The proportion of elderly in Pennsylvania is slipping but....

Abstract

Media reports describing the anticipated increase of tens of millions of elderly residents and their attendant billions of dollar costs for health services during the next decades are difficult for any person to place in proper perspective. As a result, these estimates become "just numbers" not actual people. Census Bureau reports are used at the national, state and county levels to provide an increased meaningful picture when the 65 and older population of Pennsylvania will increase to 22.6 percent of the state population. In 2000, 12.4 percent of the U.S. population was 65 years and older (15.6 percent in Pennsylvania, 1.9 million elderly). Only in the state of Florida was the proportion greater. In 2010, the proportion of elderly in the population of Pennsylvania ranked 4th (behind Florida, West Virginia and Maine). It was tied for 3rd (behind Florida and North Dakota) with 2.5 percent of the population 85 years and over. By 2030, the projected number of elderly in Pennsylvania (22.6 percent of the state population) will rank 11th. But ... "Starting on Jan 1, (2011) our 79-million-strong baby boomer generation will be turning 65 at the rate of one elderly every eight seconds.