Monthly Labor Review April 2000 19

Americans: Young and Old

Both the elderly and children have experienced improvements

in their health status, but do not share the same enhancements

in economic well-being; data for the elderly are compared

with data from a recent report on indicators of child well-being

Economic and social conditions

of children and the elderly

David Scott Johnson

David Scott Johnson

is a research economist

in the Division

of Price and Index

Number Research,

Over the past four decades, the proportion of children in the U.S. populationhas fallen from 36 percent (in 1960) to

26 percent (in 1998), and is expected to drop to

approximately 24 percent in 2020. (See chart 1.)

Over the same period, in contrast, the share of

elderly persons has risen from about 9 percent of

the population to 13 percent, and is projected to

increase to 16 percent by 2020. The 1998 United

Nations World Population report shows that these

changes in composition are occurring throughout

the world.1

As these populations of children and the elderly have changed, so have their economic and

social circumstances. Based on many socioeconomic measures, the elderly today are as well off

as, and perhaps better off than, the nonelderly. It

is important to note that socioeconomic measures

for the elderly are better than those for children.

The data also show that children are an increasing fraction of the poor, despite the reduction in

family size. A 1984 study first noted this trend.2

Since that time, several authors have revisited

this issue and found that the elderly are better off

economically than are children (as measured by,

for example, relative family incomes) and also are

better off in noneconomic ways as well, such as

improved health insurance coverage.3

This article expands on previous studies, and

provides a wider range of socioeconomic indicators to compare the status of the elderly and children. It uses a report, America’s Children: Key

National Indicators of Well-being, 1999, which

presents 23 indicators of “child well-being and

six population and family background measures.4 The report examines the trends during

the past two decades. These indicators are monitored through official Federal statistics covering

children’s economic security, health, behavior,

social environment, and education. They were

chosen because they are easy to understand,

objectively based on reliable data, and measured

regularly. Also, they represent large segments of

the population from infancy to age 18 and a balanced mix of the “well-being” domain. For the

elderly, this article uses studies similar to those

used to compile the data for America’s Children

to develop socioeconomic indicators by which

to compare with the data for children. (See notes

to table 1.)

Many of the socioeconomic indicators are important for monitoring the quality of life for both

children and the elderly.5 This article compares

many of these indicators for children from infancy

to 18 years of age with those of the elderly age 65

and older. Table 1 shows the comparable indicators for both children and the elderly for selected

years between 1980 and 1998. One can observe

the socioeconomic conditions of the two groups

for a particular year, and can compare the changes

that have occurred since 1980.

Population family characteristics

The report on America’s Children highlights the

changes in demographics in the population

among children. For instance, as the proportion

Bureau of Labor

Statistics.
20 Monthly Labor Review April 2000

Americans: Young and Old

of children in the population has decreased over the years,

the proportion of elderly has increased. (See chart 1.) Also,

today’s children are living in environments with greater racial

and ethnic diversity than did previous generations.6 Another

major change for children is in their family structure, with a

much lower percentage of children living with both parents in

1987, compared with those who did in 1980.

In comparison, the family structure of the elderly has remained the same, with a stable percentage of elderly living

with their spouse. This figure differs for men and women,

however. Elderly women are much more likely than elderly

men to live alone, because the life expectancy for women exceeds that for men by about 5 years at age 65 and because

older men tend to marry younger women. The data also show

an increasing share of children living in a household maintained by their grandparents.7

Economic security

The indicators of economic security highlight the main disparities between children and the elderly. The poverty rate

among the elderly has fallen rapidly, while the poverty rate of

children has risen significantly. (See chart 2, page 24.) The

poverty rate for the elderly is now below the poverty rate for

nonelderly adults. Although the poverty rate among children

as a whole has modestly declined in recent years, there is a great

and growing distributional disparity among children. While some

children are doing well, there is a large fraction of children whose

economic, health, and social status has declined.8

Furthermore, children are more than three times as likely as

the elderly to live in families with income below 50 percent of

the poverty line and these children are at much greater risk of

experiencing adverse outcomes (such as lower standardized

test scores).9 Similar proportions of children and the elderly

live in families with income that is more than 400 percent of the

poverty line.10 This suggests that there is greater income disparity among families with children than among the elderly

and that this disparity is increasing for families with children.

