Local Town “A Miniature Americana” Group Says
By Rebekah Schreffler- Beaver County Times
Daugherty Township is a miniature America, a microcosm, an “almost-perfect national cross section,” according to a group of sociologists at the U.S. Census Bureau, the National Institute on Aging and the University of Michigan.
Because of Daugherty Township’s 3,433 people come in ages, races and income in proportion to America’s average, census officials singled out the township and (80) other areas throughout the country for a 12-year, multimillion-dollar study, one of the largest health and retirement studies ever conducted.
About 250 surveyors from the University of Michigan Social Research Center started asking questions April 1 in communities scattered nationwide. They plan to ask about 13,500 older Americans for the details of their lives, so retirement and health care services can accommodate them as they age.
Growing Older in America: The Health and Retirement Study, University of Michigan Institute for Social Research
The University of Michigan Health and Retirement Study (HRS) surveys more than 22,000 Americans over the age of 50 every two years. Supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA U01AG009740) and the Social Security Administration, the study paints an emerging portrait of an aging America’s physical and mental health, insurance coverage, financial status, family support systems, labor market status, and retirement planning.
Since its launch in 1992, the HRS has painted a detailed portrait of America’s older adults, helping us learn about this growing population’s physical and mental health, insurance coverage, financial situations, family support systems, work status, and retirement situation. Through its unique and in-depth interviews with a nationally representative sample of adults over the age of 50, the HRS provides an invaluable, growing body of multidisciplinary data to help address the challenges and opportunities of aging.
The full scope of the study is described in the publication Growing Older in America: The Health and Retirement Study.
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