Income of the Population 55 or Older, 2008

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 2009. 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, 2008
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 48.4 47.3 43.2 47.6 43.9 43.2 37.2
Women 51.6 52.7 56.8 52.4 56.1 56.8 62.8
Race
White alone 83.4 85.1 86.6 85.3 85.4 86.4 89.1
Black alone 10.5 9.6 8.5 8.9 9.4 8.9 7.2
Asian alone 4.2 3.5 3.4 3.9 3.3 3.5 2.8
Hispanic origin 9.0 7.7 7.2 8.0 7.9 7.0 5.8
Marital status
Married 67.8 69.0 54.8 66.6 61.7 52.6 36.7
Nonmarried 32.2 31.0 45.2 33.4 38.3 47.4 63.3
Widowed 4.7 7.5 29.0 12.3 20.8 33.4 52.6
Divorced 16.0 14.4 9.6 13.9 11.0 7.7 4.9
Never married 7.9 6.0 4.2 4.6 4.3 4.1 3.7
Living with nonspouse family 35.3 24.6 21.3 22.0 21.0 20.6 21.2
Persons in family
1 21.1 22.6 32.8 24.3 27.6 34.4 45.9
2 49.5 56.9 52.3 58.1 57.0 51.5 41.8
3 or more 29.3 20.5 15.0 17.6 15.4 14.2 12.2
Social Security beneficiary 8.8 39.1 85.8 78.2 87.7 89.5 90.4
Number (thousands) 25,796 8,493 37,788 11,825 8,579 7,329 10,054
Men
Race
White alone 84.3 86.4 87.4 86.5 86.2 87.1 90.4
Black alone 9.7 8.5 7.7 7.9 8.8 8.3 5.9
Asian alone 4.1 3.1 3.3 3.9 2.9 3.5 2.6
Hispanic origin 9.0 7.7 7.2 7.7 7.4 6.8 6.4
Marital status
Married 71.3 76.4 72.0 77.0 76.9 69.8 61.4
Nonmarried 28.7 23.6 28.0 23.0 23.1 30.2 38.6
Widowed 2.1 2.9 12.9 4.6 7.8 15.1 28.8
Divorced 14.3 11.8 8.3 10.8 9.3 8.1 3.8
Never married 8.5 5.8 4.4 5.2 4.1 4.4 3.3
Living with nonspouse family 37.4 24.4 18.5 20.6 18.3 16.6 17.4
Persons in family
1 20.2 19.4 21.9 18.8 18.9 23.8 27.8
2 47.1 58.2 62.6 62.6 64.8 63.4 59.7
3 or more 32.7 22.4 15.6 18.7 16.3 12.8 12.5
Social Security beneficiary 8.8 34.8 85.5 77.9 88.8 89.7 90.1
Number (thousands) 12,489 4,017 16,308 5,632 3,769 3,167 3,740
Women
Race
White alone 82.4 83.9 85.9 84.3 84.8 86.0 88.3
Black alone 11.3 10.6 9.2 9.8 9.8 9.4 7.9
Asian alone 4.3 3.8 3.5 4.0 3.6 3.5 3.0
Hispanic origin 8.9 7.6 7.2 8.3 8.3 7.1 5.4
Marital status
Married 64.6 62.2 41.8 57.1 49.7 39.6 22.1
Nonmarried 35.4 37.8 58.2 42.9 50.3 60.4 77.9
Widowed 7.1 11.6 41.3 19.3 31.1 47.3 66.7
Divorced 17.6 16.8 10.6 16.6 12.4 7.4 5.6
Never married 7.4 6.3 4.0 4.0 4.4 3.8 3.9
Living with nonspouse family 33.3 24.8 23.4 23.2 23.1 23.7 23.5
Persons in family
1 22.0 25.5 41.0 29.4 34.4 42.4 56.7
2 51.9 55.7 44.4 54.1 50.9 42.4 31.3
3 or more 26.1 18.8 14.5 16.5 14.6 15.2 12.1
Social Security beneficiary 8.8 42.9 86.0 78.4 86.8 89.3 90.5
Number (thousands) 13,307 4,476 21,480 6,193 4,810 4,162 6,314
White alone
Sex
Men 49.0 48.1 43.6 48.3 44.3 43.5 37.7
Women 51.0 51.9 56.4 51.7 55.7 56.5 62.3
Hispanic origin 10.0 8.4 7.8 8.8 8.8 7.6 6.1
Marital status
Married 70.5 71.4 56.6 69.2 63.8 54.4 38.0
Nonmarried 29.5 28.6 43.4 30.8 36.2 45.6 62.0
Widowed 4.3 6.8 28.4 11.3 19.7 32.4 52.0
Divorced 15.8 14.1 9.3 13.3 10.8 7.7 4.8
Never married 6.7 5.3 3.8 4.1 3.8 3.7 3.4
Living with nonspouse family 33.3 21.8 18.7 19.4 18.5 17.4 18.9
Persons in family
1 20.2 21.8 32.7 23.2 26.9 35.1 46.6
