be increasing in the years ahead, the baby boomers who are now reaching old age will be better educated and wealthier than older Americans of past generations.
  
• 
  Efforts to help older Americans would benefit from relying on the models practiced by other Western democracies.
  

FOR YOUR REVIEW

1. 
   What do you think is the most important action the United States should take to help older Americans?
   
2. 
   Does it make sense for the United States to follow the example of other democracies as it tries to help older Americans, or is the United States different enough from these nations that it does not make sense to do so? Explain your answer.
   

[1] Rowe, J. W., Berkman, L. F., Binstock, R., Boersch-Supan, A., Cacioppo, J., Carsternsen, L., et al. (2010). Policies and politics for an aging America. Contexts, 9(1), 22–27; Uhlenberg, P. (2009). Children in an aging society. Journal of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 64B(4), 489–496.

[2] Rowe, J. W., Berkman, L. F., Binstock, R., Boersch-Supan, A., Cacioppo, J., Carsternsen, L., et al. (2010). Policies and politics for an aging America. Contexts, 9(1), 22–27.