The Centrality of Variability: How society shapes patterns of aging

Lisa Berkman () and Maria Glymour ()
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Lisa Berkman: Harvard School of Public Health
Maria Glymour: Harvard School of Public Health

PGDA Working Papers from Program on the Global Demography of Aging

Abstract: Increasing variability is a hallmark of aging populations. Although demographic trends are often described in terms of average experiences, in this paper we argue that variability in the health experiences of older men and women is key to understanding aging. The variations in outcomes among older people are not merely nuisances obscuring the more salient averages and trends. The deviations from the mean are a central part of the story: the patterning of these variations reveals factors that influence health for everyone and indicates what sort of advances in healthy aging might be possible under optimal circumstances.

Keywords: Aging; demography (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2005
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