Who is a senior citizen

Today, it's closer to Increased longevity is not just an American phenomenon. A study in The Lancet found that life expectancy was projected to grow in every one of 35 developed countries, albeit at different rates.

The study concluded that by , women in South Korea will likely have an average life expectancy of over 90 years. Researchers believe the gains are largely attributable to medical advances that allow people to extend their lives, as opposed to decreases in child mortality.

So if the definition of "old age" depends on the average length of people's lives, what age is considered "elderly? Stanford economics professor John Shoven looked at mortality rates for different age groups through time and suggested that "middle-aged" adults are those whose chances of dying within the next 12 months are one percent or less.

That would mean that American men today would be considered middle-aged until they reach about age 60 up from around age 44 in and women wouldn't leave middle age until 65 considerably later than age 48 like in Similarly, Shoven suggested that an elderly definition could include adults whose chances of dying within the next year are four percent or more.

So how old is "elderly? How old is "old? However, there are a few commonly accepted ways to define old age:. Not surprisingly, everyone has different ideas about what elderly age is or when old age begins. A survey by Pew Research Center found that Americans aged 18 to 29 believed that a person becomes old when they turn 60, whereas those over 65 said a person doesn't get old until his or her 74th birthday.

Find more terms and definitions using our Dictionary Search. Senior Citizen appears in:. Handbook of Research on Strategies for Local Search inside this book for more research materials. Recommend to a Librarian Recommend to a Colleague. Looking for research materials? Search our database for more Senior Citizen downloadable research papers. Full text search our database of , titles for Senior Citizen to find related research papers.

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Translations of senior citizen in Chinese Traditional. See more. Need a translator? Translator tool. What is the pronunciation of senior citizen?

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November 08, Time Traveler for senior citizen The first known use of senior citizen was in See more words from the same year. Dictionary Entries Near senior citizen senior chief petty officer senior citizen senior classic See More Nearby Entries.

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