The Characteristics Approach to the Measurement of Population Aging

Warren C. Sanderson · Sergei Scherbov

156 citations0/0 files storedPopulation and Development Review

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Insurance, Mortality, Demography, Risk Management Aging, Health, and Disability Aging and Gerontology Research

Abstract

Conventional measures of population aging, such as proportions over age 65, can present a misleading picture of the aging process by not taking account of changes in people's characteristics beyond their chronological age—for example, changes in remaining life expectancy, health and morbidity, disability rates, and cognitive functioning. The “characteristics approach” set out in this article encompasses multiple features of population aging, yielding new measures that can better inform both demographic analysis and public policy debate. We relate the brief history of this approach, examine its basic mathematical structure, and give empirical examples of the insights it offers, drawing on data from West Germany, Japan, Russia, and the United States.

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References

2009Ageing populations: the challenges ahead 2008The coming acceleration of global population ageing 1983Regional Model Life Tables and Stable Populations 2010Biodemography of human ageing 2010Remeasuring Aging 2005Average remaining lifetimes can increase as human populations age 2007A new perspective on population aging 2011Variation in cognitive functioning as a refined approach to comparing aging across countries

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