The most rapid increase is expected from 2010 to 2030, when the baby boom generation reaches 65. Four percent of the men and women over 65 are divorced. Nearly 17 percent of all food stamp households contain at least one individual age 60 or over. There are 1.7 million older individuals who receive food stamp benefits. Medicaid pays for approximately 45 percent of the nursing home costs in the U.S. and for 87 percent of the government spending for nursing homes.
Most older people have at least one chronic condition and many have multiple conditions.
About 20 percent of older Americans need help getting out of bed and bathing. Only about five percent of elderly Americans live in nursing homes. Forty percent of people over 65 will require nursing home or other long-term care at some point, but fewer than a third have planned financially for that possibility. Elderly people living alone comprise close to 30.5 percent of all older households, with women accounting for almost 78 percent of all elderly people living alone. Nearly 25 percent of elderly persons who live alone have incomes below the federal poverty threshold.