Income of the Population 55 or Older, 2006

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 2007. 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

Demographic Characteristics of Aged PersonsTable 1.1 Percentage with characteristic, by sex, race, Hispanic origin, Social Security beneficiary status, and age, 2006
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 48.5 46.9 42.9 47.2 44.5 43.2 36.2
Women 51.5 53.1 57.1 52.8 55.5 56.8 63.8
Race
White alone 84.1 85.0 86.8 85.4 85.2 87.7 89.0
Black alone 10.0 9.8 8.6 9.3 10.1 7.7 7.0
Asian alone 4.0 3.5 3.3 3.5 3.3 3.4 2.9
Hispanic origin 8.3 7.8 6.7 7.8 7.3 6.5 5.2
Marital status
Married 68.4 67.3 55.3 66.0 61.7 55.9 37.0
Nonmarried 31.6 32.7 44.7 34.0 38.3 44.1 63.0
Widowed 4.7 9.0 29.7 14.0 22.4 30.7 53.1
Divorced 16.4 15.6 8.7 12.8 9.7 7.5 4.3
Never married 7.1 5.4 3.9 4.6 3.5 3.5 3.6
Living with nonspouse family 34.2 23.6 20.7 21.8 20.1 18.7 21.8
Persons in family
1 21.0 23.7 32.8 24.4 28.2 33.2 46.1
2 50.8 57.6 52.7 59.2 56.7 53.8 41.0
3 or more 28.2 18.7 14.5 16.4 15.1 13.1 12.9
Social Security beneficiary 9.0 42.5 86.4 79.6 87.6 89.6 90.4
Number (thousands) 24,314 7,877 36,035 10,629 8,369 7,567 9,471
Men
Race
White alone 85.4 85.8 87.5 86.5 85.6 89.1 89.5
Black alone 9.0 9.2 7.8 8.4 9.8 6.7 5.9
Asian alone 3.8 3.6 3.2 3.3 2.9 3.0 3.6
Hispanic origin 8.3 7.7 6.7 7.0 7.2 6.5 5.9
Marital status
Married 73.4 75.8 72.7 76.6 74.2 74.4 63.8
Nonmarried 26.6 24.2 27.3 23.4 25.8 25.6 36.2
Widowed 1.8 3.4 13.1 6.1 10.0 12.2 27.6
Divorced 14.3 12.6 7.5 10.3 8.6 7.0 2.8
Never married 7.2 5.7 4.0 4.6 3.9 3.8 3.6
Living with nonspouse family 35.9 23.4 17.4 19.4 16.7 16.3 16.3
Persons in family
1 19.6 20.0 22.2 19.1 21.6 20.6 28.6
2 48.8 58.8 63.3 64.2 64.1 65.7 58.7
3 or more 31.6 21.1 14.6 16.7 14.2 13.8 12.7
Social Security beneficiary 8.5 39.7 85.6 79.4 87.5 89.0 89.4
Number (thousands) 11,781 3,697 15,443 5,013 3,726 3,271 3,433
Women
Race
White alone 83.0 84.4 86.2 84.5 84.9 86.6 88.6
Black alone 11.0 10.3 9.1 10.1 10.3 8.5 7.7
Asian alone 4.2 3.5 3.3 3.7 3.6 3.7 2.5
Hispanic origin 8.4 7.8 6.8 8.6 7.4 6.6 4.7
Marital status
Married 63.7 59.8 42.2 56.5 51.7 41.8 21.7
Nonmarried 36.3 40.2 57.8 43.5 48.3 58.2 78.3
Widowed 7.5 13.9 42.2 21.0 32.3 44.8 67.6
Divorced 18.4 18.3 9.6 14.9 10.6 7.9 5.1
Never married 7.1 5.2 3.7 4.7 3.2 3.3 3.5
Living with nonspouse family 32.7 23.8 23.3 23.9 22.8 20.5 25.0
Persons in family
1 22.3 26.9 40.8 29.1 33.5 42.7 56.0
2 52.7 56.5 44.8 54.8 50.7 44.7 31.0
3 or more 24.9 16.6 14.4 16.1 15.8 12.5 13.0
Social Security beneficiary 9.4 45.0 86.9 79.7 87.7 90.0 91.0
Number (thousands) 12,534 4,180 20,593 5,616 4,643 4,296 6,038
White alone
Sex
Men 49.2 47.4 43.2 47.7 44.7 43.9 36.5
Women 50.8 52.6 56.8 52.3 55.3 56.1 63.5
Hispanic origin 9.2 8.5 7.3 8.4 8.1 7.1 5.6
Marital status
Married 70.8 69.3 56.8 68.3 63.9 57.5 37.7
