Analysis by Philip Bump: The Senate is getting older, meaning more health problems that can lead to prolonged absences — or incapacity. A look at the age distribution of both the Senate and the over-30 population of the U.S. from the past 80 years:
Again, though, this is a challenge that is likely to recur, for both parties. There’s a simple reason for that: America is getting older, and so the Senate is getting older. And getting older means more health problems that can lead to prolonged absences — or incapacity.project and the Census Bureau, I looked at the age distribution of both the Senate and the over-30 population of the United States over the past 80 years.
There has been a steady upward climb in the age distribution of the Senate since the 1982 measure. 1982 happens to be the first year on that chart in which— those born between 1946 and 1964 — were at least 30 years old. The aging of the population since 1982 is a function of the aging baby boom, and the aging Senate is a function of the aging population.
You can see that, in 2022, a plurality of senators were in their 60s at the time they were sworn in. You can also see that the percentage of senators 80 and older is closer to the percentage of the U.S. over-30 population than at any time in the past half-century.Why are there more Americans overall at the edges of those charts? Because younger people are less likely to be elected to the Senate, a chamber that tends to be occupied by people with previous experience in elective office.
I run the risk of being unfair here, so I won’t tread too far down the path. It is the case, though, that older people have slower recovery times from injury or illness. It is also the case that theat advanced ages. That Americans are living longer than they did in the 1940s is good news, but there are limits to human activity that come into play well before people die.
With an older America comes an older legislature. And that means that elected officials might be expected to hit those limits more frequently — a challenge to any individual, but particularly a challenge to those who live their lives in the public eye.
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