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Source:
Laszlo Kulcsar, 785-532-4959, kulcsar@k-state.edu
Pronouncer: Kulcsar is pronounced like "culture."
News release prepared by: Michelle Hall, 785-532-6415, mhall@k-state.edu
Monday,
October 23, 2006
AGING
POPULATION A CONCERN FOR STATE'S FUTURE, K-STATE RESEARCHER SAYS
MANHATTAN
-- Kansas and its communities face many challenges as the population
ages, said a Kansas State University population sociologist.
Laszlo
J. Kulcsar, assistant professor of sociology, anthropology and social
work and director of the Kansas Population Center, based at K-State,
said the state's population grows less than the general U.S. population.
In addition, aging and out-migration affect Kansas more than the
United States as a whole.
This
means most people who live in Kansas are getting older and will
retire in place, while the younger generation moves away. The population
is growing mostly in cities and in areas where immigrant workers
are being attracted. Rural areas are slowly depopulating, he said.
"While
the population of the state grows, the age composition is much more
balanced in cities," Kulcsar said.
Some
Kansas towns could be completely gone in the coming decades. Kansas'
projected population growth by 2030 is 250,000; 235,000 of those
residents will be 65 years and older, according to Kulcsar.
As
towns get smaller and begin to consolidate schools, hospitals and
businesses, many people may begin to wonder, "Why should I
stay here?" Kulcsar said. Tax dollars in these communities
will begin to dwindle and services lessen, he said.
And
although the immigrant population in some areas of the state has
a younger age composition than does the rest of the state, Kulcsar
said, communities with large immigrant populations still face challenges,
with offering English as a Second Language classes, for example.
"Kansas
was very unprepared for the huge influx of immigrants in the 1990s,"
he said.
Sixty-seven
of the state's 105 counties had population peaks before the 1930s;
six have lost population in every decade since 1900. Only nine Kansas
counties grew at or above the United States rate from 1990-2000;
most are declining in population.
"It's
very difficult to come out of the situation," Kulcsar said
of the population trends in Kansas. One solution is for in-migration
to occur, he said, with communities determining what type of in-migration
they want to promote. Would it be farmers, retirees, meatpackers?
Kulcsar said areas like Kansas may have an opportunity to attract
retirees when currently popular retirement destinations get over-crowded
or too expensive.
A
strategy in North Dakota, for example, has used is encouraging out-migrants
to come back to the state to retire, he said.
Although
the aging population problem is a concern, it's not really just
a Kansas phenomenon, Kulcsar said.
"All
of the states in the Great Plains are going through the same processes
-- any traditional agricultural areas," he said.
Another
option is to retain portions of the population, which Kulcsar said
might be easier. However, communities would have to offer amenities,
community services and jobs.
Not
only is the population of Kansas centered in the cities, so is the
legislative power, according to Kulcsar. This means that the attention
of the Kansas Legislature typically focuses on urban problems and
the issue of addressing Kansas' population problems may go undone.
In addition, politicians don't always look far ahead, he said.
Although
the state could work to promote Kansas and retain or attract population
at the state level, Kulcsar thinks it's mainly up to the localities
themselves to address this issue.
"All
these places have hidden treasures," he said. "We've yet
to find a good strategy for attracting population to Kansas. We
have to get creative."
Kulcsar
said he and students are beginning case studies on certain Kansas
towns facing serious aging challenges. Kulcsar will present at the
2006 State of the State meeting on population trends in Kansas.
He also recently submitted an article on aging in place in rural
Kansas to the Online Journal of Rural Research and Policy.
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