TABLE 5-2.-LIVING ARRANGEMENTS OF OLDER PEOPLE, BY AGE, SEX, RACE, AND HISPANIC

Note.-Percentage distributions may not add to 100.0 due to rounding.

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. Unpublished data from the March 1988 Current Population Survey.

About 8.7 million older people-representing 30 percent of all noninstitutionalized people 65-plus years old—were living alone in 1988. The vast majority of older persons living alone were women (6.8 million or 80 percent of those living alone). Among all noninstitutionalized older men, only about 16 percent were living by themselves, while 41 percent of all noninstitutionalized women were living alone.

There are significant differences by race and origin in the living arrangements of older people. One of the most striking differences is the tendency for widowed minority women to live with other family members, while most widowed white females maintain separate households (chart 5-2).

Chart 5-2

LIVING ARRANGEMENTS OF ELDERLY WIDOWS BY

RACE AND HISPANIC ORIGIN: 1988

Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. Unpublished data from the
March 1988 Current Population Survey

EDUCATION

THE EDUCATION GAP BETWEEN OLDER AND YOUNGER PERSONS IS CLOSING

Although educational attainment of the elderly population is well below that of the younger population, the gap in median school years completed has narrowed somewhat over the last 30 years and is expected to decrease further by the end of this decade. Between 1970 and 1987, the median level of education among the elderly has increased from 8.7 years to 12 years. By the year 2000, the median number of school years completed for persons 65 and over is expected to be 12.4 years as compared to 12.8 for all persons 25 years old and over.3

3 U.S. Bureau of the Census. "Demographic and Socioeconomic Aspects of Aging in the United States." Current Population Reports, Series P-23, No. 138 (August 1984).

Source: Current Population Reports, Series P-20, No. 428

In 1987, elderly persons were much less likely to have graduated from high school than the entire population 25 years old and over. Sixty-seven percent of the population age 60 to 64 were high school graduates as compared with 76 percent of the population 25 to 34. Likewise, 20 percent of persons 25 and older had completed 4 or more years of college compared with 15 percent of those 60 to 64 and 9 percent of those 75-plus.

As illustrated in table 5-3, educational attainment by sex within the older population varies slightly with higher percentages of women completing high school than men. The trend is reversed for college education with slightly higher percentages of older men completing 4 or more years of college than older women. However, there are large differences between older whites on the one hand, and older blacks and Hispanics on the other. For example, the median years of school completed for white persons age 60 to 64 is 12.5 years, while for blacks it is 10.7 years and for Hispanics it is 8.6 years. In turn, 70 percent of whites age 60 to 64 are high school graduates, while only 40 percent of blacks and 32 percent of Hispanics are high school graduates.

Educational attainment varies slightly by region and State. For example, in 1986 and 1987 the median number of school years completed for elderly Westerners was 12.3, compared with 11.4 years for elderly Southerners (table 5-4). In addition, 61 percent of elderly Westerners were high school graduates compared with 47 percent of elderly Southerners. Among the 15 largest States, Michigan elderly ranked first with the highest proportion of high school graduates, 65 percent, and Missouri was last with 40 percent. Educational attainment also varies according to standard metropolitan statistical areas (SMSA's). Among the 15 largest SMSA's the Washington, DC/Maryland/Virginia SMSA ranked first with 69 percent of elderly residents with at least a high school education. Baltimore, MD was 28 percentage points behind with 41 percent.

TABLE 5-4-EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT OF PERSONS AGE 65 AND OLDER, UNITED STATES AND

EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT OF PERSONS AGE 65 AND OVER, 15 LARGEST STATES AND LARGEST STANDARD METROPOLITAN