Income of the Population 55 or Older, 2002
 

Importance of Income Sources Relative to Total Income

Units Receiving Income from Specified Source

Aged Units

Units 65 or Older

Table 6.B1
Percentage distribution, by age
Proportion of income Aged 55–61 Aged 62–64 Aged 65 or older
Total 65–74 75 or older
Retirement benefits a
Total percent b 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 22 16 5 7 2
20–39 21 15 8 12 5
40–59 14 12 10 12 8
60–79 9 12 13 14 13
80 or more 34 46 64 55 72
50 or more 50 64 82 75 89
90 or more 29 39 55 48 62
100 17 21 31 27 35
Mean proportion 54 64 79 73 84
Number (thousands) 3,470 2,777 23,930 11,466 12,465
Social Security c
Total percent b 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 22 24 10 14 6
20–39 20 23 16 19 13
40–59 14 15 17 18 16
60–79 9 11 16 15 17
80 or more 36 28 41 33 48
50 or more 52 47 66 58 73
90 or more 31 24 34 27 39
100 23 17 22 18 25
Mean proportion 56 51 65 59 71
Number (thousands) 1,649 2,315 23,260 11,088 12,171
Government employee pensions d
Total percent b 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 23 28 19 20 18
20–39 31 18 25 25 26
40–59 18 19 26 26 26
60–79 12 18 19 17 20
80 or more 17 17 11 12 10
50 or more 37 45 41 39 42
90 or more 13 10 5 6 5
100 5 5 2 2 2
Mean proportion 44 46 45 44 45
Number (thousands) 916 520 3,507 1,762 1,745
Private pensions or annuities
Total percent b 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 36 33 42 41 43
20–39 22 31 33 33 32
40–59 15 17 18 19 17
60–79 7 11 5 5 5
80 or more 20 8 3 3 3
50 or more 34 25 14 14 14
90 or more 16 7 2 2 2
100 7 4 1 1 1
Mean proportion 40 36 28 28 27
Number (thousands) 1,316 993 7,476 3,660 3,816
Earnings
Total percent b 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 2 8 18 15 29
20–39 3 10 18 17 21
40–59 6 9 20 21 19
60–79 10 15 23 24 18
80 or more 79 58 20 22 14
50 or more 92 78 54 57 41
90 or more 69 47 14 14 11
100 25 19 7 7 7
Mean proportion 87 74 52 54 43
Number (thousands) 11,576 2,917 5,665 4,452 1,214
Income from assets
Total percent b 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 88 85 73 76 69
20–39 6 8 15 14 17
40–59 2 3 6 6 7
60–79 1 2 3 2 4
80 or more 3 2 2 2 3
50 or more 5 5 8 6 10
90 or more 3 2 1 1 2
100 2 1 1 1 1
Mean proportion 8 10 15 13 17
Number (thousands) 8,470 2,570 14,323 7,062 7,261
Public assistance
Total percent b 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 25 28 31 31 32
20–39 13 15 21 23 19
40–59 11 11 11 10 12
60–79 5 9 4 5 2
80 or more 46 38 33 31 34
50 or more 56 51 40 39 40
90 or more 45 37 32 30 34
100 38 35 30 27 32
Mean proportion 61 56 50 49 50
Number (thousands) 716 233 1,189 604 585
NOTE: Units with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
a. Includes Social Security benefits, Railroad Retirement, government employee pensions, and private pensions or annuities.
b. Aged units with at least one dollar of income from the specified source are included in the calculation. Previous editions excluded aged units receiving less than 1 percent of total income from the particular source for the calculation of the percentages. The effect of this change is negligible for all income sources except asset income. For comparison with 2000, the numbers for the importance of asset income in 2000 based on the new methodology are included in Appendix B. The mean proportions and population counts were unaffected by this change.
c. Includes retired-worker benefits, dependents' or survivors' benefits, disability benefits, transitionally insured benefits, and special age-72 benefits.
d. Includes federal, state, local, and military pensions.
