Welcome to the United Nations
The COVID-19 pandemic has cast a national spotlight on social inequalities among older adults in the United States, but disparities in how long and how well people live have persisted long before the pandemic. In this talk, Dr. Deborah Carr reveals the vast and far-reaching socioeconomic and racial disparities in health, well-being, and quality of life among older adults in the United States, and the reasons behinds these disparities. She presents information on social inequalities in selected nations in Europe and Asia, and highlights public policies and practices that may help to ensure that all older adults have an opportunity to age with dignity and comfort.
Deborah Carr is Professor and Chair of the Sociology Department at Boston University. Her work focuses on life course influences on older adults’ health and well-being. She has published more than 100 articles and chapters, and several books focused on aging. Her recent book, Golden Years? Social Inequality in Later Life (Russell Sage) received the 2020 Kalish Innovative Publication Award from the Gerontological Society of America (GSA). From 2015-2020, she was editor-in-chief of Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences. She is a principal investigator or co-investigator on several major data collection projects, including the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth and Midlife in the United States (MIDUS).