Income of the Population 55 or Older, 2014

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 2015. 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 Persons Table 1.1 Percentage with characteristic, by sex, race, Hispanic origin, Social Security beneficiary status, and age, 2014
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 48.3 47.8 44.4 47.0 46.1 44.7 38.9
Women 51.7 52.2 55.6 53.0 53.9 55.3 61.1
Race  
White alone 81.1 81.9 84.9 83.3 85.0 84.7 87.2
Black alone 11.8 11.0 9.0 10.1 8.7 9.2 7.7
Asian alone 4.9 5.0 4.4 4.6 4.5 4.5 4.0
Hispanic origin 10.8 9.2 7.9 8.9 7.4 7.4 7.3
Marital status  
Married 64.0 65.5 56.2 64.1 61.4 57.5 38.9
Nonmarried 36.0 34.5 43.8 35.9 38.6 42.5 61.1
Widowed 4.1 6.7 24.4 10.9 18.2 26.1 48.8
Divorced 17.2 16.0 12.2 16.1 13.6 10.1 6.6
Never married 10.9 8.4 4.8 6.4 4.6 3.9 3.6
Living with nonspouse family 39.6 27.9 21.8 23.6 19.5 19.6 23.3
Persons in family  
1 23.4 24.9 32.0 26.2 28.6 31.8 43.9
2 43.1 52.6 52.3 55.5 57.0 53.9 41.7
3 or more 33.5 22.5 15.7 18.3 14.4 14.2 14.5
Social Security beneficiary 9.9 33.4 82.1 72.2 85.6 87.8 88.4
Number (thousands) 29,434 10,983 45,994 15,728 11,209 8,002 11,054
  Men
Race  
White alone 82.2 82.9 85.7 84.3 85.9 85.7 87.8
Black alone 11.0 10.4 8.1 9.4 7.7 8.3 6.3
Asian alone 4.7 4.9 4.5 4.6 4.4 4.6 4.6
Hispanic origin 10.8 9.2 7.7 8.3 7.0 7.5 7.4
Marital status  
Married 67.1 71.6 70.0 71.8 71.6 73.8 61.8
Nonmarried 32.9 28.4 30.0 28.2 28.4 26.2 38.2
Widowed 2.0 3.2 12.0 4.9 9.4 12.3 26.7
Divorced 15.5 13.1 10.8 14.2 12.1 8.4 5.2
Never married 11.9 8.6 4.9 6.9 4.5 3.0 3.4
Living with nonspouse family 40.1 29.2 19.4 22.4 17.7 17.5 18.1
Persons in family  
1 23.6 22.0 24.0 23.2 22.5 21.2 29.4
2 41.4 52.4 59.9 57.3 63.3 63.5 57.1
3 or more 35.0 25.6 16.1 19.5 14.2 15.3 13.4
Social Security beneficiary 9.0 31.6 81.7 70.7 85.5 90.6 88.8
Number (thousands) 14,211 5,245 20,439 7,391 5,163 3,580 4,304
  Women
Race  
White alone 80.2 81.1 84.3 82.5 84.3 83.9 86.8
Black alone 12.5 11.6 9.7 10.7 9.5 9.9 8.5
Asian alone 5.1 5.1 4.3 4.6 4.6 4.4 3.7
Hispanic origin 10.8 9.2 8.1 9.3 7.8 7.4 7.3
Marital status  
Married 61.1 60.0 45.2 57.2 52.7 44.3 24.3
Nonmarried 38.9 40.0 54.8 42.8 47.3 55.7 75.7
Widowed 6.2 9.8 34.3 16.1 25.6 37.3 62.8
Divorced 18.7 18.6 13.3 17.8 14.9 11.5 7.5
Never married 9.9 8.2 4.8 5.9 4.6 4.6 3.6
Living with nonspouse family 39.1 26.7 23.7 24.6 21.1 21.2 26.6
Persons in family  
1 23.2 27.5 38.4 28.9 33.8 40.4 53.1
2 44.8 52.8 46.2 53.8 51.6 46.2 31.8
3 or more 32.0 19.7 15.4 17.2 14.6 13.4 15.1
Social Security beneficiary 10.8 35.0 82.4 73.6 85.8 85.5 88.1
Number (thousands) 15,223 5,738 25,555 8,337 6,046 4,422 6,750
  White alone
Sex  
Men 48.9 48.3 44.8 47.5 46.5 45.3 39.2
Women 51.1 51.7 55.2 52.5 53.5 54.7 60.8
Hispanic origin 12.2 10.2 8.5 9.7 7.9 8.1 7.8
Marital status  
Married 66.1 68.1 58.2 66.4 63.9 60.6 40.0
