TY - JOUR
T1 - Migration is the Driving Force of Rapid Aging in Puerto Rico
T2 - A Research Brief
AU - Matos-Moreno, Amílcar
AU - Santos-Lozada, Alexis R.
AU - Mehta, Neil
AU - Mendes de Leon, Carlos F.
AU - Lê-Scherban, Félice
AU - De Lima Friche, Amélia A.
N1 - Funding Information:
Amílcar Matos-Moreno is a Postdoctoral Researchers funded by a Diversity Supplement awarded through the National Institute of Aging (R01AG060949) and the Population Research Institute (PRI) at the Pennsylvania State University. As a doctoral student Matos-Moreno was funded by a Rackham Merit Fellowship Award of the University of Michigan, a training grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA T32-AG027708), and a training grant from the Global Alliance for Training in Health Equity Research (GATHER). GATHER is supported by a training grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (T37MD01425) at Drexel University. Alexis R. Santos-Lozada is funded by the Social Science Research Institute and PRI at the Pennsylvania State University. PRI is supported by a grant from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (P2CHD041025). Neil Mehta is funded by the Texas Resources Center on Minority Aging Research (RCMAR, P30AG059301-01). Amelia A. L. Friche is funded by Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (313377/2017-0).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - The combined effects of declining fertility and increased longevity have accelerated population aging in different parts of the world. Unlike other countries, Puerto Rico is also experiencing unprecedented levels of working-age out-migration. The full impact of high out-migration on Puerto Rican demography is not fully understood. Placing Puerto Rico’s aging process in an international context is useful in identifying the role out-migration is having on the accelerated aging of the Puerto Rican society. Using the World Population Prospects 2019 estimates, we compared the pattern of rapid aging found for Puerto Rico with the trajectories of six other countries with the highest population of 65+ in the World, Europe, and the Caribbean from 1960 to 2020. Prior to 2010, the aging process in Puerto Rico was comparable to the other countries. After 2010, the percent of the population over 65 years in Puerto Rico nearly doubled from 13.1% to 21%. The nearly doubling of the percent of older adults is not observed in any of the comparison countries. We find that the rapid aging of Puerto Rico, changing from a linear trend to an exponential one, is a result of accelerating levels of out-migration, which is concentrated in the working-age population.
AB - The combined effects of declining fertility and increased longevity have accelerated population aging in different parts of the world. Unlike other countries, Puerto Rico is also experiencing unprecedented levels of working-age out-migration. The full impact of high out-migration on Puerto Rican demography is not fully understood. Placing Puerto Rico’s aging process in an international context is useful in identifying the role out-migration is having on the accelerated aging of the Puerto Rican society. Using the World Population Prospects 2019 estimates, we compared the pattern of rapid aging found for Puerto Rico with the trajectories of six other countries with the highest population of 65+ in the World, Europe, and the Caribbean from 1960 to 2020. Prior to 2010, the aging process in Puerto Rico was comparable to the other countries. After 2010, the percent of the population over 65 years in Puerto Rico nearly doubled from 13.1% to 21%. The nearly doubling of the percent of older adults is not observed in any of the comparison countries. We find that the rapid aging of Puerto Rico, changing from a linear trend to an exponential one, is a result of accelerating levels of out-migration, which is concentrated in the working-age population.
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U2 - 10.1007/s11113-021-09683-2
DO - 10.1007/s11113-021-09683-2
M3 - Article
C2 - 35833110
AN - SCOPUS:85118302477
VL - 41
SP - 801
EP - 810
JO - Population Research and Policy Review
JF - Population Research and Policy Review
SN - 0167-5923
IS - 3
ER -