Income of the Population 55 or Older, 2004
(Expanded Edition)

Demographic Characteristics

Demographic Characteristics of Aged Persons

Key Terms and Concepts for Section 1 1

Age. Age classification is based on the age of the person at his or her last birthday as of March 2005. A married couple's age is defined as the age of the husband—unless he is under age 55 and the wife is 55 or older, in which case it is the age of the wife.

Aged unit. With age 55 as the cutoff, aged units are defined as married couples living together—at least one of whom is 55 or older—and nonmarried persons 55 or older.

Marital status. Married persons are married and living with their spouse. Nonmarried persons may be divorced, widowed, never married, separated, or married but living apart from their spouse.

Race. The categories White alone, Black alone, and Asian alone reflect respondents who reported only one race. Because of changes to the race category, data on race are not directly comparable to editions prior to 2002. A person's race is his or her reported race. A married couple's race is defined as the race of the husband.

Hispanic origin. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race. A married couple is of Hispanic origin if the husband is of Hispanic origin.

Family. A family is a group of two or more people (one of whom is the householder) related by birth, marriage, or adoption and residing together; all such people (including related subfamily members) are considered as members of one family.

Social Security beneficiary. A beneficiary may be receiving retired-worker-benefits, dependents' or survivor benefits, disability benefits, or transitionally insured benefits.

