The Administration on Aging released its latest Profile of Older Americans, which is chock full of interesting statistics. Here’s a selection:
Total Numbers
- In 2020, the 65 and over population comprised 30.8 million women and 24.8 million men, making up 17% of the U.S. population.
- This constituted a 38% increase since 2010 as compared with a 2% increase in the under-65 population.
- The number of Americans age 65 and over is expected to increase from 55.7 million in 2020 to 80.8 million in 2040, double the 2010 number of 40.4 million.
- In 2020, persons reaching age 65 had an average life expectancy of an additional 18.5 years (20 years for women and 17 years for men).
The States
- The four states with the highest 65+ population were Maine (22%), Florida (21%), West Virginia (21%), and Vermont (21%).
- More than half of 65 and older Americans lived in nine states: California (6 million), Florida (4.6 million), Texas (3.9 million), New York (3.4 million), Pennsylvania (2.4 million), Ohio (2.1), Illinois (2.1 million), North Carolina (1.8 million), and Michigan (1.8 million).
- However, these did not overlap with the states with the fastest growing older populations from 2010 to 2020, which were Alaska, Nevada, Colorado, Idaho, Arizona, South Carolina, Utah, Delaware, and Georgia.
- Massachusetts is just slightly older than the nation as a whole with 1.2 million residents age 65 and over making up 17.4% of the population. The number increased 32% from 2010 to 2020.
Race
- White Americans are older than minorities. While just 10% of racial and ethnic populations were 65 and older, 21% of non-Hispanic whites were over that age threshold.
Work
- In 2020, 10.9 million of older Americans (19.4%) were working or seeking work, making up 6.6% of the U.S. labor force.
Health
- One in five Americans aged 65 to 74 and 27% of those age 75 or older assess their health as fair or poor. Their leading chronic conditions are arthritis, coronary heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. Almost a third self-report as obese and one in five have had an emergency room visit in the prior year.
- Almost one in five older Americans (18%) reported difficulty in six areas of functioning: Seeing (even when wearing glasses), 21%; hearing (even with hearing aids), 29%; mobility, 39%; communication, 8%; cognition (memory and concentration), 28%; and self-care (washing and dressing), 8%.
Caregiving
- More than 40 million caregivers provide unpaid care to family or non-family members age 65 or older.
- Of theses, 15% provide care to people with whom they live and 83% to people with whom they do not live. (It appears that the other 2% were providing care to both.)
Grandchildren
- 1.1 million grandparents age 60 and older live with and are responsible for the care of grandchildren under the age of 18.
The focus on Americans age 65 and over seems misguided to me. Most people between 65 and 84 are in relatively good health and able to live independently. That picture changes significantly after age 85, when a much higher proportion need assistance due to cognitive or physical decline. The statistics would be more useful if they described the status of the older old, rather than dumping everyone age 65 and above into the same cohort.