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Table 6.B2
Percentage distribution, by age, marital status, and sex of nonmarried persons
Proportion of income Aged 55–61 Aged 62–64 Aged 65 or older
Married couples Nonmarried persons Married couples Nonmarried persons Married couples Nonmarried persons
Total Men Women Total Men Women Total Men Women
Retirement benefits a
Total percent b 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 29 13 8 15 22 9 8 9 7 3 4 3
20–39 28 12 13 11 18 11 9 12 12 6 8 5
40–59 16 12 11 13 12 12 8 14 12 8 10 8
60–79 7 12 12 12 12 11 12 11 16 11 10 12
80 or more 21 51 55 49 36 58 63 54 54 71 68 72
50 or more 35 70 74 68 55 75 79 72 76 87 82 89
90 or more 16 45 49 44 29 50 58 46 45 62 60 63
100 7 30 32 30 11 33 43 27 20 39 39 39
Mean proportion 43 69 72 67 56 73 77 71 73 83 81 84
Number (thousands) 1,968 1,502 566 936 1,469 1,308 503 805 9,630 14,301 3,760 10,541
Social Security c
Total percent b 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 37 7 3 9 33 13 15 12 15 7 10 5
20–39 29 10 11 10 27 19 22 16 21 12 15 11
40–59 12 15 16 15 14 15 10 19 20 15 18 14
60–79 7 11 10 11 10 12 9 14 17 15 14 16
80 or more 15 57 60 55 16 41 44 39 27 51 42 53
50 or more 28 77 79 75 32 61 61 62 54 74 65 77
90 or more 13 49 51 48 13 35 41 32 21 42 35 44
100 9 36 38 35 7 26 37 20 12 28 25 29
Mean proportion 37 74 77 73 40 62 63 62 55 71 65 74
Number (thousands) 818 831 294 537 1,185 1,130 422 708 9,334 13,925 3,627 10,298
Government employee pensions d
Total percent b 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 27 16 10 20 34 18 14 21 23 16 12 17
20–39 37 20 24 18 19 16 8 23 27 23 16 26
40–59 17 19 25 14 21 16 17 16 25 27 29 26
60–79 9 17 18 16 11 29 34 25 17 21 27 19
80 or more 11 28 23 32 15 22 28 16 8 13 17 12
50 or more 27 54 55 54 36 58 68 49 36 46 54 42
90 or more 6 25 20 29 8 14 18 10 3 7 8 7
100 1 11 6 16 3 7 11 5 1 3 3 3
Mean proportion 37 55 54 57 40 55 62 48 42 48 53 46
Number (thousands) 576 340 142 198 311 209 94 115 1,790 1,717 455 1,262
Private pensions or annuities
Total percent b 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 39 32 26 36 33 33 21 41 42 42 32 47
20–39 23 19 17 20 32 29 25 31 35 30 33 29
40–59 16 11 10 12 16 18 24 14 18 18 25 15
60–79 6 9 10 8 12 9 18 3 4 6 6 6
80 or more 16 29 37 24 7 11 12 11 2 3 4 3
50 or more 30 42 51 36 25 26 33 21 12 16 19 15
90 or more 11 25 32 20 6 8 9 8 1 3 3 2
100 3 14 20 10 3 6 8 5 0 2 3 1
Mean proportion 37 47 55 43 35 37 44 32 27 29 33 27
Number (thousands) 857 459 176 283 624 368 144 224 3,847 3,628 1,168 2,460
Earnings
Total percent b 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 2 3 2 3 8 8 7 9 18 18 13 21
20–39 3 3 3 3 10 10 12 10 19 16 15 16
40–59 7 4 4 4 9 11 10 11 20 21 23 19
60–79 12 8 7 8 16 11 9 13 24 20 21 20
80 or more 77 82 83 82 58 59 62 58 18 25 29 23
50 or more 92 92 93 92 78 77 78 77 52 56 63 52
90 or more 67 74 74 74 45 52 52 52 10 20 23 18
100 19 35 39 33 15 26 25 26 4 12 14 10
Mean proportion 86 89 89 88 74 75 75 74 51 54 58 52
Number (thousands) 7,362 4,214 1,597 2,617 1,900 1,018 325 693 3,529 2,136 736 1,400
Income from assets
Total percent b 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 91 83 84 82 87 83 83 84 75 71 71 71
20–39 5 7 7 7 7 9 10 8 16 15 13 16
40–59 2 3 3 2 3 4 5 3 6 7 8 7
60–79 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 5 3
80 or more 1 6 4 7 2 2 1 3 2 3 3 3
50 or more 3 9 8 10 5 6 5 7 6 9 12 8
90 or more 1 5 4 6 1 2 1 3 1 2 2 2
100 1 5 4 6 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1
Mean proportion 6 12 11 13 9 11 10 11 14 16 17 16
Number (thousands) 5,526 2,944 1,081 1,864 1,613 957 312 646 6,841 7,482 1,943 5,539
Public assistance
Total percent b 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 39 19 17 20 e 16 e 15 31 32 29 32
20–39 18 11 10 12 e 17 e 15 20 22 19 22
40–59 11 11 10 12 e 14 e 15 11 11 11 11
60–79 9 3 2 4 e 7 e 7 4 4 8 3
80 or more 23 56 61 53 e 47 e 48 35 32 33 32
50 or more 38 63 68 61 e 59 e 61 43 39 45 37
90 or more 22 55 60 52 e 46 e 46 35 31 33 31
100 18 46 48 45 e 44 e 44 31 29 33 28
Mean proportion 44 68 71 66 e 65 e 65 51 49 51 48
Number (thousands) 205 511 181 330 52 181 47 135 238 952 211 740
NOTE: Units with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
a. Includes Social Security benefits, Railroad Retirement, government employee pensions, and private pensions or annuities.