Notes

 1 For more information, consult the Glossary for this report.

Tables

Table 1.1 Percentage with characteristic, by sex, race, Hispanic origin, Social Security beneficiary status, and age, 2004
Characteristic Aged
55–61		 Aged
62–64		 Aged 65 or older
Total 65–69 70–74 75–79 80 or
older
All persons
Sex
Men 47.6 47.6 43.0 47.5 44.2 42.5 37.5
Women 52.4 52.4 57.0 52.5 55.8 57.5 62.5
Race
White alone 84.3 85.5 87.2 84.9 86.7 88.8 89.0
Black alone 10.0 9.4 8.4 9.9 8.6 7.5 7.3
Asian alone 3.9 3.3 3.1 3.7 3.2 2.5 2.8
Hispanic origin 8.0 7.4 6.2 7.4 6.9 5.6 4.9
Marital status
Married 68.1 69.3 54.7 66.7 60.5 54.1 37.0
Nonmarried 31.9 30.7 45.3 33.3 39.5 45.9 63.0
Widowed 5.4 8.5 30.3 14.3 24.4 31.7 52.0
Divorced 16.2 13.7 7.9 11.3 8.0 7.4 4.5
Never married 6.7 5.0 4.1 4.6 4.3 4.3 3.4
Living with nonspouse family 34.8 25.7 21.3 22.9 20.2 19.2 22.3
Persons in family
1 20.7 21.3 32.5 23.3 28.1 34.1 45.3
2 50.7 57.7 52.6 59.1 57.2 52.5 41.6
3 or more 28.7 21.0 14.9 17.7 14.7 13.4 13.1
Social Security beneficiary 9.1 43.9 88.2 83.1 89.1 90.2 91.2
Number (thousands) 22,214 7,317 35,213 10,124 8,264 7,596 9,229
Men
Race
White alone 85.3 86.1 87.9 84.8 87.7 89.7 90.6
Black alone 9.2 8.6 7.6 9.6 7.3 7.1 5.7
Asian alone 3.7 3.1 3.1 3.8 3.5 2.2 2.8
Hispanic origin 8.1 7.2 6.1 6.7 6.7 5.8 5.0
Marital status
Married 73.7 76.5 71.7 76.3 74.4 72.3 61.7
Nonmarried 26.3 23.5 28.3 23.7 25.6 27.7 38.3
Widowed 2.1 3.5 13.7 5.9 11.2 13.8 27.0
Divorced 13.9 11.4 7.1 9.6 7.0 6.6 4.0
Never married 7.1 4.5 4.4 4.8 4.8 4.6 3.3
Living with nonspouse family 36.4 26.1 18.4 21.5 18.3 16.5 15.9
Persons in family
1 19.1 17.4 21.9 18.2 19.6 21.4 30.1
2 48.3 59.7 62.7 63.1 65.0 64.8 58.0
3 or more 32.6 22.9 15.3 18.7 15.5 13.8 12.0
Social Security beneficiary 8.8 40.2 87.9 82.8 89.6 90.5 90.7
Number (thousands) 10,563 3,484 15,151 4,814 3,652 3,227 3,457
Women
Race
White alone 83.5 84.9 86.7 84.9 85.9 88.1 88.1
Black alone 10.7 10.1 9.0 10.1 9.7 7.9 8.2
Asian alone 4.0 3.4 3.1 3.7 3.0 2.8 2.7
Hispanic origin 7.9 7.6 6.3 8.1 7.0 5.5 4.8
Marital status
Married 62.9 62.8 42.0 58.1 49.4 40.7 22.2
Nonmarried 37.1 37.2 58.0 41.9 50.6 59.3 77.8
Widowed 8.3 13.1 42.9 21.9 35.0 45.0 67.1
Divorced 18.2 15.8 8.5 12.8 8.7 7.9 4.9
Never married 6.4 5.4 3.9 4.4 3.9 4.1 3.4
Living with nonspouse family 33.2 25.3 23.5 24.2 21.6 21.3 26.1