Nonmarried 29.2 30.7 43.2 31.7 36.1 42.5 62.3
Widowed 4.3 8.1 29.2 12.9 21.3 29.7 53.0
Divorced 16.0 15.8 8.4 12.6 9.4 7.3 4.1
Never married 6.2 4.9 3.6 4.1 3.3 3.4 3.5
Living with nonspouse family 31.6 21.5 18.3 19.2 17.5 16.1 19.8
Persons in family
1 20.4 23.0 32.8 23.9 27.5 33.1 46.8
2 53.4 59.8 54.6 61.5 59.4 56.1 42.0
3 or more 26.3 17.2 12.5 14.6 13.1 10.8 11.2
Social Security beneficiary 8.5 42.2 87.8 80.7 89.2 90.8 91.9
Number (thousands) 20,456 6,699 31,270 9,082 7,130 6,633 8,425
Black alone
Sex
Men 43.6 44.0 39.2 42.7 43.3 37.6 30.3
Women 56.4 56.0 60.8 57.3 56.7 62.4 69.7
Hispanic origin 2.8 1.4 2.9 3.8 2.4 2.8 2.2
Marital status
Married 46.2 48.5 37.8 43.5 43.8 37.7 21.7
Nonmarried 53.8 51.5 62.2 56.5 56.2 62.3 78.3
Widowed 8.6 15.4 36.9 22.8 30.7 41.2 61.9
Divorced 22.2 16.2 12.9 16.3 14.0 10.6 8.4
Never married 15.6 10.1 6.7 10.3 5.0 5.7 4.2
Living with nonspouse family 46.1 34.6 34.8 37.3 32.4 33.3 35.6
Persons in family
1 29.4 33.0 39.0 33.3 37.1 39.6 49.6
2 37.3 42.9 37.5 40.6 40.6 37.7 29.0
3 or more 33.3 24.1 23.4 26.1 22.3 22.7 21.5
Social Security beneficiary 14.0 48.6 80.3 75.3 81.2 83.6 83.6
Number (thousands) 2,443 769 3,085 992 845 584 665
Asian alone
Sex
Men 46.4 47.4 41.9 43.7 39.1 38.6 45.3
Women 53.6 52.6 58.1 56.3 60.9 61.4 54.7
Hispanic origin 2.2 0 0.8 1.2 1.6 0.1 0
Marital status
Married 78.0 76.1 62.3 69.9 63.2 58.5 54.5
Nonmarried 22.0 23.9 37.7 30.1 36.8 41.5 45.5
Widowed 3.9 9.2 25.5 14.9 21.6 32.9 37.1
Divorced 8.2 6.7 4.6 7.9 4.0 3.1 2.2
Never married 5.8 5.3 3.4 3.7 4.7 1.7 3.4
Living with nonspouse family 56.2 40.2 44.7 42.8 44.3 45.1 47.5
Persons in family
1 11.4 11.4 18.0 13.3 18.8 23.1 19.0
2 36.4 49.9 42.4 51.8 39.9 32.9 41.2
3 or more 52.3 38.7 39.5 34.9 41.2 44.1 39.8
Social Security beneficiary 4.7 30.5 64.8 59.8 65.0 74.5 62.5
Number (thousands) 971 278 1,182 373 275 258 275
Hispanic origin
Sex
Men 48.3 46.8 42.6 42.2 43.7 42.8 41.6
Women 51.7 53.2 57.4 57.8 56.3 57.2 58.4
Race
White alone 92.8 93.1 93.9 92.3 94.0 94.9 95.6
Black alone 3.4 1.8 3.6 4.5 3.2 3.3 3.0
Asian alone 1.0 0 0.4 0.6 0.7 0.1 0
Marital status
Married 59.9 57.2 50.1 56.1 55.3 53.1 30.3
Nonmarried 40.1 42.8 49.9 43.9 44.7 46.9 69.7
Widowed 5.3 10.8 28.2 15.4 23.8 31.6 52.0
Divorced 16.6 15.6 9.9 14.4 9.2 6.2 7.0
Never married 8.3 8.7 6.6 7.8 6.2 4.5 7.1
Living with nonspouse family 56.5 49.0 43.3 42.1 40.0 40.7 52.1
Persons in family
1 18.9 21.3 24.5 24.4 22.2 23.9 28.0
2 33.6 38.9 41.1 41.6 43.9 43.6 34.1
3 or more 47.5 39.8 34.4 34.0 33.8 32.4 37.9
Social Security beneficiary 8.5 38.5 72.4 66.2 74.6 76.3 76.4
Number (thousands) 2,028 611 2,428 831 613 494 490
Beneficiary
Sex
Men 45.9 43.8 42.5 47.1 44.5 43.0 35.8
Women 54.1 56.2 57.5 52.9 55.5 57.0 64.2
Race
White alone 79.7 84.5 88.2 86.7 86.8 88.9 90.4
Black alone 15.7 11.2 8.0 8.8 9.4 7.2 6.5
Asian alone 2.1 2.5 2.5 2.6 2.4 2.8 2.0
