Cross-national research
to help countries
prepare for an aging
population

In both developed and developing countries around the world the population is aging at an accelerated pace. This shift in age structure raises a number of concerns for policymakers, including: Are people living longer, healthier lives, or do their added years come with disabilities and poor health? How can health systems best adapt to the needs of older populations, with their higher prevalence of chronic disease? How do changes in family structure affect the demand for public transfers of money, time, and space? How do changes in the ratio of workers to retirees affect the ability of societies to fund old-age security systems? Will shifting age distributions result in increased or decreased national saving and investment?

Countries will vary in their policy responses to these and other, related issues. These differing responses will produce a number of “natural experiments” and give countries the chance to learn from each other. To make use of this opportunity, the National Institute on Aging of the United States of America asked the National Academies of the United States, through its National Research Council, to convene a panel that would provide recommendations for an international research agenda on these issues as well as suggestions for the types of data needed to implement that research agenda...

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