This sixth edition collaborates on a major revision of the book, which reflects significant advances in theories, research, and trends in the field of aging. The “social constructionist” perspective that distinguished the 18-year Morgan-Kunkel collaboration continues to undergird this text. The book helps students see those connections, and to understand aging in a bigger picture. It also gets students thinking about their own aging and how their opportunities and experiences today may matter in the decades ahead. The 6th edition of this book is distinctive because: It contains straightforward, engaging prose that integrates what bodies of evidence say about a topic, without disrupting text with heavy referencing. It takes a social construction perspective, which highlights how aging is not just an individual experience stemming from personal choices, but is often a shared experience and always results from interactions with a complex set of social forces that lie outside of people. Building on the social construction framework, it unpacks how the aging of people and whole generations occurs within layers of social context from the family, to political and economic systems, population dynamics, and historical events. The book probes variability and inequality in aging experiences across social categories such as age, gender, race, social class, and immigration status. It illustrates how processes related to ageism and other forms of systematic difference and discrimination, such as racism and sexism, create or reinforce disadvantages as people grow up and older. The book provides an in-depth look into aging in United States, but draws examples from other countries to help students place this knowledge in a global context. It applies theories in meaningful ways to specific aspects of aging, such as family relationships, health, and retirement.