About
Today about 32 million Americans are age 65 or older, and the growth of the older population is expected to accelerate sharply as the baby boom generation reaches old age. It will become increasingly important to understand how changes in the number of people and other issues affect families and society, yet great uncertainty exists about population projections. The Berkeley Center is a response to the growing demand from government agencies, Congress, and academic researchers for timely, accessible, and practical information.
As one of eleven centers established by the National Institute on Aging, the Berkeley Center forms part of the national infrastructure for developing the relatively new field of the demography of aging. There is a practical purpose for this, according to Dr. Richard Suzman, chief of the demography and population epidemiology in the NIA's Behavioral and Social Research Program. 'The NIA has invested heavily in longitudinal national surveys on such topics as retirement and long-term care. With these center in place, we will learn a great deal more about the aging of the population, including life expectancy, the impact of chronic diseases, use of medical services and long-term care, and costs of aging-related illnesses.'