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Census Highlights for March 2002
By Rita Baum
The 2001 edition of A Profile of Older Americans, which includes census information on those over age 65, is now available online. It provides key statistics in 13 subject areas.
For more information visit www.aoa.dhhs.gov/aoa/stats/profile/default.htm
Here are a Few Highlights
The world's oldest woman, an American, celebrated her 115th birthday last Monday. Maud Farris-Luse, of Guinness Book of World Records fame, lives in Coldwater, Mich. This breaks the record set by a woman in France who lived to be 112 years old.
* About one in every eight, or 12.4 percent of the population is an older American.
* The older population will continue to grow significantly in the future. This growth slowed somewhat during the 1990s because of the relatively small number of babies born during the Great Depression of the 1930s. But the older population will burgeon between the years 2010 and 2030 when the "baby boom" generation reaches age 65.
* Older women outnumber older men at 20.6 million older women to 14.4 million older men.
* About 30 percent (9.7 million) noninstitutionalized older persons live alone (7.4 million women, 2.4 million men).
* Half of older women age 75 and older live alone.
* By the year 2030, the older population will more than double to about 70 million.
* The 85 and older population is projected to increase from 4.2 million in 2000 to 8.9 million by the year 2030.
* Members of minority groups are projected to represent 25 percent of the older population in 2030, up from 16 percent in 2000.
* The median income of older persons in 2000 was $19,168 for males and $10,899 for females. Real median income (after adjusting for inflation) fell by -2.8% for men and by -3.6% for women since 1999.
The Social Security Administration reported that the major sources of income for older people were:
* Social Security (reported by 90 percent of older persons).
* Income from assets (reported by 62 percent).
* Public and private pensions (reported by 43 percent), and
* Earnings (reported by 22 percent).
About 3.4 million older persons lived below the poverty level in 2000. The poverty rate for persons 65 and older continued at a historically low rate of 10.2 percent. Another 2.2 million older adults were classified as "near poor" (income between poverty level and 125 percent of this level).
* The percentage who had completed high school varied considerably by race and ethnic origin among older persons in 2000: 74 percent of Whites, 63 percent of Asians and Pacific Islanders, 46 percent of African-Americans, and 37 percent of Hispanics.
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
