Demographic changes in the United States include two major areas of concern. One major change is the graying of America. The median age is now 36 years and is expected to increase over the next 45 years. The fastest growing age segment of the U. S. population is those persons who are 85 years old and above with a surprising increase in those over 100.

      More people are living into elderly years than at any time in our history. The median age of Americans in the mid 1950’s was 16 years of age. By the 2000 Census, it has risen to age 36, and the World War II baby boomers will bring a great increase to the median age as they grow older. Demographers project the need for older workers to reenter the workforce as early as 2020 due to the relative lack of baby births.

      The other major change is in the birth rate and immigration of diverse populations. Demographers project that in less than 50 years, the Euro-American population will have dropped to just over 50 percent of Americans.  One strong indicator is the difference in the number of births to Euro-Americans and non Euro-Americans. White families are not even at the replacement rate of 2.1 children, but at less than 1.8 children per couple. Combined with immigration, these factors will push the percentage of non Euro-Americans to all time highs.

      The impact of these changes will be felt in the workplace and in educational halls for most of the 21^st century. Today’s American college students face a future that has no precedent. Students preparing to work in this environment need the tools to deal with these two major demographic shifts. The workers of tomorrow will have to adapt and appropriately deal with these major changes, and demographers project the need for older workers to reenter the workforce as early as 2020 due to the relative lack of baby births.

      Keigher (1999) studied the 1900s to the 2000s with relationship to aging, health, and progress. She considers the demographic changes of the 20^th century and that “one can not ignore the ominous disparities between young and old, rich and poor, and most recently, the rich old and the poor young.” Although those over the age of 65 have incomes that are as varied as the rest of the population, 79% of the wealth of the nation is held in the hands of a few who are over 55 years of age. This disparity is growing and becoming more obvious. Intergenerational inequality is an issue that will exert itself in the workplace of the 21^st century.