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California as an example of the future.
Two demographic trends of great policy consequence have been occurring in the U.S. population: One has received a great deal of attention; the other hardly any. The first trend-obvious to almost everyone-is "the graying of America," caused primarily by increases in life expectancy and exacerbated by the demographic bulge of baby boomers (Hayes-Bautista, Schink and Chapa,1988) who are now well into their 50s.
The second trend-far less noticed-is the geriatric extension of the so-called browning of America (Henry, 1990). The Latino and Asian/Pacific Islander populations have grown rapidly over the past two decades. Fueled by both high rates of immigration and high birth rates, the Latino and Asian/Pacific Islander populations have more than doubled in size over the past twenty years. This browning trend is also being seen in the elderly population. The country is experiencing a "browning" of the "graying" of America.
Amidst calls for more information about "minority" elders (Gibson, 1989; Gibson and Stoller, 1998; Gelfland, 1994, 1999; and Yeatts, 1992), some have begun to explore the increased diversity of the older population. For one prominent example, the mainstream organization AA" has not only revamped its flagship publication to appeal more to the baby boomer generation, but it recently began publishing Segunda Juventud, a Spanish-language version of its monthly newspaper (AARP, 2002). So far, however, only a modest amount of research has focused on older people of color (Markides and Miranda, 1997; Padgett,1995; Torres-Gil and Puccinelli,1994; Torres-Gil and Kuo,1998). This paper will explore the increasing diversity of older people in California and the policy implications of such diversity for programs and planning.
INCREASING DIVERSITY
For a number of reasons that include major immigration flows, lower mortality, and longer life expectancy, most of the growth in California's elder population in the recent past has been driven by growth in the numbers of Latino and Asian elderly and will continue to be so for the foreseeable future. (Data in this section are taken from the census of 1990 and 2000, as compiled and reported by various state agencies.)
THE STATE
As of the 2000 census, California's overall population had no single racial or ethnic majority. Shown in Figure 1, the Non-Hispanic white population was 46.7 percent of...