Demography* is hot!
"Yes, you will live to be 80!" flashed the headline on MSN's home page recently. The article by Liz Pulliam Weston that followed made pointed use of statistics on life expectancy.
Take note: 75% of men and 87% of women -- live to age 65. And, the longer you live, the more likely you will continue to do so. At birth a man's life expectancy is almost 75 years, but if he makes it to 70, statistics give him 13 more years to live. Women do even better. At birth their life expectancy is almost 80 years, but if they reach 70, they are likely to live about 16 years longer!
Why are such statistics suddenly compelling? Because the golden years of retirement may now stretch two decades or more! In a nation with an aging population, one that hasn't been in the habit of saving and is still in the midst of a serious recession, this is a new and daunting prospect! As Weston writes unless you want to shiver "through your last years in a threadbare cardigan, you'll have to figure out a way to set aside some money" beyond the average $1000 benefit check current retirees receive.
Are there some other demographic facts we should pay attention to?
Think about these. Educational attainment in this country continues to rise, but the gap between the earning power of a high school diploma and a baccalaureate degree remains dramatic. Although 87% of our population over 25 had graduated from high school in 2008, up from 83% a decade earlier, their annual earnings averaged only about $31,000, while the roughly 30% who persisted through a bachelor’s degree made on average close to $57,000. Can demographics help us figure out who isn’t likely to have a shot at earning that extra $26,000?
Recent figures from the U.S. Census Bureau show that more than half (53%) the Asians in the U.S., but only a third (33%) of non-Hispanic whites, 20% of blacks, and 13% of Hispanics have baccalaureate degrees (U.S. Census Bureau News, 4/27/09). In other words, significantly more than half of our white (66%), black (80%) and Hispanic (87%) populations are likely to find their earning power limited by the absence of a college degree. Compelling? You bet - for both the individuals and families affected by low wages as well as a nation struggling to maintain its economic position in the face of newly emerging powers such as China, India and Brazil. Maybe we can convince MSN to give this home page billing.
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