PNN Online: People: Report: Older Americans living longer, more prosperous, better educated

August 14, 2000

Report: Older Americans living longer, more prosperous, better educated

The stereotype of vast numbers of elderly people living from Social Security check to Social Security check, stuck in tumbledown housing as they battle health problems is going to have to change, according to a new report from the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics.

The new "Older Americans 2000: Key Indicators of Well-Being" report -- compiled from data from nine federal agencies, including the Social Security Administration and the National Institute on Aging -- finds Americans 65 and older are better educated and in better health and fiscal shape than any previous generation.

The nation's recent economic boom hasn't excluded senior citizens, either: the number of older Americans living below the poverty line has dropped steady from 35 percent in 1959 to 11 percent of seniors in 1998.

The poverty rate decline can be attributed to improved health care, higher levels of education and better pensions and Social Security, Richard Suzman -- associate director for behavioral and social research at the National Institute on Aging -- told the Washington Post.

"Older Americans 2000" does, however, reveal racial disparities when it comes to the elderly. White Americans in general continue to live longer, in better financial condition, and have better educations than do African-Americans and Hispanics.

Frank Stafford, a research scientist at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research, says older African-Americans are more likely to go into debt -- through such methods as refinancing their homes -- to help relatives and friends, the Post reports.

The report says other factors, such as lower high school graduation rates, fewer assets and a greater incidence of chronic disease among African-Americans, document a trend many researches have recognized for years.

And while the life expectancy and prosperity of African-Americans is increasing, younger generations still don't have access to the same quality of health care, education or higher-paying jobs as their white counterparts, the Post reports.

It's the "hidden undiscussed differential between whites and blacks...," Douglas Besharov, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, told the newspaper. "The catch-up race only started 40 years ago: It takes a great number of generations for families to catch up."

ILC What's more, a higher percentage of the next generation of elderly blacks may be living in poverty than the present generation, Robert Butler, president and CEO of the New York-based International Longevity Center - USA, told the newspaper. Butler says this is due to the high number of black men in prison -- nearly 10 percent of all black men ages 25 to 29 -- and the effect of drug abuse and AIDS on the community, the Post reports.