June 2025

Midlife Satisfaction Disparities by Sexual Orientation: Findings from the Health and Retirement Study

By Wenhua Lai, Ning Hsieh & Hui Liu Midlife is a pivotal stage shaping healthy aging, and sexual minorities may face more challenges in midlife than heterosexual individuals, due to cumulative social, economic, and health disadvantages. Yet, few studies have examined how life satisfaction in midlife varies by sexual identity. Using data from the 2016 Health and Retirement Study (N = 3,630), we conducted logit regressions and Karlson-Holm-Breen (KHB) decomposition analysis to examine how health-related, socioeconomic, and sociopsychological factors contribute to disparities...

Aging and Retirement Issues for LGBTQ+ People

By Society of Actuaries Research Institute The Society of Actuaries (SOA) Research Institute Aging and Retirement Strategic Research Program in collaboration with the Sexuality and Gender Alliance of Actuaries (SAGAA) is pleased to present this collection of essays that explore aging and retirement issues for LGBTQ+ people. This collection continues the Program’s dedicated effort to further advance the SOA’s organization-wide Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative. This includes its 2021 companion essay collection on aging and retirement issues for people of different races and ethnicities. Our...

Transgender seniors worry about retirement, old age amid wave of anti-trans legislation

By Andrew DeMillo, Lynne Sladky & Laura Bargfeld Rajee Narinesingh faced struggles throughout her life as a transgender woman, from workplace discrimination to the lasting effects of black market injections that scarred her face and caused chronic infections. In spite of the roadblocks, the 56-year-old Florida actress and activist has seen growing acceptance since she first came out decades ago. “If you see older transgender people, it shows the younger community that it’s possible I can have a life. I can live...

Patterns of LGBTQ+ Patient Experiences and Receipt of Preventive Care in Midlife and Older Age: A Latent Class Analysis

By Nathaniel M. Tran, Tara McKay, Gilbert Gonzales, Carrie Fry & Stacie B. Dusetzina Introduction: Understanding how LGBTQ+ patient experiences vary and are associated with receipt of preventive services may help reduce disparities between LGBTQ+ and non-LGBTQ+ populations. Objective: (1) To identify latent classes of LGBTQ+ patient experiences using seven indicators of clinical and cultural competence, (2) to identify sociodemographic characteristics associated with class membership, and (3) to evaluate the relationship between class membership and receipt of preventive care. Methods: 954 LGBTQ+...

Dignity 2022: The Experience of LGBTQ Older Adults

By Cassandra Cantave Burton There are over 2.4 million LGBT adults over age 50 in the United States — a number expected to double by 2030 to over 5 million, according to Movement Advancement Project (MAP). A vast majority (85%) of older LGBTQ individuals are concerned about discrimination based on sexual orientation. They are also worried about how they will care for themselves and others. Two-thirds believe they will need someone to provide caregiving for them in the future and eight in...

‘Scared of being pushed back into the closet’: Europe’s new LGBT+ retirement communities

By Estelle Nilsson-Julien For many older LGBTQ+ the prospect of moving into a retirement home is a worrying thought. But in Sweden, Spain and France new retirement communities for LGBTQ+ seniors are proving a hit. "Care home staff don't realise that they have LGBTQ+ residents - but based on population estimates we know they do. It's just that residents don't feel comfortable or safe being identified as LGBTQ+", explains Professor Paul Willis, an expert in social care. Older members of the LGBTQ+ community can "be at higher...

Immigration and Adult Children’s Care for Elderly Parents: Evidence from Western Europe

By Andrea Berlanda, Elisabetta Lodigiani & Lorenzo Rocco In this paper, we use the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), complemented with register data on the share of the foreign population in the European regions, to examine the effects of migration on the level of informal care provided by children to their senior parents. Our main results show that migration decreases informal care among daughters with a university degree, while it increases the provision of informal care...

May 2025

A Canadian Approach to Rethinking Technology Design for Aging Populations

By Milena Head Older adults are the fastest-growing segment of the population. In Canada, one in five people are 65 or older, and by 2065, this will increase to more than one in four. Yet, despite their growing numbers, older adults often face exclusion and marginalization in technology design. This digital divide has significant consequences, leading to isolation, loneliness, frustration, and poor health outcomes, particularly when we intersect factors like lower socioeconomic status, race, gender, and immigrant status. Source: @SSRN

The Longevity Story: Opportunities and Considerations

By World Governments Summit   This report delves into the concept of longevity, highlighting how advancements in medical technology, sanitation, preventive care, and lifestyle choices have significantly increased human lifespans—from an average of 45 years in the 1950s to over 73 years today. While early efforts to extend life overlooked aging itself, recent focus on understanding and potentially reversing the aging process has fueled the growth of the longevity industry. Organizations like Altos Labs, Hevolution Foundation, and Pure Health are pioneering...

The vision of younger-seniors-based elderly care in rural China: based on population aging predictions from 2020 to 2050

By Haojian Dou, Cheng Wang, Guishan Cheng, Xiaoyan Lei & Shuang Xu  Population aging is an irreversible and challenging global trend. Factors that worsen it in rural areas include the outflow of young adults, lack of medical resources, and uneven economic development. Based on projections of rural population aging trends in China from 2020 to 2050, this article explores the growth trends and spatial heterogeneity of elderly populations in rural areas. The results indicate that from 2020 to 2050, the...