W. Andrew Achenbaum is a scholar-in-residence at the Institute for Spirituality and Health of the Texas Medical Center. Before his retirement from the University of Houston in 2017, he was a professor of social work and history and the Gerson and Sabina David Professor of Global Aging there.

• Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction Part I. Changing Perceptions of the Aged's Roles in Nineteenth-Century America Chapter 1. The Usefulness of Old Age Chapter 2. Variations on a Theme Chapter 3. The Obsolescence of Old Age Part II. The Demographic and Socioeconomic Dimensions of Old Age Chapter 4. The Rhetoric and Realities of Growing Old Diverge in Nineteenth-Century America Chapter 5. Old Age Becomes "Modem" in Twentieth-Century America Part III. Contemporary Old Age in Historical Perspective Chapter 6. Old Age Becomes a National Problem Chapter 7. Social Security: A Novel Solution for the Problem of America's AgedChapter 8. Old Age in the United States since Social Security Conclusion Appendix Notes Selected Bibliography Index