Linda G. Martin

Senior Fellow

Off Site Office

Education

Ph.D. in economics, M.P.A. in public affairs, Princeton University; A.B. in mathematics, Harvard University

Media Resources

This researcher is available for interviews.

To arrange an interview, contact the RAND Office of Media Relations at (310) 451-6913, or email media@rand.org.

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Overview

Linda Martin is a senior fellow at the RAND Corporation. For 35 years, she has conducted research on population aging in the United States and Asia. Her work has ranged from the labor force consequences of aging to the living arrangements of older people and, most recently, to trends in their health. Martin has served as a scholar-in-residence at the Institute of Medicine, president of the Population Council, vice president of the RAND Corporation, director of the National Research Council's Committee on Population, and research associate at the East–West Center in Honolulu. Martin received her M.P.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Princeton University and her A.B. in mathematics from Harvard University.

Research Focus

Previous Positions

Scholar-in-Residence, Institute of Medicine of the National Academies; President, Population Council; Vice President, Office of Research Development, and Vice President, Domestic Research Division, RAND Corporation

Recent Projects

Disparities in and explanations for late-life health trends in the United States
Aging and health in Asia

Selected Publications

HwaJung Choi, Robert F. Schoeni, Linda G. Martin, and Kenneth M. Langa, "Trends in the prevalence and disparity in cognitive limitations of Americans 51-69 years," Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 73(Supp. 1), 2018

Linda G. Martin, Zachary Zimmer, and Jinkook Lee, "Foundations of activity of daily living trajectories of older Americans," Journals of Gerontology: Social Sciences, 72(1), 2017

HwaJung Choi, Robert F. Schoeni, and Linda G. Martin, "Are functional and activity limitations becoming more prevalent among 55 to 69-year-olds in the United States?" PLoSOne, 11(10), 2016

Linda G. Martin, Qiushi Feng, Yi Zeng, and Robert F. Schoeni, "Trends in functional and activity limitations among Chinese oldest-old, 1998 to 2008," Population and Development Review, 40(3), 2014

Zachary Zimmer, Linda G. Martin, Daniel S. Nagin, and Bobby L. Jones, "Modeling disability trajectories and mortality of the oldest old in China," Demography, 49(1), 2012

Linda G. Martin, Robert F. Schoeni, Patricia M. Andreski, and Carol Jagger, "Trends and inequalities in late-life health and functioning in England," Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 66, 2012

Linda G. Martin, Zachary Zimmer, and Baai-Shyun Hurng, "Trends in late-life disability in Taiwan: The roles of education, environment, and technology," Population Studies, 65(3), 2011

Linda G. Martin, Vicki A. Freedman, Patricia M. Andreski, and Robert F. Schoeni, "Recent trends in disability and related chronic conditions among people ages 50 to 64," Health Affairs, 29(4), 2010

Honors & Awards

Doctor of Public Policy (honorary), Pardee RAND Graduate School
Doctor of Humane Letters (honorary), Marlboro College
Fellow (elected), American Association for the Advancement of Science

Commentary

Redefining 'Old Age': 60 Is the New 40
China's population is aging quickly.To address the issue, there are basically two options: try to slow it down; develop policies and programs to deal with whatever negative consequences there might be, writes Linda G. Martin.
Apr 27, 2009 Shanghai Daily

