Spiritual_Wellness_Holistic_Health_and_the_Practic

58 Philosophical Foundations of Health Education
of 100 years or more. Willard Scott and the Today Show will not be able to wish them
all happy birthday every morning. The over - 85 set is a fast growing group. Two -
thirds of it is female.
This unprecedented shift in age distribution has been called the “ age wave ” or the
“ graying of America. ” Whatever term you prefer, America literally is getting older. A
trend tied to the age wave is the fact that we are outgrowing the youth culture.
Around 2010, when the baby boomers reach their 65th birthdays, we really will feel
the shift to maturity. The boomers have been likened by demographers to a pig in a
python. They are a great bulge moving through time and society. When they become
senior citizens, their tastes, interest, concerns, and experiences will dominate America.
A few more interesting statistics: In 1988, 80 percent of white children lived with
both parents, 50 percent of Black children lived with both parents, and 78 percent of
Latino children did. There has been a fairly consistent decline in the number of children
living with both parents that is expected to continue into the future.
The number of female - headed households is increasing. By the year 2000, 48 percent
of Black households will be headed by females. Childbirths to unmarried women
are increasing. This is the case only with Whites and Latinos, not with Black women.
There also are more single people than ever in the United States who are living
alone. One quarter of all U.S. households are single adult households. Among other
things, this statistic means that more and more Americans are delaying marriage.
By the year 2000, the under - age - five population will have declined to 16.9 million
and is expected to stay below 17 million for the next sixty years.
Gay men and lesbians are a more and more vocal segment of our population.
Figures generally used suggest that this group constitutes between 10 and 15 percent
of Americans. Parenthetically, these individuals earn more household income, are
more educated, and are more employed than the average American.
These data suggest that there is a fundamental change in the nature of American
households — most of us need to rethink our concept of family. Families of the future
will be smaller, nontraditional, and will operate with a new set of norms. Ties of friendship
will become as thick as blood as different arrangements of people come together
to help each other with childcare and eldercare. Older people functioning as families
so they can attend to their mutual needs, cohabiting couples, single parents, gay and
lesbian couples with children, all will demand new laws, new policies, new procedures,
and new health education in recognition of these new types of family.
The demographic shifts we are experiencing are contributing to changing forces
of influence in the country, and greater activism. Women are an ever - increasing power
within society. We have made great strides over the years, but political events related
to women ’ s rights and sexual harassment in the recent past have seemed to galvanize
women even more to exert their influence alongside men.
Most of the working women in this country are not the career - driven supermoms
we see in the media. Most women are working less for the fulfillment of a career than
because it now takes two incomes to meet the household budget without a setback in