Nonmarried 33.9 31.9 41.8 33.6 36.1 39.4 60.0
Widowed 3.9 6.2 23.9 10.2 17.3 24.7 48.5
Divorced 17.2 15.8 11.8 16.0 13.1 9.6 6.5
Never married 9.6 7.1 4.1 5.4 3.9 3.1 3.2
Living with nonspouse family 37.5 25.0 19.0 20.7 17.3 16.5 20.2
Persons in family  
1 22.7 24.3 31.7 25.5 27.6 31.2 44.8
2 45.6 55.2 54.7 58.5 59.5 56.8 43.1
3 or more 31.7 20.4 13.6 16.1 12.9 11.9 12.1
Social Security beneficiary 9.5 33.3 83.6 73.4 87.1 88.9 90.3
Number (thousands) 23,885 8,997 39,054 13,105 9,532 6,778 9,640
  Black alone
Sex  
Men 45.0 45.2 40.1 43.9 40.7 40.3 32.1
Women 55.0 54.8 59.9 56.1 59.3 59.7 67.9
Hispanic origin 3.3 4.7 3.1 3.0 4.0 2.2 3.2
Marital status  
Married 45.9 42.3 34.6 42.5 34.6 32.1 22.2
Nonmarried 54.1 57.7 65.4 57.5 65.4 67.9 77.8
Widowed 6.0 10.3 30.3 15.7 27.3 38.7 54.0
Divorced 19.8 20.5 18.0 21.6 20.9 14.7 10.6
Never married 21.4 19.3 11.8 13.5 12.6 10.8 8.5
Living with nonspouse family 44.0 37.0 34.0 33.2 28.6 36.5 39.5
Persons in family  
1 33.1 35.5 41.8 38.7 43.9 40.2 46.8
2 31.8 39.3 35.9 37.3 39.8 36.1 28.7
3 or more 35.1 25.2 22.2 24.0 16.3 23.7 24.5
Social Security beneficiary 15.2 39.6 78.2 70.3 83.5 82.8 82.9
Number (thousands) 3,463 1,211 4,143 1,587 974 735 847
  Asian alone
Sex  
Men 46.2 46.6 45.6 46.8 44.9 45.8 44.4
Women 53.8 53.4 54.4 53.2 55.1 54.2 55.6
Hispanic origin 2.2 0.1 1.7 2.6 0.8 2.3 0.8
Marital status  
Married 76.8 78.0 64.0 74.3 68.0 57.4 48.1
Nonmarried 23.2 22.0 36.0 25.7 32.0 42.6 51.9
Widowed 3.0 5.7 22.0 8.6 19.2 26.5 43.5
Divorced 8.4 7.0 6.5 7.9 5.5 8.2 4.1
Never married 5.7 5.4 4.0 6.2 3.0 2.7 2.7
Living with nonspouse family 62.5 49.7 45.4 49.1 40.3 38.6 50.9
Persons in family  
1 10.6 10.0 17.6 11.8 17.1 23.1 23.3
2 32.0 44.1 43.1 46.3 47.6 40.5 35.0
3 or more 57.4 45.8 39.3 41.9 35.4 36.5 41.8
Social Security beneficiary 4.2 16.6 63.5 55.1 65.2 78.9 62.6
Number (thousands) 1,453 548 2,029 723 504 359 443
  Hispanic origin
Sex  
Men 48.3 47.5 43.1 44.2 43.6 45.3 39.1
Women 51.7 52.5 56.9 55.8 56.4 54.7 60.9
Race  
White alone 91.6 90.9 91.5 91.1 89.8 92.4 93.2
Black alone 3.6 5.7 3.6 3.4 4.7 2.7 3.4
Asian alone 1.0 0.1 1.0 1.3 0.5 1.4 0.5
Marital status  
Married 59.6 60.6 51.3 58.7 54.1 52.9 34.5
Nonmarried 40.4 39.4 48.7 41.3 45.9 47.1 65.5
Widowed 4.7 7.3 23.5 10.6 19.7 26.5 47.6
Divorced 16.0 14.1 11.6 13.9 13.6 8.7 7.6
Never married 13.4 11.9 7.8 9.4 5.3 7.3 7.8
Living with nonspouse family 56.9 51.5 45.0 44.8 44.1 42.5 48.0
Persons in family  
1 19.3 18.3 23.8 20.6 22.2 23.9 30.8
2 31.6 39.1 41.0 42.6 42.4 44.1 34.6
3 or more 49.1 42.7 35.2 36.8 35.4 32.0 34.6
Social Security beneficiary 8.8 28.4 70.4 61.2 73.8 77.6 77.6
Number (thousands) 3,173 1,008 3,636 1,395 834 595 812
  Beneficiary
Sex  
Men 43.7 45.3 44.2 46.0 46.0 46.2 39.1
Women 56.3 54.7 55.8 54.0 54.0 53.8 60.9
Race  
White alone 77.3 81.7 86.5 84.6 86.5 85.8 89.0
Black alone 18.0 13.1 8.6 9.8 8.5 8.7 7.2
