The LGBT Aging Issues Network (LAIN) works to raise awareness about the concerns of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) elders and about the unique barriers they encounter in gaining access to housing, healthcare, long-term care and other needed services.
LAIN seeks to foster professional development, multidisciplinary research and wide-ranging dialogue on LGBT issues in the field of aging through publications, conferences, and cosponsored events. LAIN welcomes the participation of all concerned individuals regardless of age, sexual orientation or gender identity.
News:
Still Out, Still Aging:
The MetLife Study of Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, and Transgender Baby Boomers
Building on a groundbreaking 2006 study on the same subject area on the LGBT population
alone, the MetLife Mature Market Institute and the American Society on Aging expanded its
scope through a nationally representative survey of just over 1,200 LGBT 45- to 64-year-olds
and a comparison group of 1,200 Baby Boomers drawn from the general population. Although
there is no way to predict the future, asking LGBT Baby Boomers about their plans, fears, and
hopes about aging is a good way to begin assessing what aging might look like for this cohort.
Key Findings:
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60% of LGBT Boomers fear being unable to care for themselves as they age; 35% fear becoming dependent on others
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Nearly two-thirds of LGBT Boomers say they have a "chosen family," a group of people they consider family, even though they are not legally or biologically related
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Nearly half of the LGBT Boomers and four in ten Boomers from the general population say they don't expect to retire until age 70 or older
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Men in both the LGBT and general population are nearly as likely as women to be giving care to another adult
Click here to download the Still Out, Still Aging study
Click here to download the original Out and Aging study