Population Aging in the Western Hemisphere: 2020 to 2050

Population aging is largely due to increased longevity coupled with low fertility, a result of completing the demographic transition. In the initial stage, control of epidemic and contagious diseases lowers the death rate, which leads to rapid population growth because fertility rates remain high until the modernization process leads to factors that suppress fertility. This framework is used in a first-ever examination of the future of population aging in the Western Hemisphere and its four regions, The Caribbean, Central America, North America, and South America. Although there is variation across the regions, the population aged 65 years and over is expected to more than double between 2020 and 2050. Coinciding with the expected increases in the older population are decreases in both the pre-school and the school age populations. These demographic changes will place increasing and competing demands not only on the public and private sectors, but also on families.