2 51.7 59.8 54.3 61.4 59.6 53.0 42.7
3 or more 28.1 18.4 13.0 15.4 13.5 11.9 10.7
Social Security beneficiary 8.2 39.1 87.3 79.6 89.2 90.9 91.8
Number (thousands) 21,505 7,226 32,714 10,093 7,327 6,336 8,958
Black alone
Sex
Men 44.8 41.8 39.0 42.2 41.5 40.1 30.8
Women 55.2 58.2 61.0 57.8 58.5 59.9 69.2
Hispanic origin 2.1 1.8 2.0 1.9 1.5 2.9 1.6
Marital status
Married 46.0 46.5 36.0 42.9 40.9 35.9 20.4
Nonmarried 54.0 53.5 64.0 57.1 59.1 64.1 79.6
Widowed 7.3 13.0 36.0 19.3 30.8 43.0 59.8
Divorced 20.4 20.2 13.6 20.3 14.2 9.8 6.5
Never married 18.3 13.3 8.5 10.2 8.8 7.6 6.5
Living with nonspouse family 42.7 39.3 34.5 33.6 32.3 36.8 36.5
Persons in family
1 31.6 32.8 40.2 37.9 39.1 36.5 47.8
2 38.1 38.7 37.8 36.6 39.7 41.4 34.1
3 or more 30.3 28.4 22.0 25.5 21.1 22.1 18.1
Social Security beneficiary 13.8 43.5 79.4 72.6 80.0 83.7 84.7
Number (thousands) 2,715 817 3,229 1,051 803 652 722
Asian alone
Sex
Men 47.0 42.5 41.7 47.1 38.7 43.2 34.3
Women 53.0 57.5 58.3 52.9 61.3 56.8 65.7
Hispanic origin 1.4 1.0 1.3 1.4 0.9 1.8 1.2
Marital status
Married 77.0 71.7 59.2 68.8 68.1 53.1 40.3
Nonmarried 23.0 28.3 40.8 31.2 31.9 46.9 59.7
Widowed 5.5 9.5 27.7 15.8 19.5 33.4 50.5
Divorced 6.2 5.2 5.1 6.8 6.3 2.9 3.0
Never married 5.5 5.9 2.9 1.4 2.4 4.7 4.2
Living with nonspouse family 53.8 44.7 47.3 44.0 46.0 54.7 47.2
Persons in family
1 9.9 12.7 16.2 14.7 14.2 12.6 24.2
2 40.9 44.6 42.4 45.0 46.9 40.3 35.4
3 or more 49.1 42.7 41.4 40.3 38.9 47.1 40.4
Social Security beneficiary 4.9 24.7 65.7 61.7 70.7 70.4 63.1
Number (thousands) 1,078 295 1,296 467 286 260 284
Hispanic origin
Sex
Men 48.5 47.7 43.0 45.9 41.3 41.9 41.1
Women 51.5 52.3 57.0 54.1 58.7 58.1 58.9
Race
White alone 92.9 93.3 94.4 93.9 94.9 94.1 94.8
Black alone 2.5 2.3 2.3 2.2 1.8 3.7 2.0
Asian alone 0.7 0.4 0.6 0.7 0.4 0.9 0.6
Marital status
Married 61.9 60.5 50.5 59.8 51.8 49.9 34.3
Nonmarried 38.1 39.5 49.5 40.2 48.2 50.1 65.7
Widowed 5.0 8.3 26.4 12.9 22.1 31.0 49.5
Divorced 15.3 14.5 11.0 13.7 12.4 8.0 7.5
Never married 10.1 6.4 6.4 7.1 6.4 6.3 5.5
Living with nonspouse family 59.7 47.7 43.6 41.4 44.1 42.0 48.1
Persons in family
1 18.0 21.1 24.1 20.8 23.9 23.9 29.7
2 30.0 38.5 41.4 45.1 41.5 40.9 35.5
3 or more 52.0 40.4 34.6 34.1 34.6 35.2 34.7
Social Security beneficiary 8.6 33.9 73.4 69.9 75.1 77.4 73.8
Number (thousands) 2,311 650 2,717 950 677 511 580
Beneficiary
Sex
Men 48.3 42.2 43.0 47.4 44.5 43.3 37.1
Women 51.7 57.8 57.0 52.6 55.5 56.7 62.9
Race
White alone 78.1 85.1 88.1 86.9 86.9 87.8 90.5
Black alone 16.6 10.7 7.9 8.3 8.5 8.3 6.7
Asian alone 2.3 2.2 2.6 3.1 2.7 2.8 2.0
Hispanic origin 8.7 6.6 6.2 7.2 6.8 6.0 4.7
Marital status
Married 52.5 65.2 54.5 67.0 61.9 53.2 36.7
Nonmarried 47.5 34.8 45.5 33.0 38.1 46.8 63.3
Widowed 10.5 11.2 30.4 12.7 21.1 33.9 53.4
Divorced 20.6 14.8 9.4 14.0 11.2 7.4 4.6
Never married 11.4 5.7 3.7 4.1 3.8 3.5 3.3
Living with nonspouse family 35.0 21.9 18.9 19.3 18.7 18.4 19.2
Persons in family
1 29.1 26.5 34.1 25.1 28.4 35.3 47.2
2 45.2 55.6 53.2 59.9 58.3 52.6 42.5
