The Capitol's Age Pyramid: A Graying Congress

[Trajan]

great interactive chart.

Any lessons here?

I don't see ( until the house this year) any huge statistical anomalies per disparity.



The 111th Congress, which convened in 2009, is among the oldest in U.S. history. The average age of members of Congress has risen steadily since 1981, with just a slight hiccup in the early 1990s; the rise is likely the result of a high incumbency rate, the aging of the U.S. population, and the first-time elections of older candidates.

The Capitol's Age Pyramid - WSJ.com

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd says purt soon its gonna be like Solyent Green...

Aging boomers strain cities built for the young
Sat Jul 9,`11 – America's cities are beginning to grapple with a fact of life: People are getting old, fast, and they're doing it in communities designed for the sprightly.

To envision how this silver tsunami will challenge a youth-oriented society, just consider that seniors soon will outnumber schoolchildren in hip, fast-paced New York City. It will take some creative steps to make New York and other cities age-friendly enough to help the coming crush of older adults stay active and independent in their own homes. "It's about changing the way we think about the way we're growing old in our community," said New York Deputy Mayor Linda Gibbs. "The phrase `end of life' does not apply anymore."

With initiatives such as using otherwise idle school buses to take seniors grocery shopping, the World Health Organization recognizes New York as a leader in this movement. But it's not alone. Atlanta is creating what it calls "lifelong communities." Philadelphia is testing whether living in a truly walkable community really makes older adults healthier. In Portland, Ore., there's a push to fit senior concerns such as accessible housing into the city's new planning and zoning policies.

Such work is getting a late start considering how long demographers have warned that the population is about to get a lot grayer. "It's shocking how far behind we are, especially when you think about this fact — that if you make something age-friendly, that means it is going to be friendly for people of all ages, not just older adults," said Margaret Neal of Portland State University's Institute on Aging.

While this fledgling movement is being driven by nonprofit and government programs, New York aims to get private businesses to ante up, too. Last year, East Harlem became the city's first "aging improvement district." Sixty stores, identified with window signs, agreed to put out folding chairs to let older customers rest as they do their errands. The stores also try to keep aisles free of tripping hazards and use larger type so signs are easier to read. A community pool set aside senior-only hours so older swimmers could get in their laps without faster kids and teens in the way.

MORE

 

[Mad Scientist]

Age of the candidate or representative doesn't bother me as long as he or she is in control of all their faculties, which should be pretty obvious. Besides, we have a young President and look how that's working out.

 

[xsited1]

I would prefer an older member of Congress with at least 20 years experience in the free market.

 

[waltky]

Granny keeps tellin' ever'body she gonna be 29½

Why can't we imagine ourselves getting old?
5 August 2011 - The biblical figure Methuselah supposedly lived for 969 years. But old age isn't for everyone as the Who demonstrated in their 1965 hit My Generation with its provocative line "hope I die before I get old".

Nearly a half century later, young Britons are facing - if not the fate of Methuselah - then a life of scarcely believable length. It's not just the recently born who will live longer. The projections from the Department for Work and Pensions suggest that more than a fifth of women currently aged 40, and about 14% of their male equivalents, will reach their 100th birthday. Clocking up three figures has previously been regarded as remarkable enough to merit a telegram from the Queen. But soon she or her successor may have to raise the age requirement.

By 2066, there will be half a million centenarians and some even think the DWP figures err on the conservative side. A study in the Lancet last year suggested that half of babies born after 2000 will reach 100. The practical issue is pensions. "We simply can't look to our grandparents' experience of retirement as a model for our own," says pensions minister Steve Webb. "We will live longer and we will have to save more." Our ageing populations require a revolution in the way that social and economic policy operates, according to Joseph Coughlin, an age researcher at MIT. "We need a vision that says ageing is not just about the frail," he told the Financial Times last month. "Ageing is about all of us, and how we keep people productive for as long as possible."

The challenge is as much conceptual as practical. As Leon Trotsky put it: "Old age is the most unexpected of all the things that happen to a man." Behavioural thinkers believe that most people are incapable of imagining themselves getting old, one reason why people fail to invest sufficiently in a pension. The theory of "discounting" - delaying payment in return for a bigger financial reward - has been used to explain this.

In one US experiment, researchers put five-year-olds in a room with a marshmallow. The children were told that if it could wait 15 minutes without touching it, they would be offered a second marshmallow. Despite the inducement, the vast majority of the children ate it before the time limit was up. It underlines the idea that humans distinguish between our present and future selves. "It's been shown that people's identification with themselves diminishes as they look into the future," says Daniel Read, professor of behavioural science at Warwick Business School. "It comes down to not caring about ourselves in the future."

More BBC News - Why can't we imagine ourselves getting old?

 

[Baruch Menachem]

A couple of statical anomalies in the Senate Chart. They don't include two elderly Democrats on the Senate side who are nominally independent. Both are substantially older than the average.

Way too many incumbents on the Democrat side who just sit there forever. Maybe we should eliminate pensions for anyone who serves more than 18 years in congress.