However, economic disparity between families with children

and the elderly depends on the poverty measure used in the

analysis. While the official poverty measure in 1997 indicates

that children are more than 80 percent more likely to be poor, an

experimental measure for 1997, using a method similar to one

proposed by the National Academy of Sciences, shows that

children are less than 15 percent more likely to be classified

as poor.11 In addition, the poverty rate for the elderly has

fallen from 12.2 percent in 1990 to 10.5 percent in 1997, while

the experimental rate for the elderly has remained fairly constant. Alternatively, the official child poverty rate has fallen

less than 1 percentage point since 1990, while the experimen1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 2020

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Percent Percent

Chart 1. Children and the elderly as a percentage of the U.S. population, 1950 98 and projected

 1999 2020 

Children

Elderly

SOURCE: Bureau of the Census.
Monthly Labor Review April 2000 21

Socioeconomic indicators for children and the elderly, selected years between 1980 and 1998

Year Value Year Value

Population

In millions

Children1 ........................................................................................................... 1980 63.7 1998 69.9

Elderly2 ............................................................................................................. 1980 25.7 1998 34.4

In percent

Children1 ........................................................................................................... 1980 28.0 1998 26.0

Elderly1 ............................................................................................................. 1980 11.0 1998 13.0

Racial and ethnic origin (in percent)

Children:

White, non-Hispanic1 ........................................................................................ 1980 74.0 1998 65.0

Black, non-Hispanic1 ........................................................................................ 1980 15.0 1998 15.0

Hispanic1 .......................................................................................................... 1980 9.0 1998 15.0

Elderly:

White, non-Hispanic2 ........................................................................................ 1980 88.0 1998 84.0

Black, non-Hispanic2 ........................................................................................ 1980 8.0 1998 8.0

Hispanic2 .......................................................................................................... 1980 3.0 1998 5.0

Family structure (in percent)

Children living with two parents1 .......................................................................... 1980 77.0 1998 68.0

Children living with one parent1 ........................................................................... 1980 20.0 1998 27.0

Children living with grandparents3 ....................................................................... 1980 3.6 1998 5.6

Elderly living with spouse3 .................................................................................. 1980 53.6 1998 54.2

Men ................................................................................................................... – – 1998 72.6

Women .............................................................................................................. – – 1998 40.7

Elderly living alone or with nonrelatives3 ............................................................. 1980 32.3 1998 31.9

Men ................................................................................................................... – – 1998 18.3

Women .............................................................................................................. – – 1998 41.7

Poverty and family income (in percent)

Official poverty measure:

Related children in poverty1 .............................................................................. 1980 17.9 1997 19.3

Elderly in poverty4 ............................................................................................ 1980 15.7 1997 10.5

Experimental poverty measure:

Children in poverty5 ....................................................................................... 1990 23.0 1997 20.8

Elderly in poverty5 ......................................................................................... 1990 18.1 1997 18.4

Income distribution:

Children in families with incomes below 50

percent of poverty1 ........................................................................................ 1980 6.6 1997 8.5

Elderly with incomes below 50 percent of poverty4 .......................................... 1980 2.1 1997 2.2

Children in families with incomes between 100 percent and 200 percent

of poverty1 ..................................................................................................... 1980 24.0 1997 21.4

Elderly with incomes between 100 percent and 200 percent of poverty4 ......... 1980 33.5 1997 28.1

Children in families with incomes over 400 percent of poverty1 ....................... 1980 16.8 1997 25.0

Elderly with incomes over 400 percent of poverty4 .......................................... 1980 18.4 1997 26.0

Employment (in percent)

