AN NBER PUBLICATION
ISSUE: No. 3, September 2004
The Bulletin on Aging & Health
Elderly poverty in the U.S. decreased dramatically during the twentieth century. Between 1960 and 1995, the official poverty rate of those aged 65 and above fell from 35 percent to 10 percent, and research has documented similarly steep declines dating back to at least 1939. While poverty was once far more prevalent among the elderly than among other age groups, today's elderly have a poverty rate similar to that of working-age adults and much lower than that...
Article
The quality of the U.S. health care system has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years. A 1999 Institute of Medicine report estimated that preventable medical errors result in the deaths of at least 44,000 people each year, more than the number of deaths from motor vehicle accidents, breast cancer, or AIDS. In addition to the loss of life, these errors are estimated to result in at least $8.8 Billion in unnecessary health care costs and billions more in lost...
Article
In recent years, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) has been a subject of increasing public attention and concern. Affecting an estimated 4 to 5 percent of children, ADHD is the most common chronic mental health problem among young children in the U.S.
ADHD is characterized by an inability to pay attention, hyperactivity, or both. A formal diagnosis of ADHD is based on exhibiting these behaviors to a degree that is inconsistent with the child's development...