Income of the Aged Chartbook, 2002

Preface

Since 1941, the Social Security Administration (SSA) has periodically surveyed the aged to determine their economic status. The first national survey was conducted in 1963. In 1976, SSA's Office of Research and Statistics began compiling a biennial series of reports on the income of the aged based on data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau in its Current Population Survey. These SSA reports are published under the title Income of the Population 55 or Older. The most recent edition of that publication is based on 2002 data, which, along with special tabulations, form the basis of this chartbook.

The unit of analysis here, with the exception of measures of poverty, is the "aged unit" and not the household, the family, or unrelated individuals, which are used by the Census Bureau. The aged unit is either a married couple living together, with husband or wife aged 65 or older (generally measured by the age of the husband), or a person 65 or older who does not live with a spouse. The unit of analysis for poverty is persons aged 65 or older.

The 2002 sample represented 10,412,000 couples and 15,806,000 single units. The single unit may be a widow(er), a divorced or separated person, a legally married person who does not live with a spouse, or a person who never married. This unit of analysis allows one to measure the economic status of the entire noninstitutionalized aged population separately from that of the family or household in which the unit may live.

Lynn Fisher, Melissa Koenig, and Shanti Mulpuru prepared this chartbook. The chartbook was designed by Emil Loomis, who also prepared the print version for publication. Anthony Nathe edited the report, and Laurie Brown prepared the electronic versions for the Web.

Edward J. DeMarco
Associate Commissioner for Research, Evaluation, and Statistics
September 2004