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Census 2000 Special Reports
Aging in the U.S. Report Issued by Census Bureau
Dec. 23, 2004 The
U.S. Census Bureau has released their latest analysis of the senior
citizen population of the U.S. in a Census 2000 Special Report entitled
We the People: Aging in the United States. There is not a lot of new
information but the analysis and charts provide a good understanding of
the status of senior citizens in 2000.
This report provides a
portrait of the social and economic characteristics of the population
aged 65 and over at the national level. It is part of the Census 2000
Special Reports series that presents several demographic, social, and
economic characteristics collected from Census 2000.
The data contained in
this report are based on the sample of households who responded to the
Census 2000 long form questionnaire. Estimated population and housing
unit totals based on tabulations from only the sample counts may differ
from the official 100-percent counts.
The Bureau has also
used this information to update the Web page they maintain on Older
Americans Month, which is each May.
Click Here to this page.
A companion brief
titled The 65 Years and Over Population: 2000, based on the short-form
data from Census 2000, provides more information on this topic.2 It
presents data on the population 65 years and over for the United States,
regions, states, counties, and places of 100,000 or more and highlights
comparisons with data from the 1990 census.
In 2000, the
65-and-older population comprised 35.0 million people. Within this
group, 18.5 million people or 53 percent were aged 65 to 74, 12.3
million or 35 percent were aged 75 to 84, and 4.2 million or 12 percent
were aged 85 and over.
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Chart Illustrates Importance of Social
Security |
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Household Income by
Selected Source: 1999
(Percent of
households classified by age of householder. Data based on
sample.
For information
on confidentiality protection, sampling error, nonsampling
error, and definitions, see www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/doc/sf4.pdf)
1 Earnings are
defined as the sum of wage or salary income and net income from
self-employment. Earnings represent the amount of income
received regularly before deductions for personal income taxes,
social security, bond purchases, union dues, medicare
deductions, etc.
2 Social
security income includes social security pensions and survivor
benefits, permanent disability insurance payments made by the
Social Security Administration prior to deductions for medical
insurance, and railroad retirement insurance checks from the
U.S. government. Medicare reimbursements are not included.
3 Retirement
income includes:
(1)
retirement pensions and survivor benefits from a former
employer; labor union; federal, state, or local government; and
the U.S. military;
(2) income
from workers' compensation; disability income from companies or
unions; federal, state, or local government; and the U.S.
military; (3) periodic receipts from annuities and insurance;
and (4) regular income from IRA and KEOGH plans. This category
does not include social security income.
Source: U.S.
Census Bureau, Census 2000 special tabulation. |
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Women outnumbered men
in this group: 20.6 million women compared with 14.4 million men. The
age groups 65 to 74 years and 85 and older each had nearly 2 million
more women than men, and the 75-to-84 age group had nearly 3 million
more.
People aged 65 and
over are referred to as the older population in this report. Although
the number of people in this age group increased from 31.2 million
people in 1990 to 35.0 million in 2000, their proportion of the total
population dropped from 12.5 percent in 1990 to 12.4 percent in 2000.*
The chart on this page
is a sample of many found in the report.
Ninety percent of households with a householder 65
and over received social security income.
One out of three
households with a householder 65 and over had earnings as a source of
income, compared with four out of five of all households.
Eighty-eight percent
of householders 65 to 74 received social security. The proportions rose
to 92 percent and 91 percent, respectively, for householders 75 to 84
and 85 and over.
Less than 50 percent
of households with a householder 65 and over received other retirement
income.
To see the full report in pdf
Click Here
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