Children living with parents with at least one parent employed

full-time all year1 ............................................................................................... 1980 70.0 1997 77.0

Children living with parents with both parents or only parent employed

full-time all year1 ............................................................................................... 1980 20.0 1997 35.0

Elderly employed6 ............................................................................................... 1980 12.2 1998 11.6

Housing (in percent)

Households with children reporting:1

Inadequate housing .......................................................................................... 1983 8.0 1997 77.4

Crowded housing .............................................................................................. 1983 8.0 1995 7.0

Households headed by elderly person reporting:7

Inadequate housing .......................................................................................... 1987 6.5 1997 5.8

Crowded housing .............................................................................................. 1987 .5 1995 .3

Food security (in percent)

Children in households experiencing food insecurity with moderate

or severe hunger1 ............................................................................................. – – 1997 4.2

Children ages 2 to 5 with good diet quality1 ........................................................ – – 1996 24.0

Children ages 6 to 12 with good diet quality1 ...................................................... – – 1996 12.0

Children ages 12 to 18 with good diet quality1 .................................................... – – 1996 6.0

Households with elderly persons and (no children) experiencing food

insecurity with moderate or severe hunger8 ..................................................... – – 1997 1.4

Elderly with good diet quality9 ............................................................................. – – 1994–96 21.0

Early period Current period

Description of indicator or characteristic

Table 1.

See footnotes at end of table.
22 Monthly Labor Review April 2000

Americans: Young and Old

Continued—Socioeconomic Indicators for children and the elderly, selected years between 1980 and 1997

Cigarette smoking:

12th grade students who reported smoking

daily in the previous 30 days1 ....................................................................... 1980 21.3 1998 22.4

Elderly who smoke on some days:11

Men .............................................................................................................. 1979 20.9 1995 14.9

Women ......................................................................................................... 1979 13.2 1995 11.5

Victims of violent crime:

Per 1,000 youth ages 12 to 171 ...................................................................... 1980 37.6 1997 27.1

Per 1,000 elderly (including simple assaults)13 ................................................ 1980 7.2 1997 4.4

Educational achievements

Average reading scale scores, students age 131 ............................................... 1982 14259 1996 14259

Average mathematics scale scores, students age 131 ...................................... 1982 14269 1996 14274

Literacy (in percent):

Youth ages 16 to 18 with limited prose literacy15 ............................................ – – 1992 51.0

Youth ages 16 to 18 with limited quantitative literacy15 ................................... – – 1992 55.0

Elderly with limited prose literacy15 .................................................................. – – 1992 76.0

Elderly with limited quantitative literacy15 ........................................................ – – 1992 71.0

High school completion rates (in percent):

Young adults, ages 18 to 241 .......................................................................... 1980 84.0 1997 86.0

Elderly16 ........................................................................................................... 1980 40.7 1997 67.0

Early period Current period

Table 1.

Year Value Year Value

Access to health care (in percent)

Children covered by:

Private health insurance1 ................................................................................. 1987 87.0 1997 85.0

Public health insurance1 ................................................................................... 1987 19.0 1997 23.0

Elderly covered by:

Private health insurance10 ................................................................................ 1987 99.0 1997 99.0

Public health insurance .................................................................................... 1987 96.0 1997 96.0

Health status and activity limitation (in percent)

Children in very good or excellent health1 ........................................................... 1984 78.0 1996 81.0

Children in poverty ........................................................................................... 1984 62.0 1996 65.0

Elderly in very good or excellent health11 ........................................................... 1984 36.3 1996 38.0

Elderly in poverty ............................................................................................. 1984 29.6 1996 27.5

Children ages 5 to 17 with any limitation in activity resulting from

chronic conditions1 ........................................................................................ 1984 6.1 1996 7.5

Children in poverty ........................................................................................... 1984 8.7 1996 12.0

Elderly with activity limitation11 ........................................................................... 1984 39.0 1996 36.3

Elderly in poverty ............................................................................................. – – 1996 49.7

