Aging Statistics

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Baby Boomers Aging Stats

Anyone born from 1946 – 1964 is in the Baby boomer category. I'm smack dab in the middle – 1955... so I think I really relate to boomers both earlier and later than me.

Between 2010 and 2020, the senior group will increase from 39 million to 53 million (that's 14 million more seniors in a ten year period... all needing retirement income and health care).

In the year 2020, 1 in 6 Americans will be seniors.

Demograpics of the Aging Population

Older Americans (age 65+) is projected to more than double from 46 million today to over 98 million by 2060.  That's more than double 2010 senior headcounts.

This older group is more racially and ethnically diverse.

Seniors are working longer. By 2022, 27 percent of senior men will be working and 20 percent for women.

Why is this happening? 

We are living longer.... in fact, 30 years have been added to the life expectancy of Americans during the 20th century.

Longer lives are great – but that also means you need more income, possibly with a second career or owning a small business; more in savings accounts as it needs to last longer; finally, you will pay health care and insurance premiums longer.

You might already know this, but older women age 65+ outnumber older men by 3 to 2. At age 85+, they outnumber men by 7 to 3.

Ever Wonder why the Senior Men walk with their head down?  They are trying to avoid all the Senior Women out there! Grin!

Phobia of Aging (our issues)

Obesity rates among retirees have been increasing. Obesity hits 40 percent of 65-74 year olds in 2009-2012. We need to take charge of  our bodies and correct this to stay healthy and continue to live good lives.

There are economic disparities across retirees. Adults age 65+, 18% of Latinos and 19% of African Americans lived in poverty in 2014—more than twice the rate among older non-Hispanic whites (at 8%). Why oh Why? Retirees cannot continue to live at poverty levels.

More retirees are divorced nowadays. Some divorce early in life, others divorce after retirement. Either way, this only increases the seniors who live alone.

On that top, 27% of women (age 65 - 74) lived alone in 2014. As women age, this jumps to 42%  (age 75 - 84). The oldest women, over age 85, are at 56%.  I am surprised that this statistic isn't even higher as it seems, to me, the  majority of women are single in their older years.

The aging of the baby boom generation could fuel a 75% increase of Americans ages 65+ requiring nursing home care, to about 2.3 million in 2030 from 1.3 million in 2010. This is mind boggling and a huge part of building new businesses of boomer nursing care and assisted living. This will greatly affect our nations financial stability... these nursing costs will be astronomical.

Demand for nursing care also occurs with the rise in Alzheimer’s disease, which could nearly triple by 2050 to 14 million, from 5 million in 2013. That's why Bill Gates is working to cure Alzheimer's! Kudos to Bill for doing something BIG to help conquer this disease.

Lots of retirees also means that Social Security and Medicare will increase from a combined 8% of gross domestic product today to 12% by 2050. Don't touch my Social Security, but our legislators really do need to figure out this huge budget issue.

More Stats:

Retirement statistics on aging seniors

Baby boomer generation