Elder Law FAX -- May 22, 2006

Health and Welfare of Older Americans Improves
According to a recently released government report, seniors in the United States are in better health and enjoying a higher standard of living than their predecessors. Nonetheless, there are ominous clouds on the horizon.

The U. S. Census Bureau report, "65+ in the United States: 2005," was prepared by National Institute on Aging in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. Among the findings:

The population aged 65 and over is increasing--
* The United States population aged 65 and over is expected to double in size within the next 25 years.
* By 2030, almost 1 out of every 5 Americans -- some 72 million people -- will be 65 years or older.
* The age group 85 and older is now the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population.
* Geographically, Florida (17.6 percent), Pennsylvania (15.6 percent) and West Virginia (15.3 percent) are the "oldest" states, with the highest percentages of people aged 65 and older. Charlotte County, Fla. (34.7 percent) gets top honors among counties, and McIntosh County, N.D. (34.2 percent) ranks second.

Fewer older Americans are living in poverty--
* Poverty dropped from 35% of seniors in 1959 to 10% in 2003.

America's older population is in better health than ever, for now--
* The proportion of Americans age 65 and older with a disability fell significantly from 26.2 percent in 1982 to 19.7 percent in 1999.
* Heart disease deaths are dropping for people aged 65 and older.
* Heart disease, cancer, and stroke remain the leading cause of death.

Like America's population as a whole, senior adults are also growing more diverse--
* In 2003, older Americans were 83 percent non-Hispanic White, 8 percent Black, 6 percent Hispanic and 3 percent Asian.
* By 2030, an estimated 72 percent of older Americans will be non-Hispanic White, 11 percent Hispanic, 10 percent Black and 5 percent Asian.

Changes in the American family have significant implications for future aging--
* Divorce, for example, is on the rise, and some researchers suggest that fewer children and more stepchildren may change the availability of family support in the future for people at older ages. In 1960, only 1.6 percent of older men and 1.5 percent of women aged 65 and older were divorced. But by 2003, 7 percent of older men and 8.6 percent of older women were divorced and had not remarried.
* The trend may be continuing. In 2003, among people in their early 60s, 12.2 percent of men and 15.9 percent of women were divorced.

Disability and chronic health conditions remain a major problem for many senior adults--
* Fourteen million people age 65 and older reported some level of disability in Census 2000, mostly linked to a high prevalence of chronic conditions such as heart disease or arthritis.
* Older adults have the second-highest rate of death from automobile accidents (trailing only young people age 15-24).
* Reflecting the population as a whole, more older people are obese. Nearly a quarter of men aged 65-74 were obese in 1988-1994. By 1999-2000, more than a third of men in that age group were obese.
* For women of the same age, obesity rose from about 27 percent to nearly 39 percent during the same period. Adults aged 75 and older were less likely to be obese.

The report, issued in March 2006, may be accessed from the following Web page: http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/mar2006/nia-09.htm.

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