b. Aged units with at least one dollar of income from the specified source are included in the calculation. Previous editions excluded aged units receiving less than 1 percent of total income from the particular source for the calculation of the percentages. The effect of this change is negligible for all income sources except asset income. For comparison with 2000, the numbers for the importance of asset income in 2000 based on the new methodology are included in Appendix B. The mean proportions and population counts were unaffected by this change.
c. Includes retired-worker benefits, dependents' or survivors' benefits, disability benefits, transitionally insured benefits, and special age-72 benefits.
d. Includes federal, state, local, and military pensions.
e. Fewer than 75,000 weighted cases.
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Table 6.B3
Percentage distribution, by Social Security beneficiary status, marital status, and sex of nonmarried persons
Proportion of income Beneficiary a Nonbeneficiary
All units Married couples Nonmarried persons All units Married couples Nonmarried persons
Total Men Women Total Men Women
Retirement benefits b
Total percent c 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 4 7 3 4 3 9 13 6 10 3
20–39 8 12 6 8 5 8 14 3 2 3
40–59 10 12 8 10 8 9 12 7 8 7
60–79 13 16 11 10 12 15 16 14 10 16
80 or more 64 54 71 68 72 59 45 70 70 70
50 or more 83 76 87 82 89 79 67 89 83 92
90 or more 55 45 62 60 63 51 39 60 59 60
100 31 20 39 39 39 27 13 37 39 36
Mean proportion 79 73 83 81 84 75 66 82 79 84
Number (thousands) 23,260 9,334 13,925 3,627 10,298 671 295 375 133 243
Government employee pensions d
Total percent c 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 21 24 17 11 19 4 4 4 e 0
20–39 27 28 26 19 29 7 16 2 e 2
40–59 28 26 29 31 28 11 14 9 e 7
60–79 18 16 21 29 18 24 26 22 e 25
80 or more 6 5 7 10 6 54 39 63 e 66
50 or more 36 33 40 50 36 83 72 90 e 96
90 or more 1 1 2 2 2 44 34 51 e 56
100 0 0 0 0 0 19 10 24 e 26
Mean proportion 41 39 43 50 41 75 68 80 e 84
Number (thousands) 3,170 1,657 1,514 388 1,126 337 133 203 68 135
Private pensions or annuities
Total percent c 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 43 42 43 33 48 20 24 16 e 19
20–39 33 36 31 34 30 12 19 4 e 3
40–59 18 18 19 26 15 10 13 7 e 6
60–79 5 3 6 6 6 9 12 5 e 7
80 or more 1 1 1 1 1 50 33 68 e 65
50 or more 12 11 14 17 13 65 51 80 e 79
90 or more 0 0 0 0 0 45 28 63 e 58
100 0 0 0 0 0 28 10 49 e 40
Mean proportion 26 26 27 31 25 64 53 76 e 73
Number (thousands) 7,205 3,707 3,498 1,120 2,379 271 141 130 48 82
Earnings
Total percent c 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 21 20 23 17 26 4 5 4 3 4
20–39 21 22 20 20 20 4 5 2 1 3
40–59 24 22 26 29 24 6 7 5 6 4
60–79 25 26 25 25 24 11 14 8 8 7
80 or more 9 10 7 9 6 75 69 82 83 81
50 or more 46 47 44 51 41 89 87 92 95 90
90 or more 2 2 1 3 1 68 60 76 76 75
100 0 0 0 0 0 40 32 48 52 45
Mean proportion 45 46 43 46 42 85 82 89 90 87
Number (thousands) 4,661 3,044 1,617 537 1,079 1,004 485 520 199 321
Income from assets
Total percent c 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 73 75 72 72 71 64 66 62 63 62
20–39 15 16 15 13 16 14 14 14 12 14
40–59 7 6 7 8 7 3 4 3 6 1
60–79 3 3 4 6 3 2 2 1 2 1
80 or more 1 1 2 2 2 17 15 20 17 21
