LINK to this map on Google Drive.
When I look at the map showing what percent of the U.S. population
living in certain areas, is over the age of 65, I notice many patterns on the
map. If you look at the map, you can see a big white space in the
Southwestern part of the United States, which represents that very few members
of these populations are over the age of 65. A similar pattern is
noticeable in the relative area that goes from the southern part of Minnesota
down to Louisiana and stretches from Illinois to Virginia with the exceptions
of West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Areas that are more densely populated
with people over the age of 65 are the Mid-Western U.S., North-Western U.S.,
and various spots in Florida, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas.
The pattern in the Southwestern part
of the U.S. could possibly be caused by the dry climate, which dwells in this
part of our country. The second pattern, which is similar to the first,
in the Mid-Eastern part of the U.S., might be the result of available job
opportunities in the more urban part of the United States. The areas that
are more densely populated with people over the age of 65 in the Northern part
of the U.S. may be because farmers or other occupations of that sort occupy
more of this land. If you grow up living on a farm, many people tend to
stay in their hometown and grow older there while working on their farm.
Retired people who move away from their hometown in order to be in warmer
places for the whole year might cause the patchy spots in Florida, Arizona,
Nevada, New Mexico, and Texas.
Each
of the patterns in this map has some sort of effect on various things.
Places in the U.S. that have a greater number of people in their
population who are over the age of 65 might have a population that is less
willing to spend money on taxes to help pay for schools because their kids have
already gone through the school system. They also could be affected in
the exactly opposite way where this older generation wants to pay more for
taxes because they have grandkids in school and they want to help the future
generations. Areas with less percent of the population across the country might
face a simple problem such as not learning from their elders. If a child
grows up with less elders around, that particular child might not learn lessons
about the past, certain manners, or other similar lessons that they might be
taught in a place where more people over the age of 65 reside in.
