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***Note to media:** This press release is issued by the Federal
Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics. The Forum, which
prepared* Older Americans 2008: Key Indicators of Well-Being, *is made
up of 15 Federal agencies that use or produce data about older
Americans. The agencies are: the U.S. Census Bureau at the Department of
Commerce; the Administration on Aging, the Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, the
National Center for Health Statistics, the National Institute on Aging,
the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation and
the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration at the
Department of Health and Human Services; the Department of Housing and
Urban Development; the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Employee Benefits
Security Administration at the Department of Labor; the Department of
Veterans Affairs; the Environmental Protection Agency; the Office of
Statistical and Science Policy at the Office of Management and Budget;
and the Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics at the Social
Security Administration.*

**Embargoed for release**

Thursday, March 27, 2008, 10:15 a.m. ET

**Media contacts:**

Vicky Cahan

National Institute on Aging

\(301\) 496-1752

nianews3@mail.nih.gov

Jeff Lancashire

National Center for Health Statistics

\(301\) 458-4800

paoquery@cdc.gov

**Americans Living Longer, Enjoying Greater Health and Prosperity, but
Important Disparities Remain, Says Federal Report**

Average life expectancy continues to increase, and today's older
Americans enjoy better health and financial security than any previous
generation. However, rates of gain are inconsistent between the genders
and across age brackets, income levels and racial and ethnic groups.
Some critical disparities also exist between older Americans and older
people in other industrialized countries. These and other trends are
reported in *Older Americans 2008: Key Indicators of Well-Being,* a
unique, comprehensive look at aging in the United States from the
Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics*.*

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*Older Americans 2008*, the fourth chartbook prepared by the Forum since
2000, provides an updated, accessible compendium of indicators, drawn
from the most reliable official statistics about the well-being of
Americans primarily age 65 and over. The indicators are categorized into
five broad areas---population, economics, health status, health risks
and behaviors and health care. The 160-page report contains data on 38
key indicators---and a one-time special feature on health literacy.

The Forum---a consortium representing 15 agencies with responsibilities
for Federal data collection or aging programs---collects, interprets and
updates these data and makes them available to government agencies,
policymakers, the media and the public.

"This report comes at a critical time," according to Edward Sondik,
Ph.D., director, National Center for Health Statistics. "As the baby
boomers age and America's older population grows larger and more
diverse, community leaders, policymakers and researchers have an even
greater need for reliable data to understand where older Americans stand
today and what they may face tomorrow."

"The 'greatest generation' made enormous gains in health and financial
security, although the gains were not shared equally," says Richard
Suzman, Ph.D., director of the Behavioral and Social Research Program at
the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of
Health. "We'll be tracking their children, those just reaching their
60s, to see whether those gains can be sustained or even improved."
Suzman cautions that there could be problems, however. For example, he
notes that increased rates of obesity among today's middle-aged could
threaten the health of these adults as they age.

"The sheer size of the baby boom cohorts is certain to affect our
health, long-term care and pension systems,\" says Benjamin E. Sasse,
Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Department of Health
and Human Services. "As we look ahead, it is imperative that we collect
and analyze quality data to help policymakers plan for the future of
these programs so important to aging Americans."

**Highlights from *Older Americans 2008* include:**

**Population --** The demographics of aging in the United States
continue to change dramatically, as the baby boomers accelerate growth
in the percentage and numbers of older people and other important
parameters change.

-   In 2006, an estimated 37 million people in the United States---12
    percent of the population---were 65 and older. Projections forecast
    that by 2030, approximately 71.5 million people will be 65 and
    older, representing nearly 20 percent of the total U.S. population.

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-   In 1965, 24 percent of older adults had graduated from high school,
    and 5 percent had bachelor's degrees. By 2007, 76 percent were high
    school graduates, and 19 percent had at least a bachelor's degree.
    Substantial educational differences exist among racial and ethnic
    groups. Eighty-one percent of non-Hispanic whites age 65 and older
    had finished high school in 2007, compared with 72, 58 and 42
    percent, respectively, of older Asians, blacks and Hispanics.

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**Economics --** More older people enjoy increased prosperity than any
previous generation, with an increase in higher incomes and a decrease
in the proportion of older people with low incomes and in poverty.
However, major inequalities continue to exist for older blacks and for
people without high school diplomas, who report smaller economic gains
and fewer financial resources.

-   Income generally rose between 1974 and 2006. The proportion of older
    people with incomes below the poverty line went from 15 percent to 9
    percent; those categorized with low income dropped from 35 percent
    to 26 percent; those with high incomes increased from 18 percent to
    29 percent.

-   Median net worth for households headed by whites age 65 and older
    was six times that of older black households, although the gap has
    slightly narrowed since 2003.

-   More older people, especially women, continued to work past age 55.

**Health Status --** Americans' longevity continues to increase,
although life expectancy at age 65 in the United States is lower than
that of other industrialized countries. While older people experience a
variety of chronic health conditions that often accompany aging, the
rate of functional limitations among people age 65 and older has
declined in recent years.

-   Life expectancy in the U.S. is lower than that of many high-income
    countries, such as Canada, France, Sweden and Japan. For example, in
    2003, women age 65 in Japan could expect to live 3.2 years more on
    average than women in the United States, with the difference among
    men at 1.2 years. In the early 1980s, U.S. women age 65 had one of
    the highest average life expectancies in the world, but over the
    next two decades, the life expectancies of older women in many
    countries surpassed that of women in the United States.