Asian alone 2.1 2.5 3.4 3.5 3.4 4.0 2.8
Hispanic origin 9.5 7.8 6.8 7.5 6.4 6.6 6.4
Marital status  
Married 46.0 59.8 55.4 63.5 61.5 57.6 38.5
Nonmarried 54.0 40.2 44.6 36.5 38.5 42.4 61.5
Widowed 10.4 10.2 26.3 12.3 18.5 26.5 49.8
Divorced 21.9 18.6 12.0 16.3 13.7 10.3 6.5
Never married 17.1 7.8 4.1 5.5 4.1 3.2 3.0
Living with nonspouse family 32.5 24.0 19.1 20.7 16.8 17.3 20.8
Persons in family  
1 37.3 30.4 33.7 27.8 29.7 32.6 45.5
2 37.8 51.4 53.1 56.6 58.3 55.3 42.2
3 or more 25.0 18.1 13.2 15.6 12.0 12.1 12.3
Number (thousands) 2,923 3,667 37,756 11,358 9,600 7,025 9,774
  Nonbeneficiary
Sex  
Men 48.8 49.0 45.3 49.6 46.7 34.4 37.5
Women 51.2 51.0 54.7 50.4 53.3 65.6 62.5
Race  
White alone 81.6 82.0 77.8 79.9 76.3 76.6 73.3
Black alone 11.1 10.0 11.0 10.8 10.0 12.9 11.3
Asian alone 5.2 6.2 9.0 7.4 10.9 7.7 12.9
Hispanic origin 10.9 9.9 13.0 12.4 13.6 13.6 14.2
Marital status  
Married 66.0 68.4 60.0 65.6 60.7 56.5 42.4
Nonmarried 34.0 31.6 40.0 34.4 39.3 43.5 57.6
Widowed 3.5 4.9 15.9 7.0 16.1 23.0 40.4
Divorced 16.7 14.7 13.2 15.8 13.3 8.9 7.8
Never married 10.2 8.8 8.2 8.5 7.2 8.9 8.0
Living with nonspouse family 40.4 29.9 34.2 31.0 35.9 35.7 42.0
Persons in family  
1 21.9 22.1 24.1 22.3 22.2 26.2 31.3
2 43.7 53.2 48.5 52.5 49.1 44.1 37.6
3 or more 34.4 24.7 27.4 25.3 28.6 29.7 31.2
Number (thousands) 26,512 7,315 8,238 4,370 1,609 977 1,281
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, 2014
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 38.8 14.5 3.8 6.8 2.8 1.2 1.7
55–61 51.2 44.5 10.9 21.3 8.2 3.8 1.2
62–64 5.6 29.6 11.6 23.3 8.6 3.0 1.1
65 or older 4.4 11.4 73.6 48.6 80.4 92.0 95.9
65–69 3.3 9.1 28.1 42.5 35.5 12.2 4.7
70–74 0.7 1.7 21.1 4.9 39.8 39.2 9.7
75–79 0.3 0.6 13.2 0.8 4.4 35.6 27.7
80 or older 0.1 0.0 11.2 0.3 0.7 4.9 53.8
Wife race  
White alone 82.9 84.3 86.9 84.5 87.8 88.5 88.6
Black alone 8.3 7.6 5.7 7.0 4.9 5.3 4.7
Asian alone 6.7 6.3 5.9 6.5 5.7 5.2 5.4
Wife Hispanic origin 10.7 8.6 7.7 8.7 7.1 7.8 6.7
Wife Social Security beneficiary 8.9 20.2 67.2 47.8 72.7 81.8 83.9
Number (thousands) 9,537 3,757 14,305 5,307 3,695 2,641 2,661
  White alone husbands
Wife race  
White alone 97.1 97.8 97.8 96.9 98.3 98.3 98.6
Black alone 0.2 0.4 0.1 0.3 0.0 0.1 0.1
Asian alone 1.6 0.8 1.1 1.4 1.0 1.2 0.8
Wife Hispanic origin 11.9 9.2 8.3 9.8 7.5 7.9 7.0
Number (thousands) 7,976 3,201 12,545 4,570 3,256 2,352 2,368
  Black alone husbands
Wife race  
White alone 6.9 3.0 3.3 3.0 4.0 1.7 5.0
Black alone 90.3 96.1 95.8 95.0 96.0 98.0 95.0
Asian alone 0.7 0.9 0.9 2.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
Wife Hispanic origin 3.7 6.4 1.8 0.9 2.3 4.1 1.1
Number (thousands) 842 283 830 378 187 140 125
  Asian alone husbands
Wife race  
White alone 5.5 3.2 4.7 3.4 5.2 4.6 6.7
Black alone 0.8 0.0 0.2 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.1
Asian alone 93.1 96.8 94.8 96.5 94.1 94.7 92.2
