Page 595 - Sociology and You

derly have dropped in tandem. But “we’re bal- anced on a razor’s edge,” says Eric Stallard, a de- mography professor at Duke University. If medical advances make mortality fall faster than disease, we’ll wind up spending costly extra years in nursing homes. Or worse: “We may face the gruesome prospect of poor, disabled, home- less older Americans living out the end of their lives on city streets and in parks,” warns Edward L. Schneider, dean of gerontology at the University of South Carolina.
Source: Adapted from David Stipp, “Hell No, We Won’t Go,” Fortune, July 19, 1999: 102, 104.
What Does it Mean
averting
turning aside; avoiding
bullish
optimistic; encouraging
canon
an accepted principle or rule
extrapolating
projecting known data into an area not known or experienced
nullifying actuarial tables
reversing current population trends
Pandora’s box
source of many troubles (based on a Greek myth about a box of evils released by a curious woman who had been instructed not to open the box)
Chapter 16 Population and Urbanization
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This active older couple is enjoying the increasing longevity in modern society. What are some of the most important consequences of this trend?
Read and React
1. What is the surprising demographic trend referred to in the title of this article?
2. What has happened to the death rates in the United States since 1960?
3. What is meant by the term mortality deceleration?
4. What are some positive and negative effects an aging population would have on the social structure of this country?