TABLE 2-5.-MEDIAN INCOME OF PERSONS AGE 65 AND OLDER BY MARITAL STATUS, 1985 MINORITY ELDERLY HAVE LOW MONEY INCOMES Black and Hispanic elderly have substantially lower money incomes than their white counterparts. As shown in table 2-6, in 1985, the median income of black males aged 65-69 was 53 percent of white males and that of Hispanic males aged 65-69 was 60 percent of white males. Black and Hispanic women also had lower median incomes than their white counterparts. The median income of black women aged 65-69 was 65 percent of white women and that of Hispanic women of the same ages was 71 percent. TABLE 2-6.-MEDIAN INCOME OF PERSONS AGE 65 AND OLDER BY AGE, RACE, AND SEX, 1985 TABLE 2-7.-NUMBER AND PERCENT OF ELDERLY BELOW POVERTY BY RACE, SEX, AND LIVING Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census. Special tabulation from the March 1986 Current Population Survey. As shown in table 2-7, poverty rates are much higher among minority elderly than among white elderly. In 1985, the poverty rate among black elderly (31.5 percent) was triple, and among Hispanic elderly (23.9 percent), double, the poverty rate among white elderly (11 percent). Nearly half (44.9 percent) of all black older persons had incomes below 125 percent of the poverty level. Poverty rates are higher for persons of all races who are not living in families. The highest rate of poverty is exhibited by minority women living alone. In 1985, over half of elderly black women not living with family had an income below the poverty level. (See table 2-7.) F. TRENDS, 1960-74 MOST OF THE RELATIVE GAINS IN INCOME FOR THE ELDERLY WERE ACCOMPLISHED BETWEEN 1960 AND 1974 In 1960, one in every three older Americans was poor-a rate of poverty twice that of nonelderly adults. During the 1960's and early 1970's substantial gains occurred in the average income of the elderly due to a general increase in the standard of living and specific improvements in Social Security and employer-sponsored pension benefits. Those retiring during the period also increasingly benefited from lengthening periods of coverage under Social Security and pension plans. The most noticeable gains in the average income of the elderly came as a result of benefit increases enacted in Social Security between 1969 and 1972. Legislated cost-of-living increases from 1968 to 1971 raised benefits by 43 percent while prices increased by only 27 percent. The 1972 Social Security amendments brought another 20-percent increase in benefits. 1966 1968 1970 1972 1974 1976 1978 1980 1982 1984 1986 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Surveys, 1968-86 The resulting improvement in the economic status of the elderly was significant. The poverty rate among those 65 and older was halved, declining from 28.5 percent in 1966 to 14.6 percent in 1974. During this period, the poverty rate among nonelderly adults declined less substantially from 10.6 percent in 1966 to 8.5 percent in 1974. (See chart 2-7 and table 2-8.) The median income for families with a head 65 and older rose in constant (1985) dollars by nearly a third-from $12,083 in 1966 to $16,372 in 1974. Growth in the median income for families with a head under 65 also rose in constant (1985) dollars over this period, but not nearly as rapidly as that of elderly families-from $27,002 in 1966 to $31,369 in 1974. (See chart 2-8 and table 2-9.) G. TRENDS, 1974-85 INCREASING POVERTY AMONG THE NONELDERLY HAS CONTINUED TO CLOSE THE GAP IN THE ECONOMIC STATUS OF THE ELDERLY AND NONELDERLY Economic stagnation in the late 1970's and early 1980's slowed real income increases for all age groups. The nonelderly, still in the workforce, were more directly affected by the two recessions in this period than were the elderly. While real incomes of the nonelderly remained relatively constant during this period, the real incomes of the elderly rose slowly. Underlying the slow rise in elderly income was a growth in Social Security benefits resulting from the retirement of new generations with better wage records. Automatic annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLA's) in Social Security, which went into effect in 1975, served to keep the real benefits of those already retired from declining. As a result, the gap in income between the elderly and nonelderly narrowed between 1974 and 1982. The median income of families with a head 65 and older rose in constant (1985) dollars from $16,372 in 1974 to $17,963 in 1982, while the median income of fam ilies with a head under age 65 declined in constant (1985) dollars from $31,369 in 1974 to $28,980 in 1982. (See table 2-9.) $35,000 CHART 2-8 MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME - AGED AND NON-AGED FAMILIES (1985 Constant Dollars) 1965 - 1985 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Survey, 1968-86. TABLE 2-9.-MEDIAN FAMILY INCOME, 1965-85, ELDERLY AND NONELDERLY FAMILIES 1985 CPI |