Wife Hispanic origin 1.2 0.8 2.0 0.0 1.3 7.4 2.4
Number (thousands) 536 215 723 280 190 115 137
  Hispanic origin husbands
Wife race  
White alone 94.1 92.2 95.3 97.1 92.8 94.2 95.5
Black alone 1.9 5.2 1.3 0.8 2.2 1.7 0.8
Asian alone 0.6 0.2 1.0 0.1 0.5 4.0 0.8
Wife Hispanic origin 85.4 87.0 87.4 86.7 88.3 87.2 88.3
Number (thousands) 970 304 1,044 438 242 190 174
  Beneficiary husbands
Wife Social Security beneficiary 31.0 35.8 77.4 59.0 79.8 87.8 92.6
Number (thousands) 649 1,065 11,573 3,682 3,169 2,376 2,347
  Nonbeneficiary husbands
Wife Social Security beneficiary 7.3 14.0 24.0 22.5 29.8 27.5 18.6
Number (thousands) 8,888 2,692 2,732 1,626 526 265 315
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, 2014
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 12.7 3.9 1.5 2.0 0.8 1.4 1.3
55–61 52.5 15.5 3.6 6.6 2.2 1.3 0.8
62–64 17.9 32.3 3.7 7.1 2.0 1.1 0.1
65 or older 16.8 48.3 91.2 84.3 95.0 96.2 97.8
65–69 12.2 35.9 22.3 47.4 8.1 2.2 1.1
70–74 3.2 9.2 25.7 27.5 46.2 8.2 1.6
75–79 1.1 2.3 21.0 6.8 32.6 48.1 8.0
80 or older 0.4 0.9 22.1 2.6 8.1 37.7 87.2
Husband race  
White alone 84.3 87.0 88.8 87.2 89.3 90.2 90.5
Black alone 8.3 6.6 5.4 6.6 4.8 5.0 3.7
Asian alone 5.6 5.2 4.4 4.8 4.2 3.5 4.6
Husband Hispanic origin 9.3 8.4 6.6 7.0 6.1 6.3 6.6
Husband Social Security beneficiary 20.5 45.2 80.3 71.8 85.7 86.7 86.9
Number (thousands) 9,305 3,442 11,550 4,767 3,183 1,957 1,642
  White alone wives
Husband race  
White alone 98.2 99.0 98.8 98.5 98.9 99.1 99.1
Black alone 0.5 0.2 0.3 0.5 0.1 0.2 0.0
Asian alone 0.4 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.2 0.0 0.5
Husband Hispanic origin 10.6 9.1 7.1 7.6 6.5 6.8 6.9
Number (thousands) 7,805 2,927 10,198 4,126 2,833 1,753 1,485
  Black alone wives
Husband race  
White alone 3.4 2.8 2.0 2.5 1.1 1.7 a
Black alone 96.1 95.8 97.2 96.9 97.7 98.3 a
Asian alone 0.3 0.9 0.2 0.0 1.0 0.0 a
Husband Hispanic origin 2.0 7.0 1.6 2.1 0.0 0.6 a
Number (thousands) 748 230 606 297 150 96 63
  Asian alone wives
Husband race  
White alone 12.8 21.1 15.6 14.2 17.5 21.1 10.6
Black alone 1.6 0.0 0.5 1.1 0.0 0.0 0.0
Asian alone 84.1 78.9 82.9 83.8 82.5 75.6 89.4
Husband Hispanic origin 0.4 0.3 1.7 2.1 1.6 2.3 0.0
Number (thousands) 580 213 576 258 152 90 76
  Hispanic origin wives
Husband race  
White alone 92.8 92.6 93.3 93.6 91.0 98.3 90.8
Black alone 3.5 4.8 1.7 1.6 2.3 0.4 2.6
Asian alone 1.0 0.0 1.6 2.2 1.2 0.0 1.8
Husband Hispanic origin 79.8 83.6 82.0 78.1 83.3 87.7 86.8
Number (thousands) 922 307 821 381 209 125 106
  Beneficiary wives
Husband Social Security beneficiary 46.3 65.7 90.5 83.7 92.9 95.6 96.7
Number (thousands) 695 1,128 9,342 3,527 2,732 1,669 1,414
  Nonbeneficiary wives
Husband Social Security beneficiary 18.5 35.2 37.4 38.0 42.4 35.3 26.3
Number (thousands) 8,610 2,314 2,208 1,240 451 288 228
a. Fewer than 75,000 weighted cases.