Americans Are Aging, Yet Their Experiences May Vary Widely

Los Angeles, CA – August 16: Mamie Underhill (left), 104 and her daughter Leita Chapman laugh while reading Mamie a birthday card from Leita Chapman for Mamie’s birthday (photo by David McNew/Getty Images)Getty Images
As we all recognize, the population of older adults is increasing at an exponential rate; yet each person ages differently and therefore for any meaningful reform in healthcare, caregiving or government policies to occur it’s crucial we better understand who older adults are and their life histories.

In its 2022 Profile of Older Americans report, the Administration for Community Living gives us an in-depth view into life for Americans age 65 or over in America. It paints an accurate portrait, yet reveals significant disparity.

As Baby Boomers reach age 65 and longevity increases for seniors, we see rapid expansion of the older adult population.

Many older adults enjoy financial security and stable households while remaining relatively healthy; however, others in their 70s and 80s can live precarious lives coping with death of family and friends, declining assets and growing healthcare and long-term care expenses.

Although the report provides only glimpses into these challenges, lower-income, less educated older adults are far more likely to struggle with poor health and higher medical and long-term care expenses in later life than those from wealthier backgrounds.

Highlights from this report: Finances

By 2022, there were nearly 58 million older adults, 32 million women and 26 million men, representing 17.3 percent of the total population – this number represents nearly an 8-fold increase since 2000 when only 35 million individuals aged 65 years or above existed.

While not mentioned specifically in this report, according to estimates provided by the Census Bureau nearly 25 million American are age 75 or over with over 6 million of these over 85s requiring assistance and needing support services.
Although US life expectancy has seen significant decreases over the years, older adults actually enjoyed longer lives after turning 65 than before the pandemic year of 2021. Women can anticipate living an additional 20.2 years while men average 17.5 more years on average.
Where Do Older Adults Live Florida has one of the highest populations of older adults at almost 22 percent; but you may be surprised to know that Maine, Vermont, West Virginia and Puerto Rico also boast high concentrations.
While over 60 percent of those age 65+ resided with either their spouse or partner, 28 percent lived alone – about 16 million individuals total. A third of older female residents lived by themselves while for those age 75+ nearly 42 percent resided alone.
Men had significantly more income than women–roughly $37,000 vs $25,000–than their counterparts in old age households, though about 17 percent earned less than this threshold while 10 percent reported annual salaries below $10,000. Median household income for older adults stood at just under $30,000. Median household income totalled nearly $73,000 while 17 percent made less than $35,000 while 10 percent reported gross annual salaries below $10k.
Nearly one in five older adults were either working or looking for employment as of 2023, according to U.S. census estimates. Of this total population of older people over age 60 living in poverty (6 million or 10%) approximately, another 2.7 million or 4.7% qualified as “near poor.”
There were substantial variations by race. Around 8 percent of White older adults live in poverty versus nearly 18 percent for Black seniors and 17 percent of Hispanic older adults.
More than seven in ten households headed by people 75 or older were owners, with median home values estimated to be $268,000. As was often observed with owners (about $39,000 vs $20,000 for renters), median household income for older home-owning households was almost twice that for renters (roughly equivalent).
One in Four Assess Their Health
Nearly one quarter of older adults assessed their own health as fair or poor and took at least one prescription medication; chronic conditions most prevalent among this population included high blood pressure, arthritis and high cholesterol – approximately 50% reported having at least one.
One third reported having at least some disability; approximately 1/5 had difficulty walking or climbing stairs, 1/7 experienced hearing issues and 28 percent stated they fell during the past year; 8 percent also indicated cognitive limitations.
Owing to their advanced age and large expenses associated with health care needs, even though 94% were covered by Medicare and 999% reported having some form of insurance in 2022, older adults spent over $7500 out-of-pocket on healthcare primarily related to premium payments for insurance policies.
While older adults face their own health challenges, approximately 15 percent provide care to spouses or other relatives as caregivers. Of the caregivers aged 65 or above who provided help on any given day, those aged 68+ were most likely to do so and provided it for an average of nearly five hours on each occasion.
This report’s message cannot be repeated enough: Older adults do not represent one homogeneous group – their lives vary considerably and so do their needs.