The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Commerce released a report last Thursday highlighting the new “oldest old” in our country: the 90-and-older population. The report sought to capture the little-known characteristics of this group. It posed questions like: where do they live? What are their distributions by age, sex, and race? What is their income? What is their marital situation? Many similar reports have been filed recently, analyzing trends from last year’s census, but I found this one particularly interesting for whatever reason.
“90 is the new 85” headlined one blog the next morning. “Reaching 90 Years of Age More Likely” read another. While the assertions in these headlines should be of no surprise, one should give more emphasis to the social dynamic of the group, not just the number. Here are some other findings compiled by the report that you will find interesting, but may have been expected.
– The number of people 90-and-older tripled since 1980. That number is expected to more than quadruple from 2010 to 2050, as the baby boomer generation continues to age.
– 88.1 % of the 90-and-older population identifies themselves as “White.”
– Women live longer than men: 90+ women outnumber men nearly 3 to 1. Therefore, wives are more likely to outlive their husbands. Roughly 80% of the 1,304,615 women aged 90-and-older are widowed. Only 40% of the 457,155 men are widowed.
– New York has the third highest population aged 90 and over of all states, with 130,549.
– Notorious retirement havens California and Florida are first and second, respectively. Pennsylvania is fifth highest and New Jersey is the ninth.
– 26% of the 90+ population live in California, Florida, or New York.
When one takes a closer look at the economic, social, and cultural environment in which this select group operates, however, more intriguing findings are uncovered. Particularly, it exposes the juxtaposition in our society between helping our eldest, wisest members and simultaneously kicking them to the curb. Much has been made about being sure to help these citizens through government programs like Social Security and Medicare, and through private institutions like group homes, thus making the 90+ ultimately dependent upon the rest of the country to stay out of poverty. At the same time, however, I found the number of senior citizens who live on their own to be particularly astonishing, given how much of the conversation in our society is devoted to helping them in other ways. The findings:
– Social Security is by far the biggest source of personal income for those aged 90+, accounting for nearly half of all income collected. Retirement, earnings, and other sources of income are the other sources of income.
– 14.5% of the 90+ population live below the poverty line, with a higher percentage of women than man living in poverty. Minority races had higher percentages in poverty than those who identified as Whites.
– Only 9.6% of people aged 65 to 89 live in poverty, signifying that poverty is more common as one gets older. That being said, children under 18 have a poverty level of 18.2%. The rest of the population, aged 18-64 has a poverty rate of 11.8. Generally speaking, the elderly are better-off, but the oldest among us are more dependent on third-party means of income.
– While the 90+ may be dependent upon others financial, they show signs of independence when it comes to day to day activities. The report found that 37.3% of all people aged 90-and-older lived alone. Women are more likely to live alone than men.
– There is great cultural divide between Whites and Asians, Hispanics, Blacks, and other minorities on the issue of living arrangements. Minorities are far less likely to live alone, with only about 20% doing so.
– Does marriage decrease a person’s life expectancy? This report broke down marital status for the entire U.S. population by segments of 5 years. Of note was the difference between those aged 75-90 and those 100+ in terms of whether or not they ever married. While only 4.3 % of those between the ages of 75 and 90 never married, that percentage jumps to 8.1% for those aged 100 and over. People who remain single live longer than married couples. Also, the “Never Married” rate of males over 100 years old is higher than women.
– Lastly, if a man lives to be 100 years old, there is a 24.7% chance that his wife is still alive. For 100 year old women, however, only 2.7% still have husbands.