Mortality

Deaths before the first birthday per 1,000 live births1 ........................................ 1980 12.6 1997 7.2

Deaths per 100,000:

Children ages 1 to 41 ........................................................................................ 1980 63.9 1997 35.8

Children ages 5 to 141 ...................................................................................... 1980 30.6 1997 20.8

Adolescents ages 15 to 191 ............................................................................. 1980 97.9 1997 74.8

Number of deaths per 100,000:

Elderly ages 65 to 7512 ..................................................................................... 1980 2,995 1997 2,510

Elderly ages 75 to 8512 ..................................................................................... 1980 6,693 1997 5,728

Elderly ages 85 and older12 .............................................................................. 1980 15,980 1997 15,345

Deaths per 100,000 by firearm:

Adolescents ages 15 to 191 ............................................................................. 1980 14.7 1996 21.2

Elderly ages 65 and older12 .............................................................................. 1980 13.5 1996 13.9

Deaths per 100,000 by motor vehicle:

Adolescents ages 15 to 191 ............................................................................. 1980 42.3 1996 28.2

Elderly ages 65 and older12 .............................................................................. 1980 22.5 1996 23.0

Life expectancy (in years):

Years remaining at birth12 ................................................................................. 1980 73.7 1997 76.5

Years remaining at age 6512 .............................................................................. 1980 16.4 1997 17.6

Behavior and social environment

Description of Indicators or characteristic

See footnotes at end of table.
Monthly Labor Review April 2000 23

tal rate has fallen by more than 2 percentage points. (See chart

3, page 24.)12

As with most age groups in the total population, there has

been a recent improvement in the economic well-being of children. Since 1993, the poverty rate for children has fallen and

more children are living with an employed parent. Moreover, the

percentage of children living with both parents working fulltime all year has almost doubled since 1980, increasing from 20

percent to 37 percent. Alternatively, the percentage of all elderly employed has stayed relatively constant since 1980.

The economic security of children and the elderly also affects

the incidence of hunger and the likelihood that these groups

have a sufficiently good diet. Children are more likely to experience hunger than the elderly, with 4.2 percent living in households with moderate to severe hunger in 1997, compared with

1.4 percent of households with an elderly person (and no children). In 1996, most children and adolescents had a diet that was

poor or needed improvement, as indicated by their Healthy Eating Index.13 Table 1 shows that as children get older, their diet

quality declines. In 1996, among children ages 2 to 5, 24 percent

had a good diet. For those ages 13 to 18, 6 percent had a good

diet. The elderly tend to have a diet quality that is similar to that

for young children. In the 1994–96 period, 21 percent of the

elderly had a good diet.

In addition to insufficient food quality, inadequate or crowded

housing can pose serious problems to a person’s physical, psychological, or material well-being. Table 1 also shows that

children are much more likely to live in inadequate or crowded

housing. In 1995, 7 percent of households with children reported

living in crowded housing, while the share for the elderly is less

than 0.5 percent.

Health status

Another important social indicator of well-being is health status. Consequently, a person’s access to health care can suggest that they have a reasonable assurance of obtaining the

medical and dental attention needed to maintain their physical well-being. The report on America’s Children shows that

the proportion of children covered by health insurance has

remained constant since 1987; however, during the same period, the proportion of children covered by private health insurance has decreased and the percentage of children covered by public health insurance has increased. Almost all of

the elderly have public health insurance and this has remained

stable since 1980.

Both children and the elderly have experienced slight improvements in their reported health status since 1980. (See

table 1.) The percentage of elderly who say that they are in

very good or excellent health has increased from 36 percent

in 1984 to 38 percent in 1996 and the percentage of children

whose parents report that their children are in very good or

excellent health has increased from 78 percent in 1984 to 81

percent in 1996.

While the health status of children has increased, the percentage of children who have limitations in activity (such as

difficulty playing or attending school, due to chronic conditions) has increased over the 1984–96 period. The elderly,

however, have experienced a decrease in the rate at which

they suffer limitations in activity. Poor children and poor elderly persons are much more likely than their nonpoor counterparts to have worse health status and experience activity

limitation.