3 or more 25.7 17.9 12.7 15.0 13.2 12.2 10.2
Number (thousands) 2,270 3,318 32,406 9,242 7,522 6,557 9,085
Nonbeneficiary
Sex
Men 48.4 50.6 44.0 48.3 40.1 42.4 38.3
Women 51.6 49.4 56.0 51.7 59.9 57.6 61.7
Race
White alone 83.9 85.1 77.3 79.6 74.9 74.7 75.9
Black alone 9.9 8.9 12.4 11.1 15.2 13.8 11.4
Asian alone 4.4 4.3 8.3 6.9 7.9 9.9 10.8
Hispanic origin 9.0 8.3 13.4 11.1 15.9 14.9 15.7
Marital status
Married 69.3 71.4 56.5 64.9 60.0 47.6 37.1
Nonmarried 30.7 28.6 43.5 35.1 40.0 52.4 62.9
Widowed 4.1 5.1 21.1 10.7 19.1 28.6 45.2
Divorced 15.6 14.2 11.3 13.4 9.6 10.6 8.2
Never married 7.6 6.3 7.0 6.4 7.5 8.6 6.7
Living with nonspouse family 35.3 26.3 35.4 31.5 37.7 39.6 40.3
Persons in family
1 20.4 20.1 24.6 21.7 21.6 26.5 33.9
2 50.0 57.8 46.6 51.6 47.8 42.3 35.4
3 or more 29.7 22.1 28.8 26.7 30.6 31.2 30.7
Number (thousands) 23,527 5,175 5,382 2,583 1,057 772 969
 
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, 2008
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 41.5 15.3 4.3 7.5 4.3 1.9 0.8
55–61 51.8 47.3 12.2 23.6 9.9 3.8 1.7
62–64 4.2 27.8 12.3 25.4 7.7 3.8 1.6
65 or older 2.5 9.5 71.1 43.5 78.1 90.5 95.9
65–69 2.0 8.3 26.1 33.8 38.6 15.8 5.6
70–74 0.4 0.8 19.7 8.4 28.6 37.4 12.6
75–79 0.1 0.1 13.7 1.0 9.7 32.2 25.1
80 or older 0 0.3 11.7 0.4 1.2 5.1 52.6
Wife race
White alone 85.8 88.0 88.7 87.9 87.9 87.6 92.0
Black alone 6.9 6.4 6.0 6.0 6.7 7.0 4.3
Asian alone 5.6 3.9 4.1 4.6 4.1 4.2 2.9
Wife Hispanic origin 8.6 8.0 6.9 7.6 6.8 6.6 6.1
Wife Social Security beneficiary 6.4 21.9 68.9 50.4 71.6 83.4 86.5
Number (thousands) 8,907 3,071 11,742 4,338 2,897 2,211 2,296
White alone husbands
Wife race
White alone 97.7 98.3 98.4 98.2 98.3 98.3 99.2
Black alone 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1
Asian alone 1.1 0.8 0.7 0.8 0.9 0.7 0.2
Wife Hispanic origin 9.3 8.6 7.4 8.1 7.3 6.9 6.5
Number (thousands) 7,690 2,711 10,469 3,845 2,555 1,951 2,118
Black alone husbands
Wife race
White alone 8.4 5.3 1.5 0.9 1.9 3.2 0
Black alone 89.4 94.0 97.9 97.9 97.8 96.8 100.0
Asian alone 1.0 0.5 0.3 0.7 0 0 0
Wife Hispanic origin 2.8 2.0 2.9 3.6 1.9 4.9 0
Number (thousands) 659 201 693 255 191 151 97
Asian alone husbands
Wife race
White alone 4.0 5.8 5.5 7.9 2.8 6.8 a
Black alone 0 0 1.0 0 0 4.6 a
Asian alone 95.4 94.2 93.3 91.9 96.9 88.7 a
Wife Hispanic origin 1.3 0 1.4 0.9 0 4.6 a
Number (thousands) 425 100 428 180 96 89 63
Hispanic origin husbands
Wife race
White alone 93.7 95.0 94.9 95.4 95.0 90.1 98.9
Black alone 1.6 0.4 2.7 2.1 1.4 8.0 0
Asian alone 0.8 0.8 0.2 0.1 0 0.9 0
Wife Hispanic origin 85.1 86.2 89.4 90.4 89.5 86.1 90.7
Number (thousands) 754 220 752 305 177 144 126
Beneficiary husbands
Wife Social Security beneficiary 25.8 39.6 76.7 58.9 77.5 89.5 92.3
Number (thousands) 662 1,002 10,050 3,382 2,574 2,005 2,089
Nonbeneficiary husbands
Wife Social Security beneficiary 4.8 13.3 22.6 20.4 24.6 23.5 28.1
Number (thousands) 8,246 2,068 1,692 956 323 206 207
a. Fewer than 75,000 weighted cases.