Persons in family
1 22.1 24.8 40.5 27.8 34.9 43.4 54.4
2 52.8 56.0 45.0 55.4 51.0 43.4 31.8
3 or more 25.2 19.3 14.5 16.8 14.1 13.2 13.7
Social Security beneficiary 9.3 47.3 88.4 83.5 88.7 90.0 91.4
Number (thousands) 11,651 3,834 20,063 5,310 4,612 4,368 5,772
White alone
Sex
Men 48.1 48.0 43.4 47.5 44.7 42.9 38.1
Women 51.9 52.0 56.6 52.5 55.3 57.1 61.9
Hispanic origin 8.8 8.1 6.8 8.1 7.4 6.2 5.2
Marital status
Married 70.6 71.6 56.7 69.3 63.1 56.2 38.3
Nonmarried 29.4 28.4 43.3 30.7 36.9 43.8 61.7
Widowed 4.9 8.1 29.7 13.3 23.4 30.8 51.3
Divorced 15.7 12.9 7.5 11.0 7.5 6.9 4.3
Never married 5.9 4.3 3.8 3.8 3.9 4.0 3.4
Living with nonspouse family 32.2 22.8 18.5 19.4 17.2 16.9 19.9
Persons in family
1 20.1 20.4 32.4 22.7 27.4 33.6 45.9
2 53.1 61.0 55.0 62.4 60.2 54.8 42.8
3 or more 26.8 18.5 12.6 14.9 12.4 11.6 11.3
Social Security beneficiary 8.8 44.2 89.6 85.0 90.1 91.5 92.3
Number (thousands) 18,737 6,254 30,710 8,591 7,163 6,741 8,215
Black alone
Sex
Men 43.8 43.6 39.0 46.3 37.1 40.0 29.3
Women 56.2 56.4 61.0 53.7 62.9 60.0 70.7
Hispanic origin 2.5 1.6 2.2 3.4 2.1 1.4 1.1
Marital status
Married 48.2 48.2 34.2 44.6 34.9 32.2 19.4
Nonmarried 51.8 51.8 65.8 55.4 65.1 67.8 80.6
Widowed 8.5 12.3 38.2 22.2 34.5 41.7 62.9
Divorced 21.2 21.0 12.5 14.7 13.2 13.2 7.8
Never married 14.0 10.7 8.2 11.1 8.3 8.1 3.8
Living with nonspouse family 46.1 38.5 38.7 43.0 35.9 35.6 37.9
Persons in family
1 26.8 31.1 39.1 31.4 40.7 41.6 46.9
2 39.1 39.6 35.3 37.1 34.2 35.9 33.1
3 or more 34.1 29.3 25.6 31.6 25.1 22.5 20.0
Social Security beneficiary 13.0 47.7 81.8 74.6 84.4 82.8 89.1
Number (thousands) 2,223 686 2,958 1,001 714 573 669
Asian alone
Sex
Men 45.8 45.1 43.6 48.3 47.5 36.5 37.8
Women 54.2 54.9 56.4 51.7 52.5 63.5 62.2
Hispanic origin 1.1 0 0.2 0 0.2 0 0.5
Marital status
Married 67.8 70.1 59.3 70.5 64.6 50.2 44.0
Nonmarried 32.2 29.9 40.7 29.5 35.4 49.8 56.0
Widowed 5.9 7.3 27.0 15.2 22.6 32.0 45.1
Divorced 9.3 11.7 5.4 6.8 4.3 6.1 3.8
Never married 7.1 7.0 4.2 5.0 2.7 5.1 3.7
Living with nonspouse family 59.9 56.4 47.7 46.3 47.5 48.0 49.5
Persons in family
1 14.8 15.6 18.8 13.1 14.7 26.9 25.6
2 30.3 32.1 37.5 45.0 42.6 27.1 29.0
3 or more 54.9 52.3 43.7 42.0 42.7 46.1 45.4
Social Security beneficiary 4.3 26.6 67.5 64.5 75.0 64.6 66.3
Number (thousands) 857 238 1,092 377 268 193 255
