Objectives            Among the various sources of the elderly incomes are Social Security benefit, employment-based retirement plans, Social Security, individual saving, and post-retirement employment.  The examination of the changes in the elderly income sources is expected to shed a light on the dynamics of the economic status of the elderly. 

Data/Methods

In the United States, the average at which individuals retired in 2002 was 62 years old.  These trends indicate that average Americans will live at least 15 years after retirement.  As a result, retirement benefits – both Social Security and employer-provided plans – that in the past were expected to provide benefits for a few years must now provide benefits for many year (Wiatrowski, 2001).  Figure 1 shows that the mean age of person initially awarded Social Security benefit has been decreasing.  In the mist of controversies surrounding the sustainability of Social Security system and Medicare – two important subsidies for the elderly, the economic status of elderly has attracted much research attention.            Another important characteristic in the U.S. labor market in recent decades is the change in demographic composition.  Recent decades have witnessed a large increase in the foreign-born population, especially the immigrants of Hispanic descent.  I analyzed the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) Annual Social and Economic (ASEC) Supplement data for 1997 and 2007, to investigate how the economic status of the elderly population (defined as aged 65 or older) has evolved from 1996 to 2006.  The 2007 CPS data is the latest available data on the older population’s income.             With the findings from 1997 and 2007 CPS data, the economic status of the U.S. elderly population is put into perspective by comparing their real income and how the income relies on different sources.  Given the ever increasing share of the foreign-born population in the United States, I will also compare how the real income and its sources have evolved across ethnic-racial groups, including foreign-born population in the last decade.  The focus on foreign-born population is expected to answer various questions about the economic status of foreign-born population, and how they have fared after their arrival in the United States. 

Tentative results The economic status of the elderly has improved from 1996 to 2006.  In 2006 constant dollar, the before-tax income of the elderly in 2006 is higher for all 8 category groups across gender and ethnic-racial groups (white, black, Hispanic, and Asian) than in 1996.  The percentage change for Hispanic male is the largest at 35.2 percent, and the change for Black male is the smallest at 7.1 percent.  With this substantial increase, the income of Hispanic male elderly, who were poorer than black in 1996, surpassed that of the black male elderly in 2006.  In all categories, the largest share of elderly income was found to be Social Security.  The reliance on Social Security is larger for female elderly and the elderly from Mexico and Puerto Rico.