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, 2008
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 12.6 3.9 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.1 0.9
55–61 53.8 13.5 2.4 4.9 1.4 0.7 0.1
62–64 16.9 30.7 3.3 7.2 1.0 0.2 0.7
65 or older 16.7 51.9 93.1 86.6 96.4 98.0 98.3
65–69 11.9 39.5 21.1 41.5 15.2 2.6 1.1
70–74 3.3 8.0 25.2 31.6 34.6 17.1 2.6
75–79 1.0 3.0 22.3 9.9 34.5 43.3 8.0
80 or older 0.5 1.3 24.5 3.6 12.1 35.0 86.6
Husband race
White alone 87.4 88.4 90.2 89.2 89.4 91.4 92.7
Black alone 7.1 6.6 5.1 5.5 5.5 5.0 3.6
Asian alone 4.2 3.4 3.4 3.5 3.8 2.9 3.4
Husband Hispanic origin 7.3 6.3 6.4 6.8 6.9 6.2 4.8
Husband Social Security beneficiary 22.6 55.0 84.6 77.8 87.2 91.0 89.7
Number (thousands) 8,591 2,785 8,969 3,535 2,393 1,647 1,394
White alone wives
Husband race
White alone 98.7 98.9 99.1 98.7 99.0 99.3 99.9
Black alone 0.4 0.1 0 0 0.1 0.1 0
Asian alone 0.3 0.4 0.1 0 0.4 0.2 0
Husband Hispanic origin 8.0 6.5 6.8 7.2 7.4 6.4 5.1
Number (thousands) 7,463 2,445 8,049 3,142 2,121 1,498 1,288
Black alone wives
Husband race
White alone 2.2 2.0 2.0 1.8 2.5 2.7 a
Black alone 97.1 97.4 97.0 98.2 94.0 97.3 a
Asian alone 0 0 0.9 0 2.9 0 a
Husband Hispanic origin 1.9 1.2 3.0 3.5 4.1 1.9 a
Number (thousands) 590 179 468 196 138 83 50
Asian alone wives
Husband race
White alone 15.6 19.5 13.6 12.3 20.3 a a
Black alone 0.6 1.7 0.4 1.1 0 a a
Asian alone 83.1 76.8 85.8 86.3 79.3 a a
Husband Hispanic origin 1.2 1.2 0.5 1.2 0 a a
Number (thousands) 405 111 340 141 99 49 51
Hispanic origin wives
Husband race
White alone 94.6 91.4 96.2 96.1 95.6 95.8 a
Black alone 3.1 2.0 1.4 2.1 0.9 1.4 a
Asian alone 0.4 0.9 0.9 0.5 2.3 0 a
Husband Hispanic origin 81.0 83.4 82.9 80.6 88.2 81.7 a
Number (thousands) 677 173 620 262 174 111 73
Beneficiary wives
Husband Social Security beneficiary 53.6 74.7 92.7 87.0 94.6 96.7 97.4
Number (thousands) 529 1,160 7,621 2,813 2,081 1,486 1,241
Nonbeneficiary wives
Husband Social Security beneficiary 20.6 41.0 39.0 42.0 37.9 39.1 27.3
Number (thousands) 8,063 1,625 1,348 722 312 161 153
a. Fewer than 75,000 weighted cases.