Hispanic origin
Sex
Men 48.0 46.2 42.4 43.0 43.3 44.0 38.8
Women 52.0 53.8 57.6 57.0 56.7 56.0 61.2
Race
White alone 93.1 94.0 94.6 93.3 94.0 97.0 95.1
Black alone 3.1 2.0 2.9 4.5 2.7 1.8 1.7
Asian alone 0.5 0 0.1 0 0.1 0 0.3
Marital status
Married 61.2 59.5 48.9 60.0 50.0 45.5 32.3
Nonmarried 38.8 40.5 51.1 40.0 50.0 54.5 67.7
Widowed 7.2 10.6 30.5 16.6 29.0 36.4 49.9
Divorced 14.5 14.5 9.5 11.5 10.3 7.7 6.8
Never married 9.4 7.1 5.6 5.1 4.7 6.3 6.8
Living with nonspouse family 53.7 49.2 43.8 45.3 42.2 40.3 46.6
Persons in family
1 18.3 19.1 24.6 20.0 23.3 28.1 30.9
2 36.4 40.0 39.8 41.0 39.9 41.3 36.2
3 or more 45.3 40.9 35.6 39.0 36.8 30.6 33.0
Social Security beneficiary 8.4 37.0 76.6 70.8 77.5 81.3 80.8
Number (thousands) 1,776 540 2,194 750 566 428 449
Beneficiary
Sex
Men 46.2 43.6 42.9 47.3 44.5 42.6 37.3
Women 53.8 56.4 57.1 52.7 55.5 57.4 62.7
Race
White alone 81.3 86.1 88.6 86.7 87.7 90.0 90.1
Black alone 14.3 10.2 7.8 8.9 8.2 6.9 7.1
Asian alone 1.8 2.0 2.4 2.9 2.7 1.8 2.0
Hispanic origin 7.3 6.2 5.4 6.3 6.0 5.1 4.3
Marital status
Married 51.6 66.6 54.6 67.2 60.8 54.3 36.9
Nonmarried 48.4 33.4 45.4 32.8 39.2 45.7 63.1
Widowed 14.1 11.6 31.1 14.4 24.5 32.0 52.8
Divorced 21.3 14.2 7.9 11.6 8.1 7.4 4.4
Never married 9.0 4.5 3.7 3.9 4.0 4.0 2.9
Living with nonspouse family 35.2 22.6 19.2 20.4 18.0 17.2 20.8
Persons in family
1 30.4 24.1 33.6 23.9 29.1 35.0 46.3
2 44.2 58.6 53.4 60.9 58.2 53.3 42.0
3 or more 25.4 17.3 12.9 15.3 12.8 11.7 11.7
Number (thousands) 2,023 3,215 31,045 8,416 7,361 6,853 8,415
Nonbeneficiary
Sex
Men 47.7 50.8 44.0 48.6 42.0 41.1 39.4
Women 52.3 49.2 56.0 51.4 58.0 58.9 60.6
Race
White alone 84.7 85.0 76.9 75.6 78.5 76.9 77.7
Black alone 9.6 8.8 12.9 14.9 12.4 13.3 9.0
Asian alone 4.1 4.3 8.5 7.8 7.4 9.2 10.5
Hispanic origin 8.1 8.3 12.3 12.8 14.1 10.8 10.6
Marital status
Married 69.7 71.5 55.7 64.5 57.7 52.4 38.1
Nonmarried 30.3 28.5 44.3 35.5 42.3 47.6 61.9
Widowed 4.5 6.2 24.7 13.8 24.3 29.1 43.9
Divorced 15.7 13.3 8.0 9.8 7.0 7.1 6.0
Never married 6.5 5.4 7.4 7.8 6.5 7.0 8.1
Living with nonspouse family 34.7 28.1 36.8 35.4 38.0 37.7 37.8
Persons in family
1 19.7 19.1 24.0 20.2 20.5 25.5 34.7
2 51.3 57.1 46.6 50.1 49.1 45.3 37.6
3 or more 29.0 23.9 29.4 29.7 30.4 29.2 27.7
Number (thousands) 20,192 4,102 4,168 1,708 903 742 815
 
