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An in-depth look at diversity and the changing racial makeup of America's older population-what do they mean for their contemporaries and their children?
Ceferina, a 70-year-old Filipina who shared her life story for a research project on older immigrants, could be the future face of aging in America. Foreign-born and non-white, Ceferina mixes comfortably with neighbors of other races. With her male companion, who is white, she embraces life and aging in the United States, saying:
I have a boyfriend who's a senior citizen and lives at the same apartment [building] and he is all alone. And if we are all alone, we call each other. He is a Caucasian. He calls me if he wants to eat outside or go to the park. We are not lonely when we are together. He is 73 years old and I am 70. We keep us feel young.
Growing racial and ethnic diversity is a reality in the United States. Older adults who are immigrants, non-white, or ethnic minorities will become increasingly common. With the falling of some barriers that have historically divided groups, older adults from diverse backgrounds could share a common future. Outside immigrant enclaves, color lines are fading, so that race and ethnicity may well play a different, perhaps more symbolic, role in the lives of tomorrow's older Americans.
Gray and White
Today, gray is the new white. Eight in ten older Americans are non-Hispanic whites. Other groups are minorities claiming small shares of the older population. Table 1 (on page 39) shows that blacks make up 8.5 percent of Americans ages 65 and older, while 6.8 percent are Hispanic and 3.3 percent are Asian. Other census categories- American Indians and Alaska Natives (AIAN) and Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders (NHPI)-add up to less than 1 percent each. The same is true for multiracial Americans.
The younger population tells a different story. Among Americans younger than age 65, fewer than two-thirds are non-Hispanic whites. One-third is minority. Unlike elders, the younger population has more Hispanics than it does blacks (17 percent versus 13 percent). Asian Americans make up nearly 5 percent. While still small, the population shares for other groups such as AIAN and NHPI are about twice as large for the young...