Those who believe that Social Security is not an important factor in the lives of the elderly should look at the report, "65+ in the United States:2005" released by the Census Bureau yesterday. A key line from the press release: "The proportion of people aged 65 and older in poverty decreased from 35 percent in 1959 to 10 percent in 2003, mostly attributed to the support of Social Security."
An oddity that appeals to me. What county has the second highest percent of old people? You'd guess someplace in Florida, but you'd be wrong. It's McIntosh County in South Dakota, where 34.2% of the population is 65 or over.
And a concern: In 1960 1.6% of older men and 1.5% of women were divorced. By 2003 the numbers had gone to 7% of men and 8.6% of women. And it looks like it will get worse as the divorce rate of people in their early 60s is almost double these numbers.
1 comment:
I can't account for why young people find South Dakota so unappealing - maybe there are just too many old fogeys(!), but the statistic on divorce rates among the older generation is interesting. I believe it is a 'reactive' figure, in the sense that many of that generation lived their married lives with the notion of divorce as a shameful, un-Christian act, not even to be considered, for most. Times and attitudes changed; more and more older people in unhappy marriages realise it is no longer such a stigma, and they finally make a break.
My own mother lived in (for her) an unhappy marriage for fifty years until she finally left my father - two months following their golden wedding anniversary. As both her offspring shared a total of five divorces between them without being struck by divine thunderbolts, I think she finally got the message.
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