Sociology
The Demography of Disability: Life Expectancy, Disability-Free Years, and Population Aging
Quick fact
Even if life expectancy rises, the proportion of those extra years spent with disability can either shrink or grow, leading to very different futures: elderly populations that are either healthier or more dependent—depending on whether morbidity's compression or expansion dominates.
Why this is interesting
We often hear that people are living longer, but are they living longer well? As populations age, the crucial question shifts from 'how long' to 'how much of that time is spent disability-free?'