More elderly Americans are living alone

November 15, 2012

According to new numbers from the Census Bureau more elderly Americans are living alone. KJZZ’s Al Macias says the survey also shows the number of households headed by older Americans is growing.

The Census Bureau reports that the percentage of households headed by older adults has grown significantly over the last half century. The reason is not a big surprise: Baby Boomers.

Census demographers say as the boomers have moved from adulthood to middle age and now older adulthood, the different age groups have expanded and shrunk.

In 1960, 6 percent of the heads of households were 75 years old or older. This year that figure climbed to 10 percent.

More than half of the people in that group, 75 and older and head of household, lived alone.

The share of households headed by 55 to 64 year olds also rose over the last two decades from 13 percent in 1990 to 19 percent in 2012.

Another statistic illustrating the change in culture, the number of married households continued to drop. 49 percent of all households in 2012 had a married couple, in 1970, 71 percent of households contained married couples.