Today you have a number of things to accomplish. You will be turning this in at the end of the hour –please type your answers into the answer document and make sure your name is at the top.

  • The US government takes a census every 10 years. One main reason they do this is to determine apportionment. Watch this video clip and answer the questions 1 - 6.
  • The 2010 census showed that Michigan is losing people – therefore we lost one representative in the House of Representatives. The current district map for Michigan is below. Look at it and answer questions 7 8.

  • The census can tell the story of American growth and movement by looking at how the “Center of Population” has moved. Click below and play the following clip: and then answer question 9.
  • Read this Special Edition article and answer questions 10 and 11.

Special Edition*
2010 Center of Population

The U.S. mean center of population, as of April 1, 2010, is near Plato, Mo., an incorporated village in Texas County. The U.S. Census Bureau calculated this point as the place where an imaginary, flat, weightless and rigid map of the United States would balance perfectly if all 308,745,538 residents counted in the 2010 Census were of identical weight.

Ever since Chestertown, Md., was determined to be the center of population after the first census was conducted in 1790, the center of population has told the story of America, illustrating how we've grown as a nation. It follows a trail across the country — across Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Missouri — that reflects our history of settling the frontier, waves of immigration and regional migration.

The Census Bureau will install a commemorative “geodetic control mark” at a site near the official coordinates during a dedication ceremony in May 2011. This survey disc will be used by satellites and land surveyors to conduct scientific surveys to generate precise position data that serve as the foundation for accurate mapping and charting in America.

  • Watch the following clips and answer questions 12 and 13 on your answer sheets
  • Watching for population trends is important to many groups. Politicians look for changes in voting patterns (cities tend to vote more democratic, rural areas more republican etc.)Baby boomers are going to have a big impact as they move from being a major force in the workplace to being largely retired. The baby boom generation was born in the years 1946 – 1964. Read the article on the next page about retirement age and its possible impact on the economy. Then answer question 14.

What Is the Average Retirement Age in America?

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John Hewitt

John Hewitt began freelancing in 2008, writing about subjects ranging from music to stock trading, the energy industry and business. His ghostwritten work has appeared all over the Web. He attended New York University, pursuing a bachelor's degree in history.

By John Hewitt, eHow Contributor

updated: February 09, 2011

Average retirement age

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According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average retirement age in America is 62, and the average length of retirement is 18 years. The first number has continued to decrease for nearly 100 years, while the second number has gradually increased. Retirement as we understand it today is a creation of the modern world. As always, retirement is an individual decision that should not be affected by others.

Significance

  • The average retirement age is affected by a number of factors that are not readily apparent. The number includes parents who decide to leave the workforce after having children. It's also significantly affected by legal requirements for many government employees to retire at a certain age. In addition, this age is partly affected by the age at which Social Security payments start coming in, which, for most workers is 62. In the coming years, however, the age that those payments start coming in will gradually increase for people born after 1938 up to 67 for people born after 1959.

Function

  • If the age of retirement does indeed increase, it would be a reversal of a trend that has held steady for approximately a century. There are a few potential reasons for this. One of them is the marked increase in the proportion of elderly people relative to the rest of the population. As these people age and retire, younger workers will need to work for longer and retire later to provide the support that retired people take in from government programs in the form of taxation.

Features

  • Raising the retirement age is an established cost-cutting fiscal policy internationally and in the United States. As the budget for Social Security and other government programs that disproportionately benefit the elderly increases, increasing the retirement age is one of the most politically palatable methods for reducing the amount of money that the government pays out in benefits without actually cutting programs. This will likely have the effect of making more people work for longer than they would otherwise, since it reduces the incentives for retiring.

Effects

  • The effects of an increase in the average retirement age are a bit unpredictable, because it has not happened in the United States as long as these statistics have been collected. It's likely that it will reduce wages and increase unemployment, because a higher available supply of labor has a consequent depressing effect on the price. One natural pressure that may increase retirement age is a higher prevalence of health among the elderly. Superior pharmaceuticals and better education about health are available now, making it possible for people to live longer, healthier and more energetic lives.

Considerations

  • Ultimately, it's difficult to predict what direction the average age of retirement will move. Despite the strong pressures created by governmental retirement incentives and disincentives, there are many other factors affecting this massively consequential decision. For individuals, choosing when to retire is one of the most important decisions that they make. There has also been a considerable growth in quasi-retirement, in which people significantly reduce the amount of time that they work or choose to become independent contractors or consultants as they ease their way into retirement.