One of the major improvements in the health status of children and the elderly is indicated by the decrease in mortality

rates. There has been a dramatic decrease in mortality rates

for all age groups. As a result, life expectancy at birth has

increased 2.1 years, and life expectancy at age 65 has increased 1 year.

An area in which children have experienced a reduction in

well-being is in the firearm mortality rates for adolescents.

Almost 30 percent of all deaths for adolescents ages 15 to 19

1 America's Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being (Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics, 1999).

2 Current Population Reports, U.S. Bureau of the Census.

3 Current Population Reports, Marital Status and Living Arrangements , U.S.

Bureau of the Census.

4 Current Population Reports, Series P-60 and unpublished tables, U.S. Bureau of the Census.

5 Experimental Poverty Measures, P60–205, U.S. Bureau of the Census,

table B8e.

6 Employment and Earnings, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

7 American Housing Survey, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

8 Measuring food security in the United States, 1995–1998 (Advanced Report), U.S. Department of Agriculture.

9 Unpublished tables, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

11 Current estimates from the National Health Interview Survey, 1984 and

1996 unpublished tables, U.S. National Center for Health Statistics.

12 Deaths: Final Data for 1997, U.S. National Center for Health Statistics.

13 National Crime Victimization Reports, U.S. Department of Justice.

14 The reading and mathematics proficiency scales have a range from 0 to

500. For reading, the scale score at level 250 implies that the individual is

able to interrelate ideas and make generalizations. For math, the score at

level 250 implies that the individual can perform numerical operations and

beginning problem solving.

15 Digest of Education Statistics, 1997, National Center for Education Statistics.

16 Current Population Reports, Educational Attainment in the U.S., U.S. Bureau of the Census.

NOTE: Dash indicates data not available.

Footnotes—Socioeconomic Indicators for children and the elderly, selected years between 1980 and 1997

Table 1.

10 Table H1–2, U.S. Bureau of the Census.

Table 1.
24 Monthly Labor Review April 2000

Americans: Young and Old

1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Percent Percent

Chart 2. Official poverty rates for children, adults (ages 18 to 64), and the elderly, 1960–97

Elderly

Children

Adults

SOURCE: Poverty in the United States 1997, Series P-60 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1998). 

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

Percent Percent

Chart 3. Official and experimental poverty rates for children, adults (ages 18 to 64), and the elderly,

 1990–97

Children

 SOURCE: K. Short and others, Experimental Poverty Measures: 1990 1997 ( U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1999), table 

B8e. 

Elderly

Adults

Solid line = official rates.

Line with circles = experimental rates.
Monthly Labor Review April 2000 25

Notes

1 1998 State of the World Population: THE NEW GENERATIONS (New

York, NY, United Nations Population Fund, United Nations, 1998).

2 S. Preston, “Children and the Elderly: Divergent Paths for

America’s Dependents,” Demography, 1984, vol. 21, no. 4, pp. 435–

57.

3

 See, for example, America’s Children: Key National Indicators of

Well-being (Washington, Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics,1999); J. Palmer, T. Smeeding, and B. B. Torrey, The

Vulnerable (Washington, The Urban Institute Press, 1988); and A Profile of Older Americans: 1997 (Washington, U.S. Administration on

Aging, 1998).

4 America’s Children: Key National Indicators, 1999.

5

 C. Jencks and B. Torrey “Beyond Income and Poverty: Trends in

Social Welfare among Children and the Elderly Since 1960,” in, J.

Palmer, T. Smeeding, and B.B. Torrey, eds., The Vulnerable (Washington, The Urban Institute Press, 1988), pp. 229–65; and Profile of

Older Americans, Administration on Aging.

6 America’s Children: Key National Indicators, 1999; and A Profile

of Older Americans.

7

 L. Casper, and K. Bryson, “Co-resident Grandparents and their

Grandchildren: Grandparent Maintained Families,” Working Paper no.

