Ina Jaffe
Ina Jaffe is a veteran NPR correspondent covering the aging of America. Her stories on Morning Edition and All Things Considered have focused on older adults' involvement in politics and elections, dating and divorce, work and retirement, fashion and sports, as well as issues affecting long term care and end of life choices. In 2015, she was named one of the nation's top "Influencers in Aging" by PBS publication Next Avenue, which wrote "Jaffe has reinvented reporting on aging."
Jaffe also reports on politics, contributing to NPR's coverage of national elections since 2008. From her base at NPR's production center in Culver City, California, Jaffe has covered most of the region's major news events, from the beating of Rodney King to the election of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. She's also developed award-winning enterprise pieces. Her 2012 investigation into how the West Los Angeles VA made millions from illegally renting vacant property while ignoring plans to house homeless veterans won an award from the Society of Professional Journalists as well as a Gracie Award from the Alliance for Women in Media. A few months after the story aired, the West Los Angeles VA broke ground on supportive housing for homeless vets.
Her year-long coverage on the rising violence in California's public psychiatric hospitals won the 2011 Investigative Reporters and Editors Award as well as a Gracie Award. Her 2010 series on California's tough three strikes law was honored by the American Bar Association with the Silver Gavel Award, as well as by the Society of Professional Journalists.
Before moving to Los Angeles, Jaffe was the first editor of Weekend Edition Saturday with Scott Simon, which made its debut in 1985.
Born in Chicago, Jaffe attended the University of Wisconsin and DePaul University, receiving bachelor's and master's degrees in philosophy, respectively.
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At least a million more home aides will be needed in the next decade, U.S. statistics suggest. And about a quarter of today's 3 million aides who help older adults avoid nursing homes are immigrants. -
Two-thirds of nursing home residents are paid for by Medicaid. "It's gotta be [Medicaid] or [I'm] out on the street," said one resident. -
Leon Watts of Los Angeles has seen his clients' needs change as they've aged. He decided he could do even more for them if he got a master's degree in gerontology. -
According to the federal government, the top complaint about nursing homes is wrongful eviction. Advocates say nursing homes want residents who pay more but require less care. -
The Trump administration's budget proposes cuts to a number of government programs that are important to older Americans.
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The sites screen out older job seekers by limiting the dates you can fill in forms, an investigation by the Illinois attorney general found. But other sites say they make a point of fairness. -
A study of the 25 films nominated for Best Picture Oscars over the past three years found less than 12 percent of the characters were people over the age of 60. -
Congress is poised to rescind an Obama administration rule making it easier for states to set up retirement plans for workers who aren't offered a plan by their employer. California and four other states have plans about to go into effect. Other states and cities have been considering them.
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California political leaders have positioned the state as the center of opposition to the Trump agenda. Protesters at the Los Angeles Women's March talked about what that means to them.
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The prevalence of Alzheimer's and other dementias declined by almost 3 percent from 2000 to 2012, a study finds. That could be a result of people getting more education, and better health overall.
