SENIOR, ELDER STATISTICS

Since the 1900s the number of seniors or elders in our society has tripled. Seniors increased by 13% as compared to an increase of about 12% for those under 65 years of age. The statistics show that Americans between the ages of 45 and 65 who will reach 65 or older in the next two decades will increase by 31%. Our seniors are steadily getting older and living longer.

What effect does this have on life expectancy? In 2007, seniors reaching the age of 65 had a life expectancy of 83 to 85 years of age. A child born in 2007 could expect to live well into his or her late 70s. Females have a projected increase of approximately 2 years over that of a male. Much of this increase in life expectancy has occurred because of reduced death rates in children and young adults and the increased focus on living healthier life styles.

Looking at the statistics, in 2008, seniors or elders between the ages of 65 and 74 averaged about 20 million in our society. The seniors between the ages of 75 and 84 averaged around 13 million in our society. Those seniors 85 years and older registered to reach about 5 million. In this same year, there were 22.4 million senior women and 16.5 senior men. Also, in 2008 about 2.7 million people became seniors by celebrating their 65th birthday. Along with the birthday celebration of those 65 years of age, about 1.8 million seniors 65 years or older died. Census estimates indicated an increase of approximately 927,000 seniors 65 years of age and older in this year.

Did you know that there were about 92,000 seniors 100 years of age or older in 2008? What effect is this going to have on senior independence and other issues related to seniors?

For additional database sets on aging visit http://www.census.gov/popest/datasets.html.


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