Hispanic origin 7.9 7.0 5.6 6.5 6.2 5.6 4.4
Marital status
Married 55.5 64.6 54.5 65.9 61.4 55.2 36.6
Nonmarried 44.5 35.4 45.5 34.1 38.6 44.8 63.4
Widowed 11.2 12.3 31.2 14.8 23.0 31.7 54.2
Divorced 21.7 15.6 8.6 12.8 10.0 7.6 4.1
Never married 7.4 4.7 3.4 4.1 3.0 3.2 3.0
Living with nonspouse family 32.1 19.6 18.7 19.4 18.0 17.2 19.9
Persons in family
1 29.5 26.3 34.5 25.6 29.4 34.6 47.5
2 46.3 59.3 52.9 60.1 57.6 53.6 41.4
3 or more 24.2 14.3 12.6 14.4 12.9 11.9 11.1
Number (thousands) 2,179 3,346 31,126 8,458 7,332 6,777 8,560
Nonbeneficiary
Sex
Men 48.7 49.2 45.2 47.6 44.8 45.5 40.0
Women 51.3 50.8 54.8 52.4 55.2 54.5 60.0
Race
White alone 84.6 85.5 77.7 80.6 74.1 77.3 75.1
Black alone 9.5 8.7 12.4 11.3 15.3 12.1 12.0
Asian alone 4.2 4.3 8.5 6.9 9.3 8.4 11.3
Hispanic origin 8.4 8.3 13.7 13.0 15.0 14.8 12.7
Marital status
Married 69.7 69.2 60.3 66.1 64.3 62.3 40.4
Nonmarried 30.3 30.8 39.7 33.9 35.7 37.7 59.6
Widowed 4.1 6.5 20.1 10.9 17.7 22.5 42.9
Divorced 15.9 15.6 9.3 12.6 7.7 6.2 6.0
Never married 7.1 5.9 7.0 6.6 6.8 6.4 8.4
Living with nonspouse family 34.4 26.6 33.6 31.1 34.6 31.4 40.2
Persons in family
1 20.2 21.7 22.2 19.7 19.7 21.0 32.1
2 51.2 56.4 51.4 56.0 50.2 55.6 38.2
3 or more 28.6 22.0 26.4 24.3 30.1 23.4 29.7
Number (thousands) 22,135 4,531 4,909 2,171 1,037 790 910
 
Demographic Characteristics of Aged Persons Table 1.2 Percentage of wives with characteristic, by husband's race, Hispanic origin, Social Security beneficiary status, and age, 2006
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 43.4 15.5 3.7 8.0 2.4 1.4 0.4
55–61 51.3 49.5 10.7 21.9 8.7 3.6 1.4
62–64 3.6 27.5 12.2 25.9 9.2 3.2 1.7
65 or older 1.8 7.6 73.5 44.2 79.7 91.7 96.5
65–69 1.3 6.9 25.2 33.6 39.2 14.2 5.2
70–74 0.4 0.6 20.9 9.1 31.4 35.9 11.5
75–79 0.1 0.1 15.8 1.3 7.8 35.3 29.9
80 or older 0 0 11.5 0.3 1.4 6.3 49.9
Wife race
White alone 86.7 86.7 88.7 87.9 87.8 89.5 90.2
Black alone 6.7 6.9 6.0 6.2 7.3 5.7 4.2
Asian alone 5.0 5.0 4.1 4.3 3.8 3.7 4.7
Wife Hispanic origin 7.6 7.4 6.4 7.0 6.8 6.5 5.0
Wife Social Security beneficiary 7.1 21.6 70.1 50.4 73.3 82.4 87.1
Number (thousands) 8,653 2,801 11,231 3,839 2,767 2,434 2,191
White alone husbands
Wife race
White alone 98.0 97.7 98.7 98.2 99.0 99.0 99.0
Black alone 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0
Asian alone 0.9 1.2 0.5 0.8 0.5 0.3 0.4
Wife Hispanic origin 8.4 8.2 6.9 7.6 7.1 7.0 5.3
Number (thousands) 7,525 2,443 9,968 3,383 2,424 2,182 1,979
Black alone husbands
Wife race
White alone 4.6 6.1 3.4 5.3 2.2 3.3 1.5
Black alone 93.8 91.6 95.4 92.7 96.2 96.7 98.5
Asian alone 1.1 1.4 0.7 1.1 1.0 0 0
Wife Hispanic origin 1.2 1.7 3.7 2.9 3.5 4.4 5.0
Number (thousands) 599 208 693 249 209 141 94
Asian alone husbands
Wife race
White alone 7.8 6.3 2.6 3.4 0.2 5.0 1.6
Black alone 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Asian alone 91.8 92.6 97.2 96.6 99.6 95.0 97.9