-   The prevalence of certain conditions differs by sex and by race and
    ethnicity. Women reported higher levels of arthritis than men did,
    while men reported higher levels of heart disease and cancer.
    Non-Hispanic blacks reported higher levels of hypertension and
    diabetes than did non-Hispanic whites. Hispanics reported higher
    levels of diabetes than did non-Hispanic whites.

-   The prevalence of functional limitations declined from 49 percent in
    1992 to 42 percent in 2005.

**Health Risks and Behaviors --** Factors affecting the health and
well-being of older Americans, such as smoking history, influenza and
pneumonia vaccinations and mammogram screenings, are key indicators that
have shown long-term improvements but no significant change in recent
years.

-   There was no significant change in the percentage of older people
    engaged in physical activity between 1997 and 2006.

-   The percentage of people age 65 and older who are obese, as with
    other age groups, increased between 1988-1994 and 2005-2006, from 22
    percent to 31 percent. However, over the past several years, the
    trend appears to have leveled off.

-   The percentage of older people living in counties with poor air
    quality for any air pollutant decreased from 55 percent in 2000 to
    34 percent in 2006.

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**Health Care --** Health care costs, particularly for prescription
drugs, have risen dramatically for older Americans.

-   Between 1992 and 2004, average inflation-adjusted health care costs
    for older Americans increased from \$8,644 to \$13,052. Costs varied
    by race and ethnic group, income and health status.

-   In 2004, as in the previous 4 years, over half of out-of-pocket
    health care spending (excluding health insurance premiums) by
    community-dwelling older people was for purchase of prescription
    drugs. By 2004, prescription medications accounted for 61 percent of
    these out-of-pocket expenses. Out-of-pocket costs for prescription
    drugs are expected to decline because of the savings available
    through the Medicare prescription drug program.

-   The implementation of the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefits
    is included in the Indicators volume for the first time. From June
    2006 through September 2007, the number of beneficiaries age 65 or
    older enrolled in the program increased from 18.2 million to 19.7
    million, with two-thirds selecting stand-alone plans and one-third
    in Medicare Advantage plans.

Several new specific indicators have been added in *Older Americans
2008*:

-   **Housing.** Most older people live in adequate, affordable housing.
    However, a significant percentage has housing-related issues that
    can pose problems to an older person's physical or psychological
    well-being. In 2005, 41 percent of households with people over age
    65 had significant housing-related problems, such as housing cost
    burden (expenditures on housing and utilities that exceed 30 percent
    of household income), physically inadequate housing and crowded
    housing. The prevalence of housing cost burden for households with
    people age 65 and over increased from 30 percent in 1985 to 38
    percent in 2005, compared with 26 and 33 percent, respectively, for
    all U.S. households. Notably, a smaller percentage of older adults'
    housing had major physical problems, such as faulty plumbing or poor
    upkeep---5 percent in 2005 versus 8 percent in 1985.

-   **Use of Time.** The proportion of leisure time that older Americans
    spent socializing and communicating---such as visiting friends or
    attending social events---declines by age, from 13 percent in those
    ages 55 to 64 to 10 percent for those 75 and over. The proportion of
    leisure time devoted to sports, exercise, recreation and travel also
    declines with age. On an average day, most Americans age 65 and
    older spent at least half of their leisure time watching television.
    Americans age 75 and older spent a higher proportion of their
    leisure time reading, relaxing and thinking than did those ages 55
    to 64.

-   **Health Literacy.** Among older Americans, the average level of
    health literacy---the extent to which people can obtain, process and
    understand basic health information and services---was lower than
    that of any other age group, and it continued to decrease with age.
    Thirty-nine percent of people age 75 and over had below basic health
    literacy, compared with 23 percent of people ages 65 to 74 and 13
    percent of people ages 50 to 64.

**Members of the Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics**
-- The Forum was established in 1986 to improve the quality and utility
of Federal data on aging. The 15 agencies

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that now compose the Forum include the Administration on Aging, Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Centers
for Medicare & Medicaid Services, U.S. Census Bureau, Department of
Housing and Urban Development, Department of Veterans Affairs, Employee
Benefits Security Administration, Environmental Protection Agency,
National Center for Health Statistics, National Institute on Aging,
Office of Management and Budget, Office of the Assistant Secretary for
Planning and Evaluation (Department of Health and Human Services),
Social Security Administration and Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration.

**\###**

**To access the update or order printed copies of *Older Americans 2008*
--** *Older Americans 2008: Key Indicators of Well-Being* is available
online at [www.AgingStats.gov](http://www.AgingStats.gov/) and in
limited quantities in print. Supporting data for each indicator,
including complete tables, PowerPoint slides and source descriptions,
can be found on the Forum's Web site. Single printed copies of *Older*
*Americans 2008: Key Indicators of Well-Being* are available at no
charge through the National Center for Health Statistics while supplies
last. Requests may be made by calling

1-866-441-6247 or by sending an e-mail to <nchsquery@cdc.gov>. For
multiple print copies, contact Forum staff director Kristen Robinson at
(301) 458-4460 or send an e-mail request to <agingforum@cdc.gov>.

Edward Sondik, Ph.D., director, National Center for Health Statistics,
and Richard Suzman, Ph.D., director of the Behavioral and Social
Research Program at the National Institute on Aging at the National
Institutes of Health, are available to discuss the Forum report with the
media. Those interested in data regarding specific indicators will be
referred to the specific agency responsible for that topic. Media may
contact Vicky Cahan, Director of Communications at the National
Institute on Aging, (301) 496-1752 or nianews3@mail.nih.gov.