26 (Population Division, U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1998).

8 America’s Children: Key National Indicators, 1999.

9

 G. Duncan, J. Yeung, J. Brooks-Gunn, and J.R. Smith, “How much

does child poverty affect the life chances of children?” American Sociological Review, 1998 June, pp. 406–23.

10 L. Rainwater and T. Smeeding “Doing Poorly: The Real Income

of American Children in a Comparative Perspective,” Luxembourg

Income Study Working Paper (Syracuse, NY, 1995). Rainwater and

Smeeding show that the well-being of these children compares favorably to the well-being of similar children in other countries.

11 See Connie F. Citro and Robert T. Michael, Measuring Poverty: A

New Approach (Washington, National Academy Press, 1995); and K.

Short, T. Garner, D. Johnson, and P. Doyle, Experimental Poverty

Measures: 1990–1997 (U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the

Census, 1999).

12 Short, and others, Experimental Poverty Measures, 1999. The

experimental poverty measure used in this article uses income net of

taxes and transfers and subtracts work-related and healthcare expenditures. This measure is labeled DES-DCM2 and appears in table B8e in

Short and others.

13 The Healthy Eating Index is a summary measure of diet quality

consisting of 10 components, each representing different aspects of a

healthy diet. A score above 80 implies a good diet. See S. A. Bowman,

M. Lino, S. A. Gerrior, and P. P. Basiotis, The Healthy Eating Index:

1994–96 (U.S. Department of Agriculture, Center for Nutrition and

Policy Promotion, 1998).

14 All adult age groups have shown a decrease in smoking activity.

15 Health United States, 1998 (Hyattsville, Maryland, National

Center for Health Statistics, 1998).

are caused by firearm injuries and this rate has almost doubled

since 1980, while the rate for the elderly is a small percentage

of total deaths and has increased modestly.

Behavior and social environment

A third area that is useful in assessing the well-being of children and the elderly is their exposure to high-risk behavior.

Although the report on America’s Children presents data on

youth’s drug and alcohol use, we compare the prevalence of

cigarette smoking. Twelfth graders are much more likely to

smoke than the elderly, and the proportion of youth who

smoke has increased, especially over the last 5 years, while

the share among the elderly has fallen.14

It also appears that children are much more likely to be

victims of violent crimes than are the elderly; however, the

rate of children victimized by violent crime has fallen slightly

since 1980.

Education

A higher level of education can reflect a higher level of wellbeing, in terms of increased economic opportunity and the

ability to adjust to changing economic situations. Table 1

shows that today’s young adults are much more educated

than today’s elderly. The high school completion rate for

young adults (ages 18 to 24) is 86 percent, compared with 67

percent for the elderly. This completion rate for young adults

has remained fairly constant since 1980, while the rate for the

elderly and all other age groups has increased dramatically.

While this measure of high school completion suggests an

improved picture of the education of the elderly, they are still

less likely to have a high school education and much more

likely to have limited literacy. About three-fourths of the elderly have limited prose and quantitative literacy.

BOTH THE ELDERLY AND CHILDREN are experiencing improvements in health status, but do not share the same increases in

economic well-being. In addition, recent indicators suggest that

children are experiencing more behavioral and social environment problems. These data, however, do not show the distribution of well-being within the populations of children and the

elderly and, hence, do not show the disparity among each grouping. While this disparity is difficult to measure, one method is to

determine if these social indicators vary for different demographic groups. For example, the report shows that poor children are more likely than nonpoor children to have lower health

status, to have activity limitations, and to experience hunger.

Similarly, the elderly who are poor are more likely than nonpoor

elderly to experience these same negative outcomes.15

In some respects, it appears that the elderly are better off than

children, however, if this continues, today’s children could face

a brighter future as older Americans. In most cases, the socioeconomic indicators also could suggest that the well-being of

our most vulnerable populations, children and the elderly, are at

a great risk of experiencing detrimental outcomes.