2010 census: US getting older - US news - Life - msnbc.com: Women still outlive men, but the gender gap among U.S. seniors is narrowing.
New 2010 census figures, released Thursday, show men are narrowing the female population advantage, primarily in the 65-plus age group. It signals a shift in the social dynamics of a country in which longevity, widowhood and health care for seniors often have been seen as issues more important to women.
Figures also show the Hispanic population growing four times faster than the total U.S. population.
In all, the numbers highlight a nation that is rapidly aging even as Congress debates cuts in Medicare, an issue with ramifications for the growing ranks of older men.
'We know in the past because of women's longer life expectancy, women put more emphasis on health care issues because they lived to an older age and often had to rely on the pensions of their husbands,' said Jen'nan G. Read, an associate professor of sociology and global health at Duke University.