Table 1.2 Percentage of wives with characteristic, by husband's race, Hispanic origin, Social Security beneficiary status, and age, 2004
Wife characteristic Aged
55–61		 Aged
62–64		 Aged 65 or older
Total 65–69 70–74 75–79 80 or
older
All husbands
Wife age
Under 55 43.6 12.8 4.2 7.2 4.8 1.5 1.4
55–61 50.9 52.1 10.1 22.0 6.4 4.1 0.6
62–64 3.6 26.4 12.4 27.9 8.6 2.5 1.3
65 or older 2.0 8.7 73.3 42.8 80.2 92.0 96.6
65–69 1.5 7.0 25.2 34.3 39.7 14.4 3.2
70–74 0.3 1.3 20.3 7.0 31.7 36.1 11.5
75–79 0.2 0.3 16.1 1.3 7.5 35.5 31.3
80 or older 0 0.1 11.7 0.2 1.3 6.0 50.6
Wife race
White alone 86.5 88.1 89.6 87.5 89.5 91.3 91.7
Black alone 7.2 7.0 5.5 7.0 5.1 5.2 4.0
Asian alone 4.7 3.6 3.7 4.3 4.0 2.6 3.6
Wife Hispanic origin 7.9 6.8 5.7 6.9 6.0 5.0 4.3
Wife Social Security beneficiary 6.1 21.7 73.8 55.2 77.4 84.6 89.5
Number (thousands) 7,790 2,665 10,858 3,673 2,716 2,335 2,135
White alone husbands
Wife race
White alone 97.8 98.8 98.8 98.6 98.7 98.8 99.0
Black alone 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0
Asian alone 1.0 0.6 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.3
Wife Hispanic origin 8.5 7.4 6.1 7.3 6.3 5.3 4.6
Number (thousands) 6,787 2,339 9,760 3,211 2,437 2,147 1,965
Black alone husbands
Wife race
White alone 3.3 1.2 2.8 5.0 1.2 0.6 1.7
Black alone 95.5 98.1 95.8 94.1 95.0 98.9 98.3
Asian alone 0.5 0 0.5 0.3 1.5 0 0
Wife Hispanic origin 3.0 1.0 2.8 4.4 3.0 0.8 0
Number (thousands) 566 185 612 267 145 118 84
Asian alone husbands
Wife race
White alone 3.8 2.1 3.4 4.1 5.0 a a
Black alone 1.2 0 0 0 0 a a
Asian alone 93.8 97.9 96.4 95.6 95.0 a a
Wife Hispanic origin 0.8 0 1.0 1.9 0.9 a a
Number (thousands) 307 80 359 142 97 50 70
Hispanic origin husbands
Wife race
White alone 93.2 96.0 92.4 91.7 94.9 94.6 87.1
Black alone 2.7 1.1 3.4 4.8 1.7 1.3 5.3
Asian alone 0.4 0.2 1.5 0.1 0 3.6 4.8
Wife Hispanic origin 84.4 87.5 86.3 91.6 86.7 79.6 81.2
Number (thousands) 577 171 605 233 157 123 92
Beneficiary husbands
Wife Social Security beneficiary 19.3 37.1 81.2 63.1 83.7 90.5 96.0
Number (thousands) 590 1,008 9,566 3,051 2,438 2,126 1,952
Nonbeneficiary husbands
Wife Social Security beneficiary 5.0 12.4 19.4 16.1 22.1 24.9 20.2
Number (thousands) 7,200 1,657 1,292 621 278 209 183
a. Fewer than 75,000 weighted cases.
Table 1.3 Percentage of husbands with characteristic, by wife's race, Hispanic origin, Social Security beneficiary status, and age, 2004
Husband characteristic Aged
55–61		 Aged
62–64		 Aged 65 or older
Total 65–69 70–74 75–79 80 or
older
All wives
Husband age
Under 55 12.2 3.3 0.8 1.2 0.7 0.4 0.9
55–61 54.0 11.6 1.8 3.8 1.0 0.8 0.1
62–64 18.9 29.2 2.8 6.1 1.6 0.4 0.2
65 or older 14.9 56.0 94.6 88.9 96.7 98.3 98.7
65–69 11.0 42.6 18.7 40.9 11.2 2.7 0.5
70–74 2.4 9.7 25.9 34.9 37.8 11.4 2.8
75–79 1.3 2.5 25.5 10.9 36.9 46.6 11.0
80 or older 0.2 1.2 24.5 2.2 10.8 37.6 84.4
Husband race
White alone 87.8 89.2 91.2 89.0 92.0 93.0 92.7
Black alone 7.0 6.0 4.8 6.1 4.6 3.8 3.6
Asian alone 3.4 2.9 3.1 3.8 2.5 2.3 3.2
Husband Hispanic origin 6.4 5.9 5.3 6.2 5.3 4.2 4.8
Husband Social Security beneficiary 23.2 60.3 87.7 83.6 90.3 90.0 89.8
Number (thousands) 7,333 2,407 8,420 3,083 2,280 1,776 1,281
White alone wives
Husband race
White alone 98.3 98.8 99.3 99.0 99.5 99.2 99.5
Black alone 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.1 0 0
Asian alone 0.2 0 0.1 0.2 0 0 0
Husband Hispanic origin 6.7 6.3 5.5 6.4 5.5 4.3 4.9
Number (thousands) 6,438 2,139 7,648 2,740 2,080 1,644 1,184
Black alone wives
Husband race
White alone 1.6 2.3 1.6 1.0 1.6 a a
Black alone 96.6 97.7 98.1 98.3 98.4 a a
Asian alone 1.0 0 0 0 0 a a
Husband Hispanic origin 3.7 0.7 2.0 2.8 0 a a
Number (thousands) 504 146 398 180 105 67 46
Asian alone wives
Husband race
White alone 15.0 18.7 11.6 8.3 22.5 a a
Black alone 1.6 0 0.3 0.7 0 a a
Asian alone 81.3 79.0 87.4 91.0 75.5 a a
Husband Hispanic origin 0.5 0 3.2 2.1 6.9 a a
Number (thousands) 274 86 288 123 76 47 42
Hispanic origin wives
Husband race
White alone 92.3 95.0 95.1 93.3 96.7 a a
Black alone 3.2 1.5 2.0 3.1 0 a a
Asian alone 0.9 0 0.8 1.2 0.7 a a
Husband Hispanic origin 78.7 83.4 83.1 80.4 80.4 a a
Number (thousands) 509 150 467 216 126 72 53
Beneficiary wives
Husband Social Security beneficiary 53.0 80.3 95.0 91.3 96.6 96.8 98.0
Number (thousands) 454 1,132 7,391 2,603 2,037 1,597 1,153
Nonbeneficiary wives
Husband Social Security beneficiary 21.2 42.5 35.3 41.7 37.5 29.6 15.3
Number (thousands) 6,880 1,275 1,030 480 243 180 127
a. Fewer than 75,000 weighted cases.