Some error occured while loading the Quick View. Please close the Quick View and try reloading the page.
In The Age of Dignity, thought leader and activist Ai-jen Poo offers a wake-up call about the demographic reality that will affect us all. “We have more senior citizens in America today than we’ve had at any time in our history,” Poo writes, pointing out that more than 14 percent of our population is now over sixty-five; by 2030 that ratio will be one in five. In fact, our fastest-growing demographic is the eighty -five-plus age group—over 5 million people now, a number that is expected to more than double in the next twenty years. This change presents us with a new challenge: how we care for and support quality of life for the unprecedented numbers of older Americans who will need it.
Despite these daunting numbers, Poo has written a profoundly hopeful book, giving us a glimpse into the stories and often hidden experiences of the people—family caregivers, older people, and home care workers—whose lives will be directly shaped and reshaped in this moment of demographic change. The Age of Dignity outlines a road map for how we can become a more caring nation, providing solutions for fixing our fraying safety net while also increasing opportunities for women, immigrants, and the unemployed in our workforce. As Poo has said, “Care is the strategy and the solution toward a better future for all of us.”
—Ms. Magazine
"This book is a starter for conversations that are long overdue. If you are someone’s child, a spouse, or concerned about yourself someday, The Age of Dignity will give you food for thought."
—The Philadelphia Tribune
“Thoughtful, moving, and relatable.”
—Library Journal
"Ai-jen Poo’s first book shines a new light on the need for a holistic approach to caregiving in America. A timely and hopeful book, The Age of Dignity holds solutions that lift all boats—strengthening our families, the workforce that supports us, and the nation as a whole."
—Maria Shriver
"Ai-jen Poo knows how to create social change from the bottom up…showing the humanity of a long devalued kind of work. This goes beyond organizing to transforming."
—Gloria Steinem in Time
Publishers Weekly calls the book "a strong argument for a cultural and governmental shift toward valuing older citizens and providing them with opportunities for rich, full lives."
" An urgent and irresistible book."
—Gloria Steinem
" Don’t miss this book."
—Van Jones, New York Times bestselling author of Rebuild the Dream
"A powerful call for a Care Revolution in America."
—Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues
"Ai-jen Poo is among our most compelling social movement leaders."
—Ambassador Swanee Hunt, chair of Hunt Alternatives and Eleanor Roosevelt Lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government
"A bold and inspiring vision for the future."
—Jim Firman, president and CEO, National Council on Aging