Wife Hispanic origin 0.8 0 1.2 0.2 5.0 0 0
Number (thousands) 379 116 415 140 92 86 97
Hispanic origin husbands
Wife race
White alone 95.3 95.5 95.3 96.8 90.9 96.7 97.4
Black alone 1.3 1.7 2.8 1.4 4.6 3.1 2.4
Asian alone 1.0 0.7 0.4 0 1.6 0 0
Wife Hispanic origin 85.2 91.9 90.7 88.6 89.8 92.1 95.4
Number (thousands) 649 193 676 247 176 155 98
Beneficiary husbands
Wife Social Security beneficiary 23.3 35.6 77.3 58.4 79.1 88.4 92.1
Number (thousands) 656 1,053 9,609 3,041 2,432 2,160 1,976
Nonbeneficiary husbands
Wife Social Security beneficiary 5.8 13.2 27.4 19.6 31.0 34.9 41.5
Number (thousands) 7,997 1,748 1,622 798 335 274 215
 
Demographic Characteristics of Aged Persons Table 1.3 Percentage of husbands with characteristic, by wife's race, Hispanic origin, Social Security beneficiary status, and age, 2006
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 12.0 2.1 0.8 1.1 0.5 0.4 1.0
55–61 55.6 12.4 1.8 3.4 1.4 0.5 0.2
62–64 17.4 30.8 2.4 6.1 0.6 0.2 0
65 or older 15.0 54.7 95.0 89.3 97.5 98.9 98.8
65–69 10.5 39.9 19.6 40.7 14.5 2.7 0.8
70–74 3.0 10.2 25.4 34.2 36.2 12.0 2.9
75–79 1.1 3.2 25.7 10.9 36.4 47.8 11.8
80 or older 0.4 1.5 24.4 3.6 10.5 36.4 83.4
Husband race
White alone 87.3 87.8 89.9 89.1 89.2 91.0 91.4
Black alone 7.0 6.8 5.5 6.0 6.6 4.4 3.9
Asian alone 4.1 3.5 3.4 3.6 3.0 3.4 4.0
Husband Hispanic origin 7.0 5.7 5.9 6.5 6.7 5.5 3.7
Husband Social Security beneficiary 23.5 59.2 85.2 80.9 86.7 88.8 88.2
Number (thousands) 7,982 2,498 8,682 3,172 2,401 1,797 1,312
White alone wives
Husband race
White alone 98.4 98.1 99.2 98.8 99.3 99.3 99.7
Black alone 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1
Asian alone 0.3 0.4 0.1 0.3 0 0 0
Husband Hispanic origin 7.7 6.1 6.2 6.7 7.4 5.6 3.7
Number (thousands) 6,952 2,200 7,784 2,822 2,134 1,633 1,195
Black alone wives
Husband race
White alone 1.7 1.9 0.9 0 2.8 0 a
Black alone 97.8 98.1 98.1 99.2 96.3 98.3 a
Asian alone 0 0 0 0 0 0 a
Husband Hispanic origin 2.0 1.0 2.7 3.9 0 4.3 a
Number (thousands) 531 165 473 182 161 79 50
Asian alone wives
Husband race
White alone 14.8 15.8 8.2 11.4 10.6 a a
Black alone 2.8 0 0.6 1.7 0 a a
Asian alone 82.1 83.8 90.0 86.6 86.4 a a
Husband Hispanic origin 0.8 0 0.9 2.3 0 a a
Number (thousands) 379 95 321 121 83 65 52
Hispanic origin wives
Husband race
White alone 96.2 95.6 93.3 92.0 97.2 90.6 a
Black alone 1.5 1.1 3.7 4.2 1.8 5.4 a
Asian alone 0.3 0.2 0.9 2.1 0 0 a
Husband Hispanic origin 84.9 86.6 85.8 83.0 88.2 85.8 a
Number (thousands) 566 157 540 219 163 108 50
Beneficiary wives
Husband Social Security beneficiary 48.7 77.1 92.3 89.2 92.7 94.8 95.1
Number (thousands) 555 1,108 7,342 2,535 2,068 1,579 1,159
Nonbeneficiary wives
Husband Social Security beneficiary 21.6 44.8 46.4 47.9 49.5 45.3 35.4
Number (thousands) 7,428 1,389 1,340 637 333 218 153
a. Fewer than 75,000 weighted cases.