50 or more 7 5 8 11 7 20 19 21 19 23
90 or more 0 0 1 0 1 17 14 19 15 21
100 0 0 0 0 0 15 13 17 11 20
Mean proportion 14 13 15 16 15 26 24 28 27 29
Number (thousands) 13,334 6,361 6,973 1,791 5,182 989 480 509 152 357
Public assistance
Total percent c 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 47 49 46 41 48 4 7 3 9 0
20–39 32 31 32 30 32 3 6 2 1 2
40–59 16 15 16 18 16 2 5 1 2 1
60–79 4 4 5 10 3 2 3 2 3 2
80 or more 1 0 1 1 1 90 80 93 85 95
50 or more 11 12 10 17 9 92 83 95 90 97
90 or more 0 0 0 1 0 89 80 92 85 94
100 0 0 0 0 0 83 70 87 85 88
Mean proportion 25 24 26 27 25 93 87 95 89 97
Number (thousands) 764 133 631 130 501 425 104 321 81 240
NOTE: Units with zero total income or with negative total income, earnings, or income from assets are excluded.
a. Social Security beneficiaries may be receiving retired-worker benefits, dependents' or survivors' benefits, disability benefits, transitionally insured benefits, or special age-72 benefits.
b. Includes Social Security benefits, Railroad Retirement, government employee pensions, and private pensions or annuities.
c. Aged units with at least one dollar of income from the specified source are included in the calculation. Previous editions excluded aged units receiving less than 1 percent of total income from the particular source for the calculation of the percentages. The effect of this change is negligible for all income sources except asset income. For comparison with 2000, the numbers for the importance of asset income in 2000 based on the new methodology are included in Appendix B. The mean proportions and population counts were unaffected by this change.
d. Includes federal, state, local, and military pensions.
e. Fewer than 75,000 weighted cases.
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Table 6.B4
Percentage distribution, by marital status, sex of nonmarried persons, race, and Hispanic origin
Proportion of income All units Married couples Nonmarried persons
Total Men Women
White alone a Black alone a Hispanic origin b White alone a Black alone a Hispanic origin b White alone a Black alone a Hispanic origin b White alone a Black alone a Hispanic origin b White alone a Black alone a Hispanic origin b
Retirement benefits c
Total percent d 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 5 3 4 7 5 7 3 2 2 5 2 1 3 2 2
20–39 8 6 7 11 13 11 6 4 4 8 7 5 6 2 4
40–59 10 7 10 12 9 11 9 6 8 10 7 8 8 6 8
60–79 14 9 10 16 11 9 12 9 11 10 9 7 13 9 12
80 or more 63 75 69 53 62 63 70 79 74 67 75 79 71 81 73
50 or more 82 87 85 76 77 78 87 91 91 81 88 90 88 92 91
90 or more 54 69 64 44 58 58 60 74 68 58 72 74 61 74 66
100 29 53 49 19 38 40 36 58 56 36 57 62 36 59 53
Mean proportion 78 85 83 73 77 77 83 88 86 80 86 89 84 89 86
Number (thousands) 21,063 2,082 1,262 8,739 571 541 12,324 1,511 721 3,204 411 213 9,120 1,101 508
Social Security e
Total percent d 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
1–19 10 7 6 15 13 11 7 4 3 11 5 3 6 4 3
20–39 16 12 11 21 21 16 13 9 7 15 14 7 12 7 7
40–59 18 14 13 20 16 16 16 13 11 19 14 15 15 12 9
60–79 16 14 14 17 14 13 16 14 14 14 14 7 16 14 17
80 or more 40 54 56 26 36 44 49 61 65 41 54 68 52 63 64
50 or more 65 74 77 54 58 66 73 81 85 64 75 83 76 83 86
90 or more 32 48 51 20 31 39 40 55 59 33 49 64 43 57