The poverty rate among older people living in the community increases substantially with age. Nearly 11 percent of people age 65 to 74 were poor in 1992, compared with about 20 percent for age 85 and above. Poverty is especially a problem for older women, particularly for those living alone. Women make up 58.4 percent of the elderly population, but 71.3 percent of the poor elderly. Wealth, too, is very unevenly distributed among older Americans.
Home ownership is most likely to be the province of married couples.
About 90 percent of married couples age 65 to 69 own their homes, compared with 67 percent of aged women who live alone. The aging of America has dramatic effects on social structure in the U.S., influencing marital status, caregiving, and living arrangements. These changes are likely to have an enormous impact on the current, informal system of long-term care, affecting who needs care, who can provide it, and who can afford it. The gender gap in life expectancy and differences in remarriage rates among middle-aged and older adults account for much of the differences. In addition, divorced men age 45 to 64 remarry at a rate of 67 per 1,000 compared with 30 per 1,000 for women of the same age.