The population of the United States is growing older and will continue to do so. According to a report, 39 million Americans will be 65 or older by the year 2010, 51 million by 2020, and 65 million by 2030.
The “graying” of the United States is mainly due to the fact that people in the U.S. are living longer. As a matter of fact, the number of U.S. citizens 85 years old and older is growing six times as fast as the rest of the population. It is also largely due to the old-growing of the “baby boomers,” the generation born after World War Ⅱ. In 1957, over 4.3 million babies were born. More than 75 million Americans were born between 1946 and 1964, the largest generation in U. S. history. In less than twenty years, millions of them will become elderly people.
The “graying” of the U.S. will greatly affect the nation’s family and workforce. One likely development will be a gradual change in the family unit; it will move away from the nuclear family and towards a multigenerational family. The other likely development will be a change in the proportion(比例) of the nation’s workforce. In 1989 there were 3.5 workers for every person 65 and older; by the year 2030, there will only be 2 workers for every person 65 and older.

美国人口正处于老龄化阶段并且这种趋势将会持续下去。据一份调查报告，到2010年超过65岁的美国人将达到三千九百万，2020年老龄人群会是五千一百万,2030年这个数字将会是六千五百万。
美国的“灰色”特征主要是由于人们寿命更长。事实上，85岁以上的老龄人的增长速度是剩余年龄段美国公民的六倍。另外一个最主要的因素也是因为婴儿潮（也就是二战以后出生的那一批）现在都已经进入老龄期。光1957这一年大概就有四千三百多万人出生。七千五百多万美国人出生于1946到1964之间,处于美国历史上人口增长的最高峰。 在将来不到二十多年的时间里，他们都会进入老龄化阶段。
美国“灰色”特征将给整个国家的家庭和劳动力结构带来巨大变化。其中一个很可能的发展趋势就是引起家庭单元结构的逐渐转变——由核心家庭变为几代人同处的这样一个结构。另外， 整个国家劳动力比例将会改变。1989年劳动力与65岁以上的老龄人群比例是3.5:1 ,而到2030年这个比例将会变成2：1 。