Publications

Journal Article
Trends in the Prevalence and Disparity in Cognitive Limitations of Americans 55-69 Years Old
Among Americans aged 55-69, rates of cognitive limitation are many times higher for groups with lower socioeconomic status (SES) than those with higher SES, and recent trends show little indication that gaps are narrowing.
May 3, 2018
Journal Article
Foundations of Activity of Daily Living Trajectories of Older Americans
Longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study support the concept that disability reflects a progression from disease to impairment to functional limitation and finally to disability.
Jan 27, 2017
Journal Article
Are Functional and Activity Limitations Becoming More Prevalent Among 55 to 69-Year-Olds in the United States?
Most, but not all, types of functional and activity limitations did not change significantly for Americans 55-69 between 1998 and 2012.
Nov 11, 2016
Journal Article
Trends in Functional and Activity Limitations Among Chinese Oldest-Old, 1998 to 2008
China has the world's largest oldest-old population, but information on trends in late-life disability is lacking.
Sep 1, 2014
Journal Article
Examining Late-Life Functional Limitation Trajectories and Their Associations with Underlying Onset, Recovery, and Mortality
This analysis advances understanding of late-life functioning by focusing on the heterogeneity of functional limitation experience, appropriately accounting for the relation between functional limitation and mortality and linking long-term patterns with short-term changes in functional limitation.
Mar 1, 2014
Journal Article
Trends in Disability and Related Chronic Conditions Among the Forty-And-Over Population: 1997-2010
Trends should continue to be monitored closely for both groups, since younger people have not experienced the improvements of the older group, but are its future members.
2014
Journal Article
Trends in Late-Life Activity Limitations in the United States: An Update from Five National Surveys
This article updates trends from five national U.S. surveys to determine whether the prevalence of activity limitations among the older population continued to decline in the first decade of the twenty-first century.
Apr 1, 2013
Journal Article
Modeling Disability Trajectories and Mortality of the Oldest-Old in China
This article uses a group-based modeling approach to jointly estimate disability and mortality trajectories over time based on data from the population aged 80 and older in China, and explores relations of demographic, socioeconomic, and early-life characteristics to membership in gender-specific trajectory groups.
Feb 1, 2012
Journal Article
Trends and Inequalities in Late-Life Health and Functioning in England
Recently, late-life disability rates have declined in several countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation, but no national-level trend analysis for England has been available.
2012
Journal Article
Trends in Late-Life Disability in Taiwan, 1989-2007: The Roles of Education, Environment, and Technology
This study assessing trends in late-life disability in the emerging economy of Taiwan showed that limitations in seeing, hearing, and instrumental activities of daily living declined.
Nov 1, 2011
Periodical
RAND Review: Vol. 34, No. 2, Summer 2010
Features discuss retirement patterns of baby boomers, marijuana legalization, drug enforcement in Europe, and No Child Left Behind; news items cover the Gulf coast, food allergies, the U.S. health reform law, police benefits, and Pakistani militants.
Aug 14, 2010
Journal Article
Trends in Health of Older Adults in the United States: Past, Present, Future
We review the past literature on trends in disability and other health indicators and then estimate the most recent trends in biomarkers and limitations for both the population aged 65 and older and those aged 40 to 64, the future elderly.
Mar 1, 2010
Journal Article
Trends in Disability and Related Chronic Conditions Among People Ages Fifty to Sixty-Four
The proportion of people ages 50-64 who reported needing help with personal care activities increased significantly from 1997 to 2007. The proportions needing help with routine household chores indicating difficulty with physical functions were stable. These patterns contrast with reported declines in disability among the population age 65 and older. Particularly concerning among those ages 50-64 are significant increases of limitation in specific mobility-related activities, such as getting into and out of bed.
2010
Journal Article
Interventions to Improve Late Life
The author proposes that population scientists working in aging emulate those studying fertility and family planning in previous decades, learning from interventions (in this case, aimed at increasing retirement savings and reducing disability at older ages).
Jun 1, 2009
Report
Assessing Health and Health Care in Prince George's County
Assesses the health care needs of the residents of Prince George's County, Maryland, and the capacity of the county's health care system to meet those needs.
Feb 6, 2009
Journal Article
Health and Functioning Among Baby Boomers Approaching 60
Investigate whether the health and functioning of the Baby Boom generation are better or worse than those of previous cohorts in middle age.
2009
Journal Article
Declines in Late-Life Disability: The Role of Early - and Mid-Life Factors
Investigations into the reasons for declines in late-life disability have largely focused on the role of contemporaneous factors. Adopting a life-course perspective as a backdrop, in this paper we ask whether there also has been a role for selected early- and mid-life factors in the decline.
Apr 1, 2008
Journal Article
Why Is Late-Life Disability Declining?
Substantial reductions in old-age disability between the early 1980s and early 2000s are likely due to advances in medical care as well as changes in socioeconomic factors. More research is needed on the influence of health behaviors and environment.
2008
Journal Article
Chronic Conditions and the Decline in Late-Life Disability
Using data from the 1997-2004 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), the authors examine the role of chronic conditions in recent declines in prevalence of late-life disability.
2007
Journal Article
Advocacy in Epidemiology and Demography
Summary of a panel discussion at the Conference on Epidemiology and Demography held at Georgetown University, in Washington D.C. on February 8-9, 2001
2001
Report
The Role of Education in Explaining and Forecasting Trends in Functional Limitations Among Older Americans
Using the Survey of Income and Program Participation, the authors document the importance of education in accounting for declines in functional limitations among older Americans from 1984 to 1993.
2000
Draft
Re-weighting the Second Supplement on Aging to the 1994 National Health Interview Survey for Trend Analyses
The Second Supplement on Aging (SOA II) to the 1994 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the Supplement on Aging (SOA) to the 1984 NHIS were intended to be two comparable surveys of the elderly population 70 years of age and older.
1999
Research Brief
Trends in Functional Limitations: Are Older Americans Living Longer and Better?
Everyone knows that we are living longer, but the great unknown -- and the subject of some controversy -- has been whether older Americans are living in better health.
1998
Report
Understanding Trends in Functional Limitations Among Older Americans
Trends in functional limitations among older Americans and possible reasons for such trends are documented here for the period of 1984 to 1993.
1998
Report
Research on the Demography of Aging in Developing Countries
The authors review research on the demography of aging in developing countries in several substantive areas, namely, basic demography, mortality and health, family demography, population distribution and migration, and economic activity and well-being.
1994