Demographics

Demographics: Who Are the Aged?

Those aged 65 and older are considered elderly, geriatric, aged. It's a diverse group influenced by age, gender, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and functional ability/disability.

The numbers of elderly, both in absolute value and as a proportion of the population has risen since 1900. Currently, 12% of the population is over 65, which is expected to increase to 20% by 2030. Seventy-five million babies were born during the post World War II baby boom years between 1946 and 1964. Another bump in the number of older people is due to occur between the years 2010 and 2030 as baby boomers reach retirement. So even if your students are not planning on working in the gerontology field, they will probably encounter the elderly more and more in the years 2010 and beyond. After the last of the Baby Boomers reach 65 in 2030, the percent of the elderly in the U.S. as a whole will level off until at least 2050.

Those 65 and older are categorized into three groups: the young-old, 65-74, old, 75-84 and the oldest old, 85 and older. Today, 12.5% of the geriatric population is in the fastest growing group of the oldest old. It is this group that will require the most health care. Although currently the older population is mostly Caucasian (84%), the Hispanic older population is expected to grow the fastest, increasing from 2 million (6%) in 2000 to more than 13 million by 2050 (16%). All other ethnic groups will see an increase in their total population and in their percent of the elderly population. It follows that the white population will have a corresponding decrease in its number. Women outnumber men in old age, and the gap widens in the upper age ranges. Of the oldest old, 70% are women.

Chart source: Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics. Older Americans 2004: Key Indicators of Well-Being. Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. November 2004.

Over the last century, women have widened the gender gap to outlive men by an average seven years. One reason for this is men are twice as likely to die from heart diseaseas women until age 75. Factors such as genetics (estrogen’s influence on lipoprotein patterns) and lifestyle (use of cigarettes) attribute to the difference.

Life expectancy has increased for the population as a whole, but disproportionately among various ethnic groups. African-American men, followed by African-American women exhibit lower gains in both life expectancy at birth and at age 65 than white men and women. One theory notes that African Americans reduced life-long access to medical care or physically demanding occupations. From the National Health and Nutrition Evaluation Survey (NHANES) data collected in the '80s, we do know that African Americans' higher mortality is related to smoking, high prevalence of diabetes, high blood pressure, high Body Mass Index (BMI) and low income.

Three-fourths of the deaths in the geriatric population in the U.S. are caused by three illnesses: heart disease, cancer and stroke. Death from heart disease continues to decline while those from lung cancer are increasing. A significant number of those over 85 succumb to influenza and pneumonia. Cigarette smoking contributes to 19% of all deaths in the U.S. While the percent of the population that smokes is declining, 18% of teenagers aged 16 and 17 smokes. Other preventable conditions in the elderly include high blood pressure (30% of population), uncontrolled hypertension (22%), overweight (25%) and not exercising.

The "new" old, recent retirees, are a sophisticated population with better financial resources, education levels and health knowledge than in the past. For these reasons, the elderly you will encounter in the future should be in better heath and financial situations than those currently. In 1998, 67% of the elderly had completed high school compared to 28% in 1970. Fewer minority elderly have high school diplomas than non-Hispanic whites.

In the aged population, poverty or low income is tied to poor nutritional status. In 1998, eleven percent of the elderly lived in families with income below the poverty line. The poverty rate among elderly, however, increases with age: 9% for the young-old to 14% for the old-old. Poverty rates also vary by sex, marital status and ethnicity being much higher for women, those who are single and minorities. Most older men are either married or, if widowed, live with family members as do African American and Hispanic elderly widows. Widowed white women tend to live alone. Divorced, African American women had the highest poverty rate in 1998 of 47%.

Turning our attention to Texas: Compared to the US as a whole, Texas is a slightly younger state. About 30% of the population is 18 and younger compared to 27% for the US. Ten percent of the population is 65 and older compared to 12% for the entire United States. Although Florida and Arizona used to be the hot spots for retirement sites for seniors, areas of the South, including Texas are looking more attractive. Texas saw a 19.5% increase in seniors (higher than Florida) in the 1990s. In the Dallas suburbs, many elderly have "aged in place," that is, they have chosen to remain where they settled in the '50s to start their families. The South offers warm weather and a relatively low cost of living.

The university towns like Austin offer cultural services that attract the more educated elderly. Data from 2002 shows 7% of Travis County residents are 65 and over. By 2030, the percent is expected to jump to 20%. Currently, about 20% of households are caring for their elderly relatives. There is a three-month to two-year waiting list for subsidized senior housing.

Take the quiz on this section's content.