Statistics on Income and
Poverty
The latest Census Bureau statistics on income and
poverty show that the income of persons 65 and
older essentially was unchanged from 2002 to 2003.
Median income in 2003 of households headed by persons
65 and over was $23,787, which not statistically
different from the 2002 figure of 23,682.
Similarly, the poverty rate for persons 65 and
over was 10.2%, which is not statistically different
from the 2002 figure of 10.4%. The poverty rate
for persons 65 and over remains very close to
the all time low rate of 9.7 in 1999. Historically,
there has been a significant downward trend in
the poverty rate for the population 65 and over.
It was 28.5% in 1966, 24.6% in 1970, 15.7% in
1980, and 12.2 in 1990.
This lack of significant change in the income
and poverty of the elderly holds true for almost
all racial and ethnic categories. (Asians are
an exception).
This Census report also showed that 99.2% of
the population 65 and over had public and/or
private health insurance. Medicare covered 96.0%,
Medicaid covered 9.2% and 61% had private health
insurance. [These categories are overlapping
since many people have both Medicare and supplemental
private insurance; some have both Medicare and
Medicaid.]
Additional information may be found on the Census
Bureau web site at:
http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/income03.html