PREFACE This year marks the 50th anniversary of Social Security. Those 50 years have borne significant improvements in the quality of life for older Americans. In 1935, retirement was associated with abject poverty, poor health, and substandard living conditions. Today, most older Americans can expect to enjoy 15 to 20 years of relatively healthy retirement. Life expectancy at birth has increased by nearly 12 years for males and 16 years for females since 1930. The economic situation for older Americans has also improved. The poverty rate among the elderly, which was as high as 33 percent 25 years ago, has been cut to 14 percent. While advances have been made in health care, retirement income, and social services for older Americans, many challenges remain: More Americans are living longer than ever before, but, for many, health problems are merely delayed, not eliminated. As a result, the elderly frequently bear a considerable financial burden for health care. Direct out-of-pocket health costs for the elderly averaged 15 percent of their income in 1984-the same as before Medicare was enacted. While the overall economic picture has brightened considerably for the elderly, large numbers of older persons exist on marginal incomes. In 1983, 14.1 percent of persons aged 65 and older had incomes below the poverty level and 22.4 percent had incomes below 125 percent of the poverty level. The situation is even worse for selected subgroups of the older population. For example, one-half of all black elderly individuals living alone have incomes below 125 percent of the poverty level. While the challenges are clear, solutions are often obscured by the lack of accurate and accessible data. The report that follows provides vital background information on the status of aging in America. Data are presented to provide a broad overview of the health, income, employment, housing, and social conditions of today's older population. Where possible, unique subgroups among the elderly population are described. This report was prepared by the staff of the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging to be used in conjunction with the Committee's annual report Developments in Aging. (III) |