Older Americans Act

(noun)

The first federal level initiative aimed at providing comprehensive services for older adults.

Related Terms

Examples of Older Americans Act in the following topics:

  • Civil Rights of the Elderly

    • Due to demographic shifts, including increased life expectancy and high birth rates in the post-World War II era, the United States population has grown older in recent years.
    • Government policies throughout the twentieth century were aimed at meeting the unique needs of elderly Americans.
    • Roosevelt's Social Security Act funded medical care for aging Americans.
    • Johnson signed the Older Americans Act (OAA) into law.
    • Additionally, in 1967, Congress passed the Age Discrimination in Employment Act.

  • Composition of the Older Population

    • In 1900, only about 3 million Americans were 65 or older, out of a total population of 76 million Americans.
    • Population experts estimate that more than 50 million Americans, or 17 percent of the population, will be 65 or older in 2020.
    • The number of older Americans has spiked in recent years due to the age of baby boomers—the generation that was born in the twenty years following World War II.
    • The United States Census provides more specific information about the make up of older Americans.
    • This means that 1 out of every 5,786 Americans is over the age of 100.

  • Labor Standards

    • American workers, meanwhile, traditionally have been mobile themselves; many see job changes as a means of improving their lives.
    • The history of American labor involves a tension between these two sets of values -- flexibility and long-term commitment.
    • In 1963, the act was amended to prohibit wage discrimination against women.
    • The Age and Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 protects older workers against job discrimination.
    • The Americans With Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, assures job rights for handicapped persons.

  • Neglected Americans and the New Deal

    • For example, the 1933 Agricultural Adjustment Act (AAA) drove many black farmers from the land.
    • Out of the latter group, the overwhelming majority of those who met the age requirement (65 or older),  did not qualify for the pension because of their earlier employment in agriculture or domestic service.
    • The Bankhead–Jones Farm Tenant Act of 1937 provided affordable loans to tenant farmers in order to purchase land but relatively few African Americans benefited from the Act's provisions.
    • The 1933 National Industrial Recovery Act, the 1935 National Labor Relations Act, and the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act all excluded agricultural and domestic workers.
    • Even the 1935 Social Security Act (SSA) heavily discriminated against women.

  • The Elderly

    • To qualify for these benefits, most American workers pay Social Security taxes on their earnings, and future benefits are based on the employees' contributions.
    • In 2010, more than 54 million Americans received approximately $712 billion in Social Security benefits
    • In 1965, Congress created Medicare under Title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide health insurance to people age 65 and older, regardless of income or medical history.
    • Compared to the rest of Americans, Medicare enrollees are disproportionately white and female (due to women's greater longevity).

  • Legislative Achievements of the Second New Deal

    • The two major legislative achievements of the Second New Deal were the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the Social Security Act.
    • The act was immediately controversial.
    • First, the American Liberty League, an organization made up of conservatives, viewed the act as a threat to freedom and engaged in a campaign of opposition in order to repeal these "socialist" efforts.
    • The act was an attempt to limit what were seen as dangers in the modern American life, including old age, poverty, unemployment, and the burdens of widows and fatherless children.
    • Total personal income of Americans rose from $38 billion in 1933 to $70 billion in 1937.

  • The "Sandwich Generation" and Elder Care

    • US Census Bureau statistics indicate that the number of older Americans aged 65 or older will double by the year 2030, to over 70 million.
    • According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services the older population—persons 65 years or older—numbered 39.6 million in 2009.
    • They represented 12.9 percent of the U.S. population, about one in every eight Americans.
    • According to the U.S Department of Health and Human Services, the older population—persons 65 years or older—numbered 39.6 million in 2009.
    • They represented 12.9% of the U.S. population, or about one in every eight Americans.

  • The Expansion of the Civil Rights Movement

    • While Congress played a role by passing the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 1968, the actions of civil rights groups such as CORE, the SCLC, and SNCC were instrumental in forging new paths, pioneering new techniques and strategies, and achieving breakthrough successes.
    • Its purpose was to pressure President Kennedy to act on his promises regarding civil rights.
    • The Voting Rights Act of 1965 restored and protected voting rights for African Americans that had been imposed upon since the Civil War, and the Immigration and Nationality Services Act of 1965 dramatically opened up entry into the U.S. for immigrants outside of traditional European groups.
    • The Fair Housing Act of 1968 banned discrimination in the sale or rental of housing.
    • In the city, he found a divided civil rights movement: older activists who supported his policy of nonviolence and younger African Americans who advocated a more militant approach.

  • Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. "Mark Twain"

    • Mark Twain helped to create and popularize a distinctive American literature built upon American themes and language.
    • He was a printer's apprentice, and also worked as a typesetter, contributing articles to his older brother Orion's newspaper.
    • He was lauded as the "greatest American humorist of his age," and William Faulkner called Twain "the father of American literature . "
    • Twain began his career writing light, humorous verse, but evolved into a chronicler of the vanities, hypocrisies and murderous acts of mankind.
    • Twain was a master at rendering colloquial speech , and helped to create and popularize a distinctive American literature built upon American themes and language.

  • Additional Factors: Gender, Age, Religion, Race, and Ethnicity

    • Senior citizens, people age 65 and older, also have high turnout rates of around 70 percent.
    • Discriminatory practices kept the turnout rate of African-Americans low until after the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
    • In 2008, 48 percent of Asian Americans turned out to vote.
    • Candidates routinely aim campaign ads at the fast-growing Latino and Asian American populations.
    • Describe the voting patterns of various demographic subsets of the American electorate