America Is Getting Older

Census data show a decline in younger workers. That puts more pressure on programs that support seniors.

- By Sandra Block

It seems as if an assisted living complex is going up on every other corner and half of the commercials on the evening news are for arthritis remedies, you’re not imagining things. The U.S. is rapidly aging, and businesses are responding. The percentage of people in the U.S. who are 65 and older has grown by nearly 35% in the past decade, and by 2040, about one in five Americans will be 65 or older, up from one in eight in 2000.

Although it’s comforting for seniors to be surrounded by people their own age, the trend is troubling from an economic standpoint. Data released by the U.S. Census Bureau in April showed that the country’s population grew by 7.4% over the past decade, the slowest rate since the 1930s.

The national slowdown in growth reflects a decline in immigration and a drop in the birth rate, which fell 4% last year, the largest decline in nearly 50 years. That means fewer people are joining the workforce and paying into the programs that seniors rely on, which are already under financial stress. According to the 2020 annual report by the Social Security Board of Trustees, Social Security’s annual costs are expected to exceed income from payroll taxes and interest starting this year, forcing Social Security to draw down its trust fund.