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| Estimated Number of Printed Pages: 15
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TOPICS COVERED: Aging is a huge global issue that will have a dramatic impact – both for our individual families and our larger world. Therefore, this page contains demographics of aging populations in the United States and in an global perspective. We've also included information about the financial situation of the elderly in selected countries. Under a category we're calling "Caregiving for the Aging," we discuss cultural perceptions on who is responsible for the elderly, views on what is ideal housing for the elderly, and how many elderly are living with children and on their own. Also, under "Elders at Risk," we have provided some material on the elderly disabled and elder abuse. For information about the roles of the elderly within the family (for example, how the elderly themselves are caregivers), however, go to the Related Memos.
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| Elderly in the U.S.
35.0 million
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| Number of U.S. population age 65 and over in 2000, a ten-fold increase from 3.1 million in 1900. 1.
12.4 percent
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| of the U.S. total population were aged 65 or over in 2000. 2.
5.9 percent
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| of the U.S. total population were over 75 years old in 2000. 3.
1.5 percent
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| of the U.S. total population were over 85 years old in 2000. 4.
4.1 percent
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| of the U.S. total population aged 65 or over in 1900 – just a third of what it is today, and 1.9 percent less than the current population of those over 75. 5.
56 percent
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| of those in the U.S. 65 and over are married. 6.
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| Aging – Internationally
2.5 months every year –
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| what the population of the European Union ages every year — two years each decade. And this trend is likely to continue well into the next century. The proportion of the population below age 20 is likely to decline further from more than 23 percent to 19 percent, while the proportion above age 60 will increase from 21 percent to 34 percent. Simultaneously, the mean age of the European population, presently at around 39 years, is likely to reach 45 years by the year 2030. 7.
45 years old
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| what the mean age of the European population will be by the year 2030 – an increase by six years from 2000's mean age of 39. 8.
Over 40 percent
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| of the world's elderly live in the United States and other More Developed Countries. But those same nations only make up about 20 percent of world population. 9.
More people over 80 years old
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| There are more people ages 80 and over in the U.S. than there are in India, despite the fact the American population is just a quarter of India's. 10.
Eight percent
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| of the world’s elderly live in the United States. That is the third largest population of elderly in the world. 11.
13 percent
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| of the world's "oldest old" – those age 80 and older – live in the United States. 12.
There were 11 elderly adults
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| for every 100 working age adults in the world in 2000. 13.
There will be 16 elderly adults
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| for every 100 working age adults in the world in 2025 – an increase of almost 50 percent. 14.
China, India, Japan, Indonesia, and the United States
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| were the nations that contributed the most to the past decade's growth of the world's elderly population. This was due primarily to the countries' comparatively low mortality rates and their large overall populations. 15.
65 percent
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| of the world’s oldest old live in ten countries – most of which are the More Developed Countries. China and India are included in the nations' with the most "oldest old" – but that is because of the sheer size of their national populations. No other "less developed countries" are on the top ten list for having the most the oldest old. 16.
Aging –
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| the world's population. With aging populations and lower birth rates, by 2025, the world’s population will have a higher proportion of elderly and a smaller proportion of children than there are today. 17.
1996
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| The year in which Italy became the first and only country in the world in which the number of older people exceeded that of the young. 18.
About 53 percent
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| of Austria's public who believe that the elderly should "renounce their rights and interests and to make way for young people." That is 18 percent higher a response than was surveyed in 1989. 19.
1.2 million
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| The increase in the number of those living in France who are now 60 years old or older in just nine years – 1990 to 1999. 12.5 million are now at least 60. 4.5 million are over 75. 20.
1.01 million
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| Number of elderly in Egypt in 1947. 21.
3.4 million
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| Number of elderly in Egypt in 1996. That is a 209 percent increase from 1947. 22.
About 5 percent
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| of population for the "El Mashrek El Araby" countries (e.g. Egypt, Syria, Palestine, Jordan) is elderly. That has been holding fairly steadily for a number of years. 23.
2.6 percent
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| of Bahrain's total population who were 65 and older, in 1975. 24.
2.9 percent
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| of Bahrain's total population who were 65 and older, in 2000. 25.
13.2 percent
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| of Bahrain's total population who were 65 and older, in 2025. 26.
1.6 percent
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| of Kuwait's total population who were 65 and older, in 1975. 27.
2.0 percent
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| of Kuwait's total population who were 65 and older, in 2000. 28.
10.3 percent
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| of Kuwait's total population who estimated to be 65 and older, in 2025. 29.
2.0 percent
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| of United Arab Emirates' total population who were 65 and older, in 1975. 30.
2.5 percent
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| of United Arab Emirates' total population who were 65 and older, in 2000. 31.
17.7 percent
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| of United Arab Emirates' total population estimated to be 65 and older, in 2025. 32.
12.5 percent
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| of Argentina's total population aged 60 and older, in 1980. 33.
13.3 percent
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| of Argentina's total population aged 60 and older, in 2000. 34.
5.2. percent
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| of Bolivia's total population aged 60 and older, in 1980. 35.
6.2 percent
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| From a government pamphlet written in 1937 to support passage of the U.S. Social Security Act:
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| "Old people, like children, have lost much of their economic value to a household. Most American families no longer live in houses where one can build on a room or a wing to shelter aging parents and aunts and uncles and cousins. They no longer have gardens, sewing rooms, and big kitchens where old people can help make the family's living.
Old people were not "dependent" upon their relatives when there was need in a household for work they could do. They have become dependent since their room and their board cost money, while they have little to give in return. Now they need money of their own to keep the dignity and independence they had when their share in work was the equivalent in money." 37.
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| of the world’s elderly are covered under pension programs. 38.
Less than 50 percent
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| of households with a householder 65 and over received any retirement income other than Social Security. 39.
90 percent
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| of U.S. householders 65 and over receive Social Security income. 92 percent of 75 to 84 year old householders and 91 percent of those 85 and over receive Social Security. 40.
One out of three
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| households with a householder over 65 and older had earnings as a source of income. 41.
9.8 percent
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| of those 65 years old and over in the U.S. live below the poverty level – lower than the national average of 12.7 percent. 42.
3.5 million
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| of those over 65 years of age in the U.S. live below the poverty level. 43.
Lower
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| the median income for those over 65 was $31,556 for men, and $22,511 for women, compared to the median incomes of all men and women over 16 (men at $37,057 and women, $27,194). 44.
Almost one in four
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| elderly people in Spain are financially helping out their children or other relatives. 45.
2.7 percent
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| of elderly people in Spain are financially depending on their children or others. 46.
14.5 percent
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| of the elderly in Spain live below the poverty line – which is less than the proportion who live in poverty for all other Spanish age groups. 47.
About 28 percent
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| Who Should Be Responsible for the Elderly?
37 percent
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| of those surveyed in the European Union, who – when asked, “Who has to bear the burden of looking after dependent old people?” – answered "their children." 49.
48 percent
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| of Italians who – when asked, “Who has to bear the burden of looking after dependent old people?” – answered "their children." 50.
Over 60 percent
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| of those in Greece, Spain and Portugal – when asked, “Who has to bear the burden of looking after dependent old people?” – answered "their children." 51.
Two percent
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| of Italians surveyed think elderly parents should be cared for in an old folk’s home. 52.
12.6 percent
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| is the average in the European Union of those who think elderly parents should be cared for in an old folk’s home. 53.
Adult children and others
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| were traditionally solely responsible for the elderly of Italy. But families are increasingly relying on paid care and assistance. The number of families getting help with care of an elderly relative –both informally and formally – at least once grew by almost ten percent between 1983 and 1998. 54.
Daughters and other relatives
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| were traditionally responsible for the elderly of South America. But the growth of state-run welfare services, including retirement benefits, has lessened the burden on families, especially the acute care needed to those over 80 years old. 55.
Four to seven percent
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| of the elderly of More Developed Countries live in nursing homes. In the U.S., four percent are in nursing homes. In Canada, 6.8 percent are in a nursing home; in Israel, 4.4 percent, and South Africa, 4.5 percent. 56.
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| In the U.S., as a rule, elderly don't plan on living with their children; nor do children automatically expect it. To the point that those who do usually come from strong-family ethnic backgrounds where parents' living with children is more common. 57.
25 percent
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| of the elderly surveyed in Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Great Britain, and the Netherlands, said that they'd rather live with their children than have any other arrangement. 58.
74 percent
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| of the elderly surveyed in Spain, Portugal, and Italy, said that they'd rather live with their children than have any other arrangement. 59.
91 percent
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| of elderly surveyed in Greece said that they'd rather live with their children than have any other arrangement. 60.
550,146
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| U.S. householders have a parent living with them. That's a 33.2 percent increase from 1990's 412,880. 61.
28 percent
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| of U.S. elders over 65 live alone. 62.
92 percent
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| of the elderly in Kuwait live with their children. 63.
73 percent
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| of elderly in Cairo, Egypt live with family members while almost 90 percent are being taken care of by their children, whom they live with, or live near by. Elderly without children are more likely to live on their own, or as couples. 64.
More than half
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| of the people in France who live alone are 60 years old or older. 65.
80+ and still on their own –
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| – in France – 40 percent are living alone. 66.
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| –and in Spain. In the past 20 years, the percentage of those over 80 and living with their children has dropped. Men are living with a partner; women are living by themselves. 67.
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But they're still in regular contact –
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| The majority of Spanish elderly and their children are still in regular contact: it's a social and familial obligation expected both by society and the family members themselves. 68.
611,000
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| elderly people lived alone in Japan in 1975. While there were 931,000 elderly couple households. 69.
3,179,000
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| elderly people lived alone in Japan in 2001. By that year, the number of elderly couple households had risen to 4,545,000. 70.
More than 80 percent
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| of the U.S. population aged 65 to 74 in 2000 had a long-lasting condition or a disability. 72.
72 percent
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| of the U.S. population aged 85 and over in 2000 had a long-lasting condition or a disability. 73.
"Granny Battering"
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| the term in British scientific journals first used to describe elder abuse. 74.
36 percent
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| of U.S. nursing-home nursing and general staff in a survey reported having witnessed at least one incident of physical abuse by other staff members in the preceding year. Ten percent of those surveyed admitted to having committed at least one act of physical abuse themselves. 75.
82 percent
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| of U.S. nursing-home nursing and general staff in a survey reported having witnessed at least one incident of psychological abuse by other staff members in the preceding year. 40 percent of those surveyed admitted to having committed at least one act of psychological abuse themselves. 76.
At the hands of their children, caregivers or partners during the previous 5 years –
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| seven percent of Canadian elderly have suffered some form of emotional abuse; one percent have endured financial abuse, and one percent were the victims of physical abuse or sexual assault. 77.
500
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| Estimated number of older women murdered each year in the United Republic of Tanzania because they are accused of practicing witchcraft. 78.
51 percent
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| of older persons in a study in Argentina, who reported that they had been the targets of verbal aggression by their family members. 79.
11 percent
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| of older persons in a study in Argentina, who reported that they had been the targets of family members' physical aggression. 80.
_________________________________________________________
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| 1. Frank Hobbs and Nicole Stoops, Demographic Trends in the 20th Century, US Census Bureau, Census 2000 Special Reports, CENSR-4, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC (November 2002), p. 1. Archived at: http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/censr-4.pdf
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| 2. Frank Hobbs and Nicole Stoops, Demographic Trends in the 20th Century, US Census Bureau, Census 2000 Special Reports, CENSR-4, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC (November 2002), p. 59. Archived at: http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/censr-4.pdf
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| 3. Frank Hobbs and Nicole Stoops, Demographic Trends in the 20th Century, US Census Bureau, Census 2000 Special Reports, CENSR-4, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC (November 2002), p. 59. Archived at: http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/censr-4.pdf
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| 4. Frank Hobbs and Nicole Stoops, Demographic Trends in the 20th Century, US Census Bureau, Census 2000 Special Reports, CENSR-4, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC (November 2002), p. 59. Archived at: http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/censr-4.pdf
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| 5. Frank Hobbs and Nicole Stoops, Demographic Trends in the 20th Century, US Census Bureau, Census 2000 Special Reports, CENSR-4, US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC (November 2002), p. 59. Archived at: http://www.census.gov/prod/2002pubs/censr-4.pdf
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