Test Your Knowledge of Global Aging

Source: An Aging World: 2001. U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau. November 2001
To download the 190-page report in PDF (Adobe Acrobat) format, click here. (It's a large file'”nearly 4MB.)

For the answers, click here.

1. True or false? In the year 2000, children under the age of 15 still outnumbered elderly people (aged 65 and over) in almost all nations of the world.

2. The world's elderly population is increasing by approximately how many people each month?
a.50,000 b.300,000 c.500,000 d.800,000

3. Which of the world's developing regions has the highest aggregate percent elderly?
a.Africa b.Latin America c.The Caribbean d.Asia (excluding Japan)

4. China has the world's largest total population (more than 1.2 billion people). Which country has the world's largest elderly (65+) population?
a.Japan b.Germany c.China d.Nigeria

5. True or false? More than half of the world's elderly today live in the industrialized nations of Europe, North America, and Japan.

6. Of the world's major countries, which had the highest percentage of elderly people in the year 2000?
a.Sweden b.Turkey c.Italy d.France

7.True or false? Current demographic projections suggest that 35 percent of all people in the United States will be at least 65 years of age by the year 2050.

8. True or false? The number of the world's 'oldest old" (people aged 80 and over) is growing more rapidly than that of the elderly as a whole.

9. More than one-third of the world's oldest old live in which three countries?
a.Germany, the United States, and the United Kingdom b.India, China,and the United States c.Japan, China, and Brazil d.Russia, India, and Indonesia

10. Japan has the highest life expectancy at birth among the major countries of the world. How many years can the average Japanese baby born in 2000 expect to live?
a.70 years b.75 years c.81 years d.85 years

11. True or false? Today in some countries life expectancy at birth is less than 40 years.

12. What are the leading killers of elderly women in Europe and North America?
a.Cancers b.Circulatory diseases c.Respiratory diseases d.Accidents

13. True or false? Elderly women outnumber elderly men in all developing countries.

14.There are more older widows than widowers in virtually all countries because:
a.Women live longer than men b.Women typically marry men older than themselves c.Men are more likely than women to remarry after divorce or the death of a spouse d.All of the above

15. In developed countries, recent declines in labor force participation rates of older (55 and over) workers are due almost entirely to changing work patterns of
a.Men b.Women c.Men and women

16. What proportion of the world's countries have a public old-age security program?
a.All b.Three-fourths c.One-half d.One-fourth

17. Approximately what percent of the private sector labor force in the United States is covered by a private pension plan (as opposed to, or in addition to, public Social Security)?
a.10 percent b.25 percent c.33 percent d.60 percent

18. In which country are elderly people least likely to live alone?
a.The Philippines b.Hungary c.Canada d.Denmark

19. True or false? In developing countries, older men are more likely than older women to be illiterate.

20. True or false? In most nations, large cities have younger populations (i.e., a lower percent elderly) than the country as a whole.