Savings and the Elderly (PDF: 73KB)
This e-newsletter is the third in a series funded by the University of Michigan Demography Center. This issue, "Savings and the Elderly," reviews research from scientists funded by the National Institute on Aging on how people's savings behavior responds to changes in taxes and public policy. (May 2007)

The New Generation Gap
New population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau indicate that in 2006, the U.S. minority population topped 100 million for the first time in U.S. history. But minorities are not evenly distributed across age groups. The new estimates show a growing racial/ethnic divergence between America’s elderly population and younger age groups, creating a new kind of generation gap in the United States. (May 2007)

Growing Up in North America: Child Health and Safety in Canada, the United States, and Mexico
The Children in North America Project aims to highlight the conditions and well-being of children and youth in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The report Growing Up in North America: Child Health and Safety in Canada, the United States, and Mexico, documents the health challenges these children face. The project is a collaboration of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Canadian Council on Social Development, the Children's Rights Network in Mexico, and the Population Reference Bureau. (May 2007)

PopWire: New U.S. Infant Mortality Data
The infant mortality rate in the United States, although down 10 percent since 1995, has not changed significantly this decade, according to data for 2004 released this month by the National Center for Health Statistics. (May 2007)

Medicare Drug Benefit Will Help, but May Carry Unwanted Side Effects
When the Medicare drug benefit, Medicare Part D, took effect last year, its architects said it would help elderly Americans cope with the soaring costs of prescription medications. This program has been successful in providing prescription drug coverage to many seniors who previously had no such health benefit. But research indicates that lapses in drug coverage, such as the benefit gaps that are part of the new program, could have unwelcome health and financial side effects by making people less likely to follow prescribed drug treatments. (April 2007)

PopWire: New U.S. Census Bureau Metro Population Estimates
The U.S. Census Bureau has released new population estimates for the nation's metropolitan areas, building on its county estimates published in March. The Atlanta region, which added about 890,000 people from 2000 to 2006, was ranked first in numerical growth. (April 2007)

Prescription Drugs and Medicare (PDF: 101KB)
This e-newsletter is the second in a series funded by the University of Michigan Demography Center. This issue reviews trends in prescription drug spending and research findings concerning the effect of benefit caps and implications for Medicare costs. (April 2007)

The Degree of Certainty in Population Projections
How much confidence can be placed in projections of what the size of the population will be in 10, 25, 50, or 75 years? The certainty of these projections is of keen interest to a wide range of analysts, including government policy makers and planners who rely on them to guide their decisions. (April 2007)

PRB Discuss Online: "Is the U.S. Birth Rate Still Fueling Population Growth?"
We often hear that the U.S. family is shrinking and that more young Americans aren't getting married or having children—but the U.S. has a higher birth rate than most other industrialized countries. Who is having or not having children in the U.S. today? How has U.S. fertility changed since the baby-boom years of the 1950s and 1960s? How has immigration affected the U.S. birth rate? Where does the U.S. rank compared with other countries? Mary Kent, editor of PRB's Population Bulletin, led a PRB Discuss Online on this topic. Read a transcript of the questions and answers. (March 2007)

Closing the Male-Female Labor Force Gap
The increase in women's participation in the U.S. labor force is one of the most important social, economic, and cultural trends of the past century. The growing proportion of women doing paid work has transformed gender relations, changed patterns of marriage and childbearing, and is often viewed as a key indicator of women's progress toward gender equality in the labor force. (March 2007)