The Version H HRS/RAND data is now available in SodaPop and PopNet.

The files incorporates data from 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, and 2004 final releases, and 2006 early release of HRS data. As well as additional co-horts. For more information, please see the HRS website page.

The New York Times reports that China is considering a move away from its one-child-per-couple policy, though any changes would be gradual and would not mean an end to family planning policies. China’s fertility rate is now very low, and the nation faces an aging population, especially in urban areas.

Kathleen Casey-Kirschling, the nation’s first Baby Boomer, made history Tuesday as the first of her generation to receive a Social Security retirement benefit. Read more in the Social Security Administration press release and Palm Beach Post news story.

See also: USA Today story on boomers and the rising price of elder care.

The over-85 group is the fastest-growing population in the US, and even those with chronic conditions have a good chance at living to 100, according to an NPR story.

See also: Dellara F. Terry, Paola Sebastiani, Stacy L. Andersen, & Thomas T. Perls (2008). Disentangling the Roles of Disability and Morbidity in Survival to Exceptional Old Age. Archives of Internal Medicine, 168(3):277-283. (Available online to the Penn State community)

The January 27 Washington Post featured a 3-part series on aging. (Free registration is required to view the WP articles.)

In No Country for Old People? Marc Freedman discusses “encore careers” for baby boomers. Freedman has also written a book, Encore: Work that Matters in the Second Half of Life.

In The New Alone, Elizabeth Marquardt discusses how family configurations (divorce, remarriage, “re-divorce”, single-parent childbearing) affect care in old age. Also see Divorce Foretells Child’s Future Care For Elderly Parent (a news story about Adam Davey’s work) and Marquardt’s book about her work with sociologist Norval Glenn, Between Two Worlds: The Inner Lives of Children of Divorce.

In A Hidden Crime, Marie Therese-Connelly sheds light on elder abuse and our lengthening life spans.

HRS has released the following products:

Income and Wealth Imputations for HRS 2006 Core - Early Release

2001 Consumption and Activities Mail Survey (CAMS) - Final v2.0

HRS 2006 Post-Exit - Final v1.0

Biomarker 2006 Data - Early Release

PRI researchers may request the above data from the Data Archivist.

Population Aging, Labor Demand, and the Structure of Wages by Margarita Sapozhnikov and Robert K. Triest (WP#2007-14, Center for Retirement Research at Boston College).

Inter-vivos Giving Over the Lifecycle by Michael Hurd, James P. Smith, & Julie Zissimopoulos (WR-524, RAND).

New from Springer: Quality of Life in Old Age: International and Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives, edited by Heidrun Mollenkopf and Alan Walker. Available in Penn State’s Social Sciences Library.

Newsweek’s Robert Samuelson writes about why presidential candidates and think tanks alike have been quiet about possible solutions to problems facing an aging population, and makes a call for action.

The Commonwealth Fund/National Opinion Research Center Survey of Retiree Health Benefits, 2005: A Chartbook is